Mentoring visit lecture – prof. Ben L. Feringa, Uniwersyt w Groningen, Netherlands

19 12 2025

The Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw would like to invite to a lecture by Prof. Ben L. Feringa entitled “The Art of Building Small”

Biological molecular machines and switches that drive life processes provide an inexhaustible source of inspiration for chemists exploring the nanoscale world. The ability to design and control molecular motion and function opens the way to creating artificial, dynamic molecular systems — ones that respond to stimuli, change their properties, and perform programmed tasks.

The lecture will take the audience on a journey into the fascinating world of synthetic molecular machines and switches, where the passion for discovery is combined with practical applications. It will introduce the fundamental principles of design and the mechanisms underlying these systems. Topics will include control of translational and rotary motion at the molecular level, as well as examples of systems responding to light and other stimuli. The lecture will also highlight the possibilities these synthetic molecules offer in the development of smart materials and photopharmacology, pointing to new opportunities for future technologies.

Prof. Ben L. Feringa is a world-renowned Dutch organic chemist, specialising in molecular nanotechnology and homogeneous catalysis. He holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Molecular Sciences Jacobus van ’t Hoff at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Netherlands. He is also a professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2016, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Jean-Pierre Sauvage, for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.

His research group focuses on stereochemistry, asymmetric catalysis, photopharmacology, organic synthesis, molecular switches and motors, self-assembly, control and amplification of chirality, as well as studies of chemical systems far from equilibrium and the chemical origin of life.

Prof. B. L. Feringa studied at the University of Groningen (Netherlands), obtaining his Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Hans Wynberg. He worked as a research scientist at Shell
(Netherlands) and at the Shell Biosciences Centre (United Kingdom). In 1998, he returned to the Netherlands as a lecturer and later professor at the University of Groningen. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves as a member and vice-president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. In 2008, he was appointed Academy Professor and was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands.

His research has been recognized with numerous prestigious international awards, including the Marie Curie Medal, the Solvay Prize, the Spinoza Prize, the Körber European Science Award, the Paracelsus Medal, the Prelog Gold Medal, the Norrish Award of the ACS, the Humboldt Award, the Chirality Medal, the RSC Organic Stereochemistry Award, the Grand Prix Scientifique Cino del Duca, and the Nagoya Gold Medal.

The event, organised as part of Action I.1.1/IV.1.1 “Mentoring Programme”, will take place on 09.01.2026 at 15:00 at the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, ul. Pasteura 1 (room: Aula).