Stephen E. Harding

Last updated
Stephen E. Harding
Born (1955-08-02) 2 August 1955 (age 69)
Academic background
Alma mater Pembroke College, Oxford
University of Leicester
Thesis Modelling biological macromolecules in solution: The general tri-axial ellipsoid  (1980)
Institutions

Stephen Ernest Harding (born 2 August 1955) is a British biochemist specialising in biomolecular hydrodynamics. Harding is currently Professor of Applied Biochemistry at the University of Nottingham, has been the Director of the National Centre of Macromolecular Hydrodynamics since its foundation in 1987 and is a member of the Centre for the Study of the Viking Age. [1]

Contents

Academic career

Harding studied at Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. [2] He then undertook a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at the University of Leicester. His doctoral thesis was completed in 1980 and was titled "Modelling biological macromolecules in solution: The general tri-axial ellipsoid". [3] After completing his doctorate, Harding was a Lister postdoctoral fellow at the University of Bristol and then an Oppenheimer postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge. [4] He was also a tutor in Biochemistry at Queens College, Cambridge. [2]

Besides developing and applying hydrodynamic methodology to biomolecules, Harding's notable work includes finding remarkable protein-like behaviour of carbohydrates and the discovery of high levels of Scandinavian genes in the ancestral population of coastal North West England. He is now part of the Saving Oseberg research team [5] - finding natural polymer consolidants to replace the decayed cellulose and lignin in all the perilously fragile artefacts of the Oseberg Viking ship and in August 2017 appointed an adjunct Professor of the University of Oslo.

In 1991 he became a junior medallist of the Royal Society of Chemistry and in 2002 awarded a DSc from the University of Oxford. For his scientific and historical investigation of the Vikings in North West England, where he hails from, he was, in 2011, made a Knight of the 1st class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit [6] [7] by King Harald of Norway for his "outstanding service in the interests of Norway". He gave the 2016 Hakon Hakonsson Lecture at Largs, [8] and the 2017 Svedberg lecture. [9]

Works

Papers

Books

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Stephen Harding - The University of Nottingham. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 "People - Stephen E. Harding". School of Biosciences. The University of Nottingham. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  3. Harding, Stephen Ernest (1980). Modelling biological macromolecules in solution: The general tri-axial ellipsoid (PhD thesis). University of Leicester. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  4. "Prof Stephen Harding". Wirral Archaeology. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  5. "Saving Oseberg - Kulturhistorisk museum". www.khm.uio.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  6. "Tildelinger av ordener og medaljer". www.kongehuset.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  7. University of Nottingham (2012-04-05), University scientist and Viking expert made a Knight of Norway , retrieved 2017-08-02
  8. Largs & District Historical Society (2016-09-01). "Science and the Vikings". YouTube. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
  9. "Svedberg Lecture" (PDF). doi:10.1007/s00249-018-1321-3.