Scientific Director CatchBio
Bert Weckhuysen, born in Aarschot (Belgium) on July 27 1968, received his master degree in chemical and agricultural engineering from Leuven University (Belgium). After obtaining his PhD from Leuven University with honours in 1995 under the supervision of Prof. R.A. Schoonheydt, he has worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. I.E. Wachs at the chemical engineering department of Lehigh University (USA) and with Prof. J.H. Lunsford at the chemistry department of Texas A&M University (USA). From 1997 until 2000 he was a research fellow of the Belgian National Science Foundation working at Leuven University.
Weckhuysen is since October 1 2000 full professor inorganic chemistry and catalysis at Utrecht University (The Netherlands). He has also been visiting professor at Leuven University in the period 2000-2005. He is the (co-) author of more than 160 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals with an average number of citations per paper of about 20 and a Hirsch index of 34. He is the editor of two books and serves/served on the editorial board of Vibrational Spectroscopy, Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Journal of Applied Chemistry, Applied Catalysis A: General, Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics, Topics in Catalysis, Catalysis Letters and Catalysis Today. He obtained prestigious VICI-CW NWO and TOP CW NWO grants for his research work in 2002 and 2006, respectively. He also has received several awards, including the 2006 Gold Medal from the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (KNCV) and the 2007 DECHEMA Award from the The Max Buchner Research Foundation (Germany).
Weckhuysen is scientific director of the Dutch Research School for Catalysis (NIOK) (since 2003) and of the Smartmix research program CATCHBIO on Biomass Catalysis funded by the Dutch government and chemical industries (since 2007). He is a member of the Young Academy of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation. Weckhuysen serves on several boards and panels for national and international research, including e.g. the Executive Board of public-private cooperation Advanced Chemical Technology for Sustainability (ACTS).
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