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Prof.dr. Huib J. Bakker

Winnaar Gouden Medaille 2004

Prof.dr. Huib J. Bakker

The 2004 Gold Medal jury unanimously agreed that Dr. Bakker was the most deserving of the eight nominees for this award, given the exceptionally high quality of his work in the field of physical chemistry and the relevance of his work to other chemical disciplines, physics, and biology.

Dr. Bakker obtained his PhD cum laude in 1991 for his research into energy transfer within and between small organic molecules. After obtaining his PhD, he worked for several years as a junior professor at the University of Aachen. Since 1995, he has been working at the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF). During this period, in addition to his research on zeolites, he has also initiated research into the properties of complex systems in which hydrogen bonds play an important role.

For this research, he developed a completely new technique: femtosecond mid-infrared spectroscopy. Using this technique, he measured new and surprising properties of water that play a role in its biological function, among other things. The fact that he chose to focus his expertise in studying the rapid dynamics of molecules on a molecule such as “water” is testament to this researcher's scientific daring and creativity.
Dr. Bakker's recent research focuses primarily on the structure and dynamics of water around dissolved ions and molecules. He has discovered that water forms extremely stable solvation shells around dissolved ions and (bio)molecules.

Dr. Bakker is not only an outstanding researcher, but also knows how to motivate young people to do research. In addition to publications in leading journals such as Science and Nature, Dr. Bakker also has an eye for popularizing his research, as evidenced by his contributions to press publications and radio interviews.

Dr. Bakker's work ranks among the very best in the field of physical chemistry internationally. But it is also highly regarded by a wide audience of chemical, physical, and biological researchers outside this field.