Through automated experiments and data-driven models, Robert J. Mayer aims to gain a better understanding of catalytic reactions. This will make it possible to identify the optimal conditions for chemical syntheses more quickly, for example for new molecules, active ingredients or research into the chemical origins of life.
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When Robert J. Mayer talks about chemistry, he quickly turns to catalysis. He says it is "in a sense the heart of chemistry" because it makes reactions faster, more efficient, or even possible in the first place. Through his new Professorship of Physical-Organic Chemistry of Catalysis, Mayer investigates the rules governing such reactions-and how they can be predicted in the future using automated experiments, computational chemistry, and data-driven models.
In the lab, his research group therefore does not examine individual reactions in isolation but conducts many experiments under comparable conditions to generate robust datasets. "Automation allows us to carry out hundreds or thousands of reactions in parallel-and, above all, under standardized conditions," says Mayer. It is precisely this standardization that is crucial for data-driven models to reliably predict optimal reaction conditions.
Such models are intended to help identify suitable conditions for chemical reactions more quickly-for example, for the synthesis of new molecules, more sustainable chemical processes, or the development of active ingredients.
At the same time, Mayer's research extends far beyond immediate applications. His group also investigates catalytic reactions in water, complex reaction networks, and questions related to the emergence of the first molecules of life. Mayer himself describes this as one reason why chemistry has fascinated him since his school days: it allows us to understand everyday processes-and at the same time to explore the fundamentals of chemical evolution.
From the lab to the lecture hall
Automation is changing day-to-day life in the lab as well. Since robots can perform many experiments simultaneously and under consistent conditions, researchers' work is shifting more toward planning, evaluating, and interpreting. "Automation is fundamentally changing everyday life in the lab," says Mayer. "Researchers are investing more time in preparing and analyzing experiments than conducting them."
This perspective also shapes Mayer's teaching. He wants his students to learn the material and understand how reactions can be analyzed as systems and predicted more accurately in the future.
Robert J. Mayer is Professor of Physical-Organic Chemistry of Catalysis at the TUM School of Natural Sciences . He studied and earned his Ph.D. at LMU Munich, before he joined the University of Strasbourg as a postdoctoral researcher. Since January 2024, he has been leading a junior research group at TUM, and since December 2025 he has held a Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Professorship. His awards include the Liebig Fellowship of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG), and election to the Young Academy (Junges Kolleg) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
