After postdoctoral research with Bert Meijer in Eindhoven and Francois Diederich in Zurich, he was awarded a KNAW fellowship, which enabled him to start research in 1998, again at the Laboratory for Organic Chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology. He is now an associate professor of organic chemistry and nanoscience there, where he heads research into the self-assembly of p-conjugated systems and, by extension, into supramolecular and plastic electronics. Promising systems he is currently working on include oligomers of p-phenylene vinylene and thiphenene, and perylene bisimide derivatives. He examines the structures that arise from the spontaneous assembly of these molecules and their mixtures, and studies the optical and electronic properties of these structures.
Albert Schenning stands out as a highly productive scientist who not only has vision, but also translates it into a successful research program in which he fruitfully involves other disciplines. With his original approach to chemistry, he establishes new connections between the life sciences, materials science, and photochemistry. This requires not only in-depth knowledge of very different fields, but also a great deal of insight and daring. In doing so, he demonstrates how powerful chemistry can be in opening up new areas of science and is thus also a remarkable advocate for the field.
The committee was very impressed by Albert Schenning's CV as a whole, and in particular by the European Young Investigator (EURYI) Award, which he was the only Dutch academic to win in 2004: each year, no more than twenty Europeans across all disciplines are eligible for this award. According to the committee, Dr. Schenning is a very promising researcher who will undoubtedly play a leading international role in the future.
On behalf of the 2005 Gold Medal Committee,
Prof. M.A. Cohen Stuart, WUR chair
November 17, 2005
The committee jury also consisted of:
Dr. J. H. van Lenthe, UU
Prof. Dr. R. van Driel, Swammerdam Institute
Dr. E. T. C. Vogt, Albemarle
Dr. E. M. M. de Brabander-van den Berg, DSM
Prof. Dr. Ir. D. N. Reinhoudt, UT
