The German Mineralogical Society awards the Abraham Gottlob Werner Silver Medal to Professor Dr. Jochen Hoefs in recognition of his fundamental contributions to the understanding of the isotope geochemistry of hydrogen, lithium, carbon, oxygen, and sulfur. The results of his research have been published in more than 100 international scientific papers as well as numerous book chapters. His book Stable Isotope Geochemistry, now in its fifth edition, has become a standard reference for education in stable isotope geochemistry at many institutions worldwide.

Professor Hoefs has worked in a strongly transdisciplinary manner, collaborating not only within the geosciences but also with researchers in the life sciences, archaeology, and medicine. The breadth of his publications ranges from classical geoscientific topics such as magma genesis, fluid–rock interactions, and the geochemical evolution of seawater throughout Earth's history to the provenance of marble used for the busts in the Munich Residenz and even the isotopic composition of chicken and dinosaur eggshells. In particular, the isotope geochemistry of carbon has been a recurring theme throughout Jochen Hoefs' scientific career. His work laid the foundation for our current understanding of the global carbon cycle.

Finally, it should be emphasized that pioneering work on high-spatial-resolution isotope analysis by laser ablation also originated from Professor Hoefs' research group, particularly the development of excimer laser fluorination, which was undoubtedly a breakthrough for the field of isotope geochemistry.