Feringa, Prof. Ben

Ben Feringa (1951) has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016. Feringa has been professor of Organic Chemistry since 1988. He is one of the best scientists of our time, both within the Netherlands and worldwide. His research performance is so exceptional that he is generally regarded as one of the world’s most creative and productive chemists. He has achieved breakthroughs in various fields of chemistry, including organic synthesis, catalysis, supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology.
His discovery in 1999 of the ‘molecular motor’, a light-driven rotating molecule, is widely recognized as a world-class breakthrough. The potential applications of this concept are as numerous as they are spectacular. The idea that molecular motors can transport themselves through the bloodstream in order to deliver drugs to previously unreachable locations in the human body with a high degree of accuracy is particularly inspiring. It is partly thanks to Feringa that the University of Groningen is undisputedly Europe’s number one in the field of chemistry.
Feringa has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 2004 Spinoza Prize, the highest Dutch prize in science, awarded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). In 2008 the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) appointed Feringa Academy Professor, giving him the opportunity to concentrate on whatever he wanted in the field of innovative teaching and research for five years. Feringa is the Vice President of the KNAW also. In 2011 he received the Van 't Hoff medal. This is awarded once every ten years by the University of Amsterdam for work in the field of chemistry. In May 2013 he was awarded a TOP grant of EUR 780,000 by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The grant is for his research on molecular motors.
In 2013 Feringa was awarded the Lilly European Distinguished Science Award, followed by the Marie Curie Medal, the highest honor awarded annually by the Polish Chemical Society for chemist working outside Poland. Also he was awarded two important Japanese prizes (2013), the prestigious Cope Scholar Award of the American Chemical Society (2014), the Chemistry for the Future Solvay Prize (2015) and the Tetrahedron Prize (2016).
Together with Anouk Lubbe, Feringa wrote the book Everyday Molecules, in 2022. The richly illustrated book provides an accessible overview of 180 substances from our daily lives.
Nobel prize
In 2016 Feringa has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Feringa received the prize together with Jean-Pierre Sauvage (France) and Sir James Fraser Stoddart (UK) for their work on the development of molecular machines.
Nobel Prize (selection; some in Dutch)
- Three Makers of World’s Smallest Machines Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- 'Nano-machines' win European trio chemistry Nobel prize
- 3 win Nobel chemistry prize for world's tiniest machines
- Robot surgeons and artificial life: the promise of tiny machines
- 5 Things to Know About ‘Molecular Machines’
- Van boerenzoon tot Nobelprijswinnaar
- Kijken: zo werken de molecuulmachines van Nobelprijswinnaar Ben Feringa
- Voor een mooi molecuul mag je mij altijd wakker maken
- Nobel Prize for Ben Feringa
Nobel Prize video (mostly in Dutch)
- Nobelprijs voor Feringa: terugblik op een schitterende dag
- Road to the 2016 Nobel Prize
- De grote droom is uitgekomen (interview Nieuwsuur)
- Feringa bij De Wereld Draait Door
Previously in the news
- Board of the University proud of national coverage of Feringa’s ‘Everyday Molecules’
- Joining forces to work towards cleaner, smarter, circular chemical products
- Second ERC Advanced Grant for Feringa
- Ben Feringa receives Chemistry for the Future Solvay Prize
- Feringa in Nature on nano machines
- Netherlands Catalysis and Chemistry Award 2015 for Ben Feringa
- New chemical reaction greener and less expensive
- Feringa to receive Cope Scholar Award
- Prof. Ben Feringa supervises his 100th PhD student
- Prof. Ben Feringa awarded Yamada-Koga Prize and Nagoya Gold Medal
- TOP-grant for Feringa
- CNN on Feringa's nano vehicle
- Nature, november 2011: Groningen chemists construct an electrically powered nanovehicle
- Control of complex nanosystems a step closer
- Chemicus Ben Feringa ontvangt Spinozapremie [Chemist Ben Feringa awarded Spinoza Prize]
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Last modified: | 09 June 2023 8.36 p.m. |