Olaf Karthaus

Olaf Karthaus (born 1963 in Koblenz) is a German polymer chemist and Professor at the Chitose Institute of Science and Technology in Chitose, Hokkaidō, Japan, researching polymer chemistry, thin films, photonics, and nanotechnology.

Karthaus received a PhD from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Mainz, Germany, in 1992 under the supervision of Helmut Ringsdorf. From 1992 to 1993 he worked as a post-doctoral fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Tohoku University. He then served as a research assistant from 1994 to 2000 at the Research Institute for Electronic Science at Hokkaido University in Sapporo.

Karthaus was a co-plaintiff with Debito Arudou and Kenneth Sutherland in an anti-discrimination lawsuit against a hot spring (onsen) in Otaru, Japan, that refused entry to individuals with foreign appearance even if they were Japanese citizens.

Karthaus's wife, , received a personal reply to a letter written to , the mayor of Otaru, in 1999.

Selected publications He has authored or coauthored 54 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals: according to Science Citation Index, the ones that have been the most cited are: (cited 116 times) (cited 72 times) (cited 67 times) (cited 65 times) (cited 44 times)