- 1983 Member of the Academy of Sciences Göttingen
- 1984 Visiting Professor at the University of Auburn, USA
- 1986 Member of the Academy of Scientists "Leopoldina" in Halle/Saale
- 1987 Visiting Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
- 1987 Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at Vienna
- 1990 Georg-Ernst-Stahl-Medal
- 1990 Dr. Sc. (hon.) Nankai-University, Tienjin,China
- 1990 West Coast Lecturer, USA
- 1991Member of the Senate of the Academy of Scientists "Leopoldina"
- 1992 Dr. rer. nat. h.c. University Bielefeld
- 1992 Visiting Professor at Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan
- 1994 Dr. sc. chem. h.c. Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic
- 1995 Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa, USA
- 1995 George and Pauline Watt Centennial Lecturer,
University of Texas at Austin, USA
- 1995 Frontier Lecturer, A & M University,
College Station, Texas, USA
- 1995 Dr. h.c. University of Bucharest, Romania
- 1996 Honorary Fellow of the National Indian Academy
- 1997 Member of the Academia Europaea
- 1997 Honorary Member of the Materials Research Society of India
- 1999 Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- 1999 Corresponding Member of the Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- 2000 Dr. h.c. Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
- 2001 Honorary member of the Chemical Research Society of India
- 2002 Associé étranger de l'Académie des Sciences, France
- 2002 Member to the European Academy of Sciences, Brussels
- 2003 President of the Academy of Sciences, University of Göttingen
- 2003 Member of the Leibniz-Sozietät, Berlin
- 2004 Member of the Senate of "Leopoldina"
- 2004 Honorary Professor of Southern University, Changsha, China
- 2004 Member of the European Academy of Science and Arts, Austria
- 2004 Member of ICMGC Council Wroclaw, Poland
- 2004 Adjunct Professor of Northern Illinois University, deKalb, USA
- 2004 Corresponding Member of the Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 2005 Doctor honoris causa, University of Columbia, Missouri, USA
- 2005 Honorary Professor, University of Beijing, China
- 2006 Distinguished Visiting Professor, IIT Bombay, India
- 2015 Honorary Doctor, St. Andrews University, Scotland
Siehe auch Bericht im Göttinger Tageblatt