Honorary Doctorate for Jan Dhont
Jan Dhont, is a professor at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, former director of the Research Centre Juelich's Institute for Biomacromolecular Systems and Processes (IBI-4) and coordinatore of ESMI and EUSMI. He has strongly impacted the European soft matter and colloid physics research over the past decades. This research area is a subfield of physical chemistry that borders on physics, biology and technology. The common element in this branch of science is the colloidal scale, which ranges from one nanometre to one micrometre. Besides synthetic model systems, this length scale is also relevant for many technical products, such as emulsions, foams and aerosols, as well as for many biological systems, e.g. proteins, viruses, DNA or cell membranes. Jan Dhont's research focuses on statistical mechanics and transport properties in complex colloidal systems. He has authored over 170 research articles and published the textbook "An Introduction to Dynamics of Colloids" in 1996, which has become a reference work for both advanced students and experienced colleagues.
Jan Dhont with his 3D light scattering set up (Coypright FZ-Juelich/Wilhelm-Peter Schneider)
In addition to his research activities, Jan Dhont organised a number of conferences, engaged in teaching and initiated several important research networks for soft matter. He has had close connections with Lund University since 2013. Among other things, he has been involved in the Lund-led research project "Aniforce" and spends at least one month per year in the Department of Physical Chemistry, where he has become a highly valued research colleague and inspiring lecturer for PhD students who appreciate his curiosity, openness and teaching skills. By strengthening its association with him as an honorary doctor, the Faculty of Science at Lund University hopes to expand and further develop the collaboration.
"Professor Jan Dhont is a frequent visitor to Lund and a regular contributor to science and education here. His internationally recognised work on soft matter is relevant to both life sciences and food sciences," says Sven Lidin, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Lund University.
For further information, see the University Lund web-page.
