Bert Marc Weckhuysen FRSC (born 27 July 1968) is a professor of inorganic chemistry and catalysis at Utrecht University, originally from Belgian descent. Weckhuysen is best known for his developments in operando (micro)spectroscopy; imaging catalysis at macro, meso and micro scales, from the reactor down to interactions between single atoms and molecules. He was a winner of the 2013 Spinoza Prize, and was knighted in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2015. [1]
Weckhuysen was born on 27 July 1968 in Aarschot. [2] He studied chemistry and biology at Leuven. He obtained his PhD in Leuven in 1995 under R. Schoonheydt with a thesis titled: Oppervlaktechemie van Cr aan anorganische oppervlakken. In 2000 Weckhuysen was appointed as professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis at Utrecht University. [2]
In 2020 Weckhuysen was head of a commission which wrote a proposal for new scientific funding in the Netherlands. The proposal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences was sent to Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven. [3] He is editor-in-chief of the Catalysis Science and Technology Journal. [4]
Bert Weckhuysen was (one of) the main initiator(s) of several large research program initiatives. For example, he served as scientific director of Catchbio, a 10-year public-private Smartmix partnership programme in the catalytic conversion of biomass chemistry that was announced in 2005. [5]
In 2006 Weckhuysen received the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) Golden Medal at the age of 37. [6] Since 2011 Weckhuysen is member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. [7] In 2013 he was one of three winners of the Dutch Spinoza Prize and received a 2.5 million euro grant. [8] On 24 April 2015 he was made Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. [9] [10] Weckhuysen is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [10]
Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf, is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist, and the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands from 2022 until 2024. From July 2012 until his inauguration as a minister, he had been the director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and a tenured professor at the University of Amsterdam.
Tobin Jay Marks is an inorganic chemistry Professor, the Vladimir N. Ipatieff Professor of Catalytic Chemistry, Professor of Material Science and Engineering, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Professor of Applied Physics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Among the themes of his research are synthetic organo-f-element and early-transition metal organometallic chemistry, polymer chemistry, materials chemistry, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, molecule-based photonic materials, superconductivity, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, and biological aspects of transition metal chemistry.
Edward Peter Jacobus (Ed) van den Heuvel is a Dutch astronomer and emeritus professor at the Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek of the University of Amsterdam.
Egbert (Bert) Willem Meijer is a Dutch organic chemist, known for his work in the fields of supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry and polymer chemistry. Meijer, who is distinguished professor of Molecular Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Academy Professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, is considered one of the founders of the field of supramolecular polymer chemistry. Meijer is a prolific author, sought-after academic lecturer and recipient of multiple awards in the fields of organic and polymer chemistry.
Catalysis Science & Technology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published monthly by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The editor-in-chief is Bert Weckhuysen.
Piet Gros is a Dutch chemist and professor biomacromolecular crystallography at Utrecht University. In 2010 he received the NWO Spinoza Prize for the elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of the C3 protein, which plays a central role in the complement system and contributes to innate immunity.
The Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research is a research institute at Utrecht University. The Bijvoet Centre performs research on the relation between the structure and function of biomolecules, including proteins and lipids, which play a role in biological processes such as regulation, interaction and recognition. The Bijvoet Centre houses advanced infrastructures for the analysis of proteins and other biomolecules using NMR, X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and mass spectrometry. The institute is named after famous Dutch chemist Johannes Martin Bijvoet, who worked at Utrecht University.
Albert van den Berg is a Dutch physicist who works on nanotechnology-miniaturization in physics, chemistry, biology and biotechnology.
Bernard Lucas "Ben" Feringa is a Dutch synthetic organic chemist, specializing in molecular nanotechnology and homogeneous catalysis.
Birgit Meyer is a German professor of religious studies at Utrecht University.
Mark van Loosdrecht is a Dutch professor in environmental biotechnology at Delft University of Technology. He was the creator of Nereda, a wastewater treatment technology developed by a cooperation between the Delft University of Technology, the Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) and Royal HaskoningDHV.
Balthassar Jozef Paul "Bas" van Bavel is a Dutch historian. He has held the chair of Transitions of Economy and Society at Utrecht University since 2011, and has been professor of Economic and Social History since 2007. His research has mostly focused on pre-industrial Northwestern Europe. He was one of the winners of the 2019 Spinoza Prize, the highest award in Dutch science.
Josina Maria "Jozien" Bensing is a Dutch clinical psychologist. Bensing was director of the Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek van de Gezondheidszorg (NIVEL) between 1985 and 2008. Since 1993 she has been a professor of clinical and healthcare psychology at Utrecht University. Bensing was a winner of the 2006 Spinoza Prize.
René Bernards is a Dutch cancer researcher. He is professor of molecular carcinogenesis at Utrecht University and head of the section of molecular carcinogenesis at the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoekziekenhuis. Bernards is a winner of the 2005 Spinoza Prize.
Boyapati Manoranjan Choudary is an Indian inorganic chemist and a former senior scientist at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology. He is known for his studies on Nanomaterials to Nanomedicine and is an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1990, for his contributions to chemical sciences.
Marjolein Dijkstra is a Dutch condensed matter physicist. She works as a professor in the Debye Institute for NanoMaterials Science at Utrecht University, and the Soft Condensed Matter group of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Utrecht.
Jan Cornelis Maria van Hest is a Dutch scientist of organic chemistry, best known for his research regarding polymersomes and nanoreactors. He currently holds the position of professor of bioorganic chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology and is scientific director at the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems. Among the awards he has received, he was one of the recipients of the 2020 Spinoza Prize.
Regina Palkovits is a German chemist who is a Professor of Chemistry at the RWTH Aachen University. Her research considers heterogenous catalysis. She was elected a Fellow of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts in 2020. In 2023 she was appointed as Director at the Institute for a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy (INW) at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Emiel Jan Maria Hensen is a Dutch chemist and professor of Inorganic Materials and Catalysis at Eindhoven University of Technology. Hensen's research has focused on developing novel heterogeneous catalysts, kinetics and mechanism, and energy conversion. He leads a team of over 50 researchers working to improve "clean and sustainable chemical conversion processes for the production of fuels and chemicals."
Petra de Jongh is a Dutch materials chemist, currently working as a professor of Catalysts and Energy Materials at the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science at Utrecht University. Her research spans many fields, tackling issues like converting and storing renewable sources of energy, developing lighter, sustainable batteries, reducing energy consumption, and designing catalysts for chemical conversions. De Jongh is the first female winner of the Gilles Holst Medal, which is given to outstanding researchers in the Netherlands, who have made significant contributions to the fields of applied chemistry or physics.