Otto Haxel Dissertation Prize for Klaus Paschek

July 23, 2026

Klaus Paschek of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) has been awarded the Otto Haxel Dissertation Prize in Physics for his outstanding PhD thesis. In his work, he explores how the first building blocks of life may have formed on the early Earth.

Haxel Prize Award Ceremony for Klaus Paschek — Award ceremony for the Otto Haxel Prize presented to Dr. Klaus Paschek (center). On the left is Dr. Jürgen Spitzer (KFG Chairman of the Board), and on the right is Dr. Andreas Haungs (KFG Board Member)

© KIT

Award ceremony for the Otto Haxel Prize presented to Dr. Klaus Paschek (center). On the left is Dr. Jürgen Spitzer (KFG Chairman of the Board), and on the right is Dr. Andreas Haungs (KFG Board Member)

© KIT

Since 2017, the KIT Freundeskreis und Fördergesellschaft e.V. (KFG) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in collaboration with the German Physical Society (DPG), has been awarding the Otto Haxel Dissertation Prize in Physics. The prize honors the three best doctoral dissertations at KIT and at the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg—the three institutions where nuclear physicist Otto Haxel (1909–1998) conducted his research. The award was established by Hans Joachim Langmann in memory of his doctoral advisor.

The Otto Haxel Prize is one of the most generously endowed PhD prizes in Germany, and Klaus Paschek was honored in the so-called first category for his work, meaning he will receive a sum of 6,000 euros.

Klaus Paschek in the laboratory

© Anna Ziegler/MPG

Klaus Paschek in the laboratory

© Anna Ziegler/MPG

In his dissertation titled “From Space to the Hadean Earth: Prebiotic Synthesis and the Origins of Life,” Klaus Paschek addressed one of the most exciting questions in current research: How did the first building blocks of life on Earth actually arise?

This process must have taken place very early on our home planet—that is, several billion years ago—when Earth was, however, anything but hospitable to life by today’s standards. In his doctoral dissertation, Klaus Paschek explores this question from two very different perspectives: on the one hand, the material—that is, key building blocks of life—could have been brought to Earth by meteorites. The impact of meteorites or larger bodies such as comets on Earth was a much more common phenomenon at that time than it is (fortunately) today.
On the other hand, the building blocks could also have originated on Earth in “Darwin’s warm little ponds.” Darwin speculated that life could have formed in shallow, warm bodies of water rich in organic compounds and phosphates—driven by a cycle of wetting by rain and drying out during dry periods. We’re talking here about the so-called Hadean Eon—that is, the period about four billion years ago.
Klaus Paschek has now been able to show that both mechanisms are possible: both the delivery by meteorites and the volcanic release of gases through serpentinization could have provided the building blocks for RNA and other prebiotic molecules.
This serpentinization is a geological process in which gases are released into the atmosphere through the reaction of water and rock. In the atmosphere, these gases are chemically transformed by the UV light of the young sun and precipitate, eventually forming the first more complex RNA building blocks for the origin of life in Darwin’s ponds.

Chemical reactions occurring above a hydrothermal vent involving gases such as CO₂, H₂, and CH₄. — Chemistry of the Early Earth: Hydrogen (H₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and methane (CH₄) escape from hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. H₂ is produced through rock transformation (serpentinization) where magma meets seawater penetrating the crust. There, CO₂ also reacts with H₂ to form CH₄. The sun’s UV light breaks down CH₄ and N₂, and rainwater fills pools with newly formed HCN molecules. Organic material thus forms at hydrothermal vents and in pools. Complex molecules from space could also land in these pools carried by meteorites.

© GCO / MPG

Chemistry of the Early Earth: Hydrogen (H₂), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and methane (CH₄) escape from hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. H₂ is produced through rock transformation (serpentinization) where magma meets seawater penetrating the crust. There, CO₂ also reacts with H₂ to form CH₄. The sun’s UV light breaks down CH₄ and N₂, and rainwater fills pools with newly formed HCN molecules. Organic material thus forms at hydrothermal vents and in pools. Complex molecules from space could also land in these pools carried by meteorites.

© GCO / MPG

The most remarkable finding provides a solution to a decades-old puzzle: “An atmosphere initially considered too oxidizing can, once reduced by geological activity, become an ideal cradle for the molecules of life,” says Klaus Paschek. “Thus, these findings transform a long-standing obstacle into a promising path toward understanding the origin of life.”

The results and Klaus Paschek’s work are spectacular and a wonderful example of two relatively recent developments in science: on the one hand, how closely astrophysics, biology, and chemistry can be intertwined today; and on the other hand, that astrophysics can be conducted not only with telescopes but also, at least in this subfield, in the laboratory.

Klaus Paschek completed his PhD, published in 2025, in the laboratory astrophysics group led by Thomas Henning, the now-emeritus director of the MPIA, who also served as the primary reviewer of the thesis. The laboratory is part of the Department of Planetary Formation and Exoplanets (PFE), led by Myriam Benisty—the successor to Thomas Henning’s Department of Planetary and Stellar Formation (PSF).

The award ceremony for Klaus Paschek took place on July 13, 2026, at the KFG summer reception on the KIT South Campus in Karlsruhe.

Webpage about the Otto Haxel Dissertation Prize at KFG (in German)

KJ/KP/ThH