Prof. Dr. Ewine van Dishoeck

The Royal Netherlands Chemical Society is pleased to appoint

Prof. Dr. E.F. van Dishoeck

as an honorary member of the Society in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the field of molecular astronomy and astrochemistry.

Thanks to Van Dishoeck, a field that was once no more than a small area of research on the fringes of astrophysics has grown into a core theme within the whole of astronomy.

Van Dishoeck's research has made an extraordinary contribution to our knowledge of interstellar clouds, particularly how molecules develop and clump together to form the building blocks of entire planetary systems.

Thanks to Van Dishoeck's pioneering work, we may be able to determine in the future whether there is life on other planets. As a professor of molecular astrophysics, she was at the forefront of the development of the world's most powerful telescopes, playing a pivotal role in international collaborations.

Van Dishoeck has won numerous prizes, research grants and awards, such as the KNCV Gold Medal in 1994 and the Spinoza Prize in 2000. She also received an ERC Advanced Grant. In 2012, she was appointed Academy Professor by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The jewel in the crown this year is the presentation of the prestigious Kavli Prize, which is awarded every two years by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. According to the jury for that prize, Van Dishoeck's research has changed virtually every aspect of astronomy.

In addition to Van Dishoeck's scientific achievements, the KNCV also praises her contributions to the future of the field. She has supervised dozens of PhD students and postdocs and has played and continues to play a leading role in scientific working groups, boards, committees and organisations.