Derptski universitet[*][[Derptski universitet ((1802-1917) — the second of the twelve Imperial Universities of the Russian Empire. In 1893 it was renamed the Imperial University of Yuryev.)|]] Rīgas Valsts 1. ģimnāzija[*][[Rīgas Valsts 1. ģimnāzija (school in Riga, Latvia)|]]
Ostwald process[*][[Ostwald process (chemical process for producing nitric acid from ammonia and oxygen)|]] law of dilution[*][[law of dilution (relationship between the dissociation constant and the degree of dissociation of a weak electrolyte)|]] Ostwald ripening[*][[Ostwald ripening (process in which small crystals preferentially dissolve and re-precipitate onto larger crystals over time)|]]
A contribuit la teoria disociației electrolitice alături de Svante Arrhenius. Era promotor al energeticismului și contestatar al conceptului de atom. A creat și termenul „perpetuum mobile de tipul 2”. Pentru meritele sale din domeniul catalizatorilor lui Wilhelm Ostwald i s-a decernat Premiul Nobel.