Van 't Hoff Medal 2022 for Bert Meijer

The medal was established in 2011 and is awarded once every ten years, therefore it has only been awarded once before, in 2011 to Ben Feringa, who won the Nobel Prize in 2016. Incidentally, Bert Meijer and Ben Feringa have been friends since their PhD days together, which makes this award even more pleasing for both friends. The premise for awarding the medal is that the recipient's work must be excellent and groundbreaking. In addition, an important criterion is that the scientist must have earned his or her spurs in the field of stereochemistry and/or asymmetric synthesis and/or physical chemistry - in other words, he or she must have followed in Van 't Hoff's footsteps. Last year, the Society decided to award this medal to TU/e's University Professor Bert Meijer.

Bert Meijer says, "As a great admirer of our first Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and his pioneering role in science, I am very honored to receive the Van 't Hoff Medal named after him. I see it as a wonderful appreciation for the research carried out by the many students, PhD students and postdocs in our group over the decades. But also because stereochemistry - what Van 't Hoff introduced and for which he gained worldwide fame - will always have a prominent place in our research."

Meijer received the medal from Ton van Leeuwen, professor at Amsterdam University Medical Center (AMC) and president of the Society. The chairman of the jury Wybren Jan Buma commented, "Bert Meijer is considered worldwide to be one of the founders of the field of supramolecular polymer chemistry. His work has been groundbreaking in understanding the mechanisms underlying chemical self-assembly. He has shown that these types of supramolecular polymer materials offer unique opportunities to successfully develop solutions to challenges in the materials and life sciences. He continues to pursue this work."

More recognition for Bert Meijer

2022 - International membership of National Academy of Sciences (US)