Vicevoorzitter
Matthias Bickelhaupt holds Chairs in Theoretical Chemistry at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam and Radboud University Nijmegen, is Head of the VU Department of Chemistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Chairman of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry. Since 2022, he has been Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg. Bickelhaupt is known for his work on developing theories and models of chemical bonding and reactivity, with applications in physical, (in)organic, and biological chemistry.
After obtaining his Ph.D. with Nico Nibbering (UvA) and Evert Jan Baerends (VU) in 1993, he worked with Paul von Ragué Schleyer (Erlangen), Tom Ziegler (Calgary), and Roald Hoffmann (Cornell), became an assistant professor in Marburg in 1997, and obtained tenure at VU Amsterdam in 1999.
Matthias Bickelhaupt received various prizes and honors, including the Dutch Research Council's VICI award, membership of the Royal Holland Society for Sciences and Humanities (KHMW), Chemistry Europe Fellow, and Member of Merit of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV). He has also been active in various organizational offices for science publishers (e.g., Editorial Advisory Boards) and funding agencies (e.g., ERC or NWO panels; NWO/ENW Tafel Chemie).
STATEMENT REGARDING ROLE AS KNCV CHAIR
The KNCV is the patron and connector of our scientific community, and I have been a proud member for over three decades. My passion for the KNCV led me to advocate for the establishment of a new section in the field of my discipline: In 2017, the KNCV section Computational and Theoretical Chemistry (CTC) was born, a thriving section that holds an annual meeting and several junior events per year. I have been KNCV-CTC's founding chairman until 2023. In that year, I had the honor of becoming a Member of Merit of the KNCV. If I were to be selected (vice)chair of the KNCV, I would be enormously honored and committed to working together with the board to further develop this crucial professional society and serve our scientific community.