Marco Oetken

Prof. Dr. Marco Oetken is Full Professor (Chair) of Chemistry and its Didactics at the University of Education Freiburg (Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg), Germany, and serves as Head of the Chemistry Department. Since 2007 he has held a permanent W3-Professorship, having previously declined calls to Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, University of Oldenburg and University of Münster. He is deputy chair of the GDCh Chemistry Education Division and editor-in-chief or editorial-board member of several leading German journals for chemical education.

Education

• 1989 – 1994: Undergraduate studies in Chemistry & Biology for secondary-school teaching, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
• 1994: First State Examination (1. Staatsexamen)
• 1997: PhD (Dr. rer. nat.), Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg – Chemistry Education under Prof. Dr. Walter Jansen
• 2000: Second State Examination (2. Staatsexamen)
• 2001: Habilitation in Chemistry, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg

Research Interests

Marco Oetken’s research integrates cutting-edge electrochemistry with innovative didactic approaches. His group develops school-oriented experiments on next-generation energy-storage systems (lithium-ion, sodium-ion, redox-flow, metal-air, supercapacitors), electrochromic “smart windows”, and forensically relevant reactions. A second focus lies on conceptual change research: empirical studies on students’ particle concepts, the role of misconceptions, and the design of conflict-oriented teaching sequences. He also pioneers early-science education through the NAWIlino and NAWI-Haus projects that bring inquiry-based chemistry to kindergarten and primary school pupils.

Scientific Awards

• Buchpreis des Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (1987)
• Manfred und Wolfgang Flad-Preis der GDCh (1999)
• Umweltfreundlicher Chemieunterricht Prize, Baden-Württemberg (2000)
• Lehrpreis (1st place), University of Education Freiburg – NAWIlino project (2005)
• 1st prize, Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg „Exponate aus Naturwissenschaft und Technik“ (2007)
• Poster Prize (1st place), 2. Batterieforum Deutschland (2014)
• Heinz-Schmidkunz-Preis der GDCh (2017)
• Literature Prize 2018 – Austrian Society for Chemistry & School

Grants & Collaborative Networks

Oetken is spokesperson of the structured doctoral college „Experimentieren im mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht“, a joint graduate school of the Universities of Education Freiburg, Heidelberg, Ludwigsburg and Weingarten. His projects are funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, the European Social Fund, and industry partners. Long-standing collaborations exist with Karlsruhe, Münster and Oldenburg universities on electrochemical model systems and teacher professional development.

Laboratory & Outreach

He directs a fully equipped research laboratory for electrochemical energy storage and chemical education at Freiburg, housing the NAWIlino-Box development workshop and the NAWI-Haus outreach centre. Annual teacher-training courses and summer schools attract hundreds of educators from across Germany.