The German Mineralogical Society awards the Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Prize to Andreas Audétat in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits.

Through the development of a laser ablation ICP-MS method for the analysis of individual fluid inclusions at ETH Zurich, he made it possible to reconstruct in detail the evolution of fluid compositions during the crystallization of plutons. Using this technique, he was the first to demonstrate directly in natural systems a number of phenomena that had previously been inferred only from theoretical considerations, including (i) the extreme enrichment of trace elements such as Sn, Cu, and Au in hydrothermal fluids to concentrations of several thousand ppm, (ii) the dominant influence of halogens on trace element enrichment in fluids, and (iii) the importance of fluid immiscibility into vapor and saline liquid phases for the fractionation and concentration of trace elements.

Through his research, he has made a major contribution to bridging the gap between field observations, experimental studies, and theoretical models in ore deposit research. The analytical methods he developed have since been adopted by numerous research groups worldwide.

His more recent work focuses on the properties of fluids in the Earth's mantle. These studies demonstrate that aqueous mantle fluids retain remarkably low viscosities even when highly enriched in dissolved silicates, a finding of fundamental importance for understanding magmatic processes associated with subduction zones.