RESEARCH PROFILE

 

My dream is that at one point in time we will understand so much about how molecules work together, that we can make the simplest form of life in a laboratory.

Mimic Life

The first time I had made a molecule that nobody else had ever made before, I was so excited and I thought, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life: working with molecules.

Bert Meijer about his passion for molecules

 

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

Bert Meijer studied chemistry at the University of Groningen and obtained his master's degree in 1978. In 1982 he earned his PhD degree summa cum laude under supervision of Prof. Hans Wijnberg. In 1982 Meijer started working at the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven and in 1989 he moved to DSM Research in Geleen. In 1991 he was installed as full professor of Organic Chemistry at the department for Chemical Engineering and Chemistry of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). In 1999 his chair was also established at the department for Biomedical Engineering. Since 2004 Bert Meijer is a distinguished university professor of Molecular Sciences at TU/e. He founded the TU/e Institute for Complex Molecular Systems in 2008 and is now a co-director. Meijer is adjunct professor of Macromolecular Chemistry at Radboud University Nijmegen since 1994 and distinguished visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara since 2008. In 2014 Bert Meijer was inducted as Academy Professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since 2018 he is also an external member of the scientific staff of the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany.

Ancillary Activities

  • Lid, Duitse Academie der Techniekwetenschappen
  • Lid, Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie der Wetenschappen
  • Buitengewoon hoogleraar supramoleculaire chemie, Universiteit van California
  • Buitengewoon hoogleraar polymeerchemie, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
  • Lid, Koninlijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen
  • Wetenschappelijk directeur, Zwaartekrachtprogramma 'Functional Molecular Systems'
  • Lid van de Raad van Toezicht, Orkest Zuid
  • Directeur en via 4H-brug BV aandelen in SupraPolix BV, 4H-brug BV
  • Lid wetenschappelijke adviesraad, Chemistry Department, Universiteit Cambridge
  • Lid van de Raad van Commissarissen, SyMO-Chem BV
  • Voorzitter Raad van Commissarissen, SupraPolix BV
  • Directeur, Seimi holding BV
  • Research stays in germany, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
  • Member of the steering committee of the International Academic Committee South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
  • Support of the Research at the MPI in Mainz, External member of the Max Planck Gesellschaft
  • Chair of the external review committee 'Information', Helmholtz Foundation, Berlin
  • Member of the GRC Conference Evaluation Committee, Gordon Research Conferences
  • Member of the Executive Advisory Board of Advanced Materials, Wiley-VCH
  • Member of the PCNI, KNAW and NWO
  • Member of the International Advisory Committee, Solvay Institute Brussels
  • Scientific Consultant, Corbion
  • Member of the TNF committee, Villum Foundations
  • Associate Editor of JACS, American Chemical Society
  • Visiting Professorial Fellow, University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia