The German Mineralogical Society awards the Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Prize to Thorsten Kleine in recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements.

Thorsten Kleine's research on processes during the early history of the Solar System and the Earth is distinguished by exceptional analytical precision and by the development of entirely new concepts and approaches that have led to fundamentally new scientific insights. Methodologically, his work is based on the ^182Hf–^182W isotope system as a geochronological tool, which he further advanced through his own research. One of the key findings of his doctoral thesis was that the Earth's ^182W/^184W ratio is not chondritic, but is higher by approximately two epsilon units. This result implied that the formation of the Earth's core occurred later than had previously been assumed. Published in Nature, these findings have since become the benchmark for all subsequent studies using the Hf–W isotope system.

Thorsten Kleine's research spans a remarkably broad range of topics, including numerical models of Earth's accretion history and core formation, evidence for very early core formation in planetesimals, the late accretion of chondritic parent bodies, the thermal evolution of eucrites, and the age of the Moon. In a complete departure from previous interpretations, he demonstrated that iron meteorites are older than chondrites. This discovery has profoundly influenced astrophysical models for the formation of the first asteroids in the Solar System.

By awarding this prize, the German Mineralogical Society honors Thorsten Kleine as an exceptionally productive and innovative young scientist who enjoys an outstanding international reputation.