Jan Cornelis Maria van Hest (born 28 September 1968) is a Dutch

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

, best known for his research regarding polymersomes and nanoreactors. He currently holds the position of

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

bioorganic chemistry Bioorganic chemistry is a scientific discipline that combines organic chemistry and biochemistry. It is the branch of life science that deals with the study of biological processes using chemical methods. Protein and enzyme function are examples of ...

Eindhoven University of Technology The Eindhoven University of Technology (), Abbreviation, abbr. TU/e, is a public university, public technical university in the Netherlands, situated in Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its Bachelor of Science, BS ...

and is scientific director at the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems. Among the awards he has received, he was one of the recipients of the 2020

Spinoza Prize The Spinoza Prize () is an annual award of 1.5 million euro prize money, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher Baruc ...

Biography

Van Hest received his MSc degree in Chemical Engineering with distinction from the

in 1991. He subsequently obtained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in macro-organic chemistry from the same university in 1996 under the supervision of

Bert Meijer Egbert (Bert) Willem Meijer (born 1955 in Groningen (city), Groningen) is a Dutch organic chemist, known for his work in the fields of supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry and polymer chemistry. Meijer, who is distinguished professor of M ...

. His doctoral thesis 'New molecular architectures based on

dendrimers Dendrimers are highly ordered, branched polymeric molecules. Synonymous terms for dendrimer include arborols and cascade molecules. Typically, dendrimers are symmetric about the core, and often adopt a spherical three-dimensional morphology. The ...

' was awarded the DSM Science and Technology award and the SNS Bank Prijs for best thesis in fundamental engineering sciences. In 1996, van Hest received a NWO Talent stipend for a

post-doc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

position on

polypeptide Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty ...

engineering at

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

where he collaborated with professor David Tirrell. He returned to the Netherlands to work at DSM Research in 1997 as researcher and later as group leader. Van Hest was appointed as

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

to set up a group in

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

in 2000. His early career focused on developing self-assembling biohybrid block copolymers. In 2010 he was awarded a VICI grant for research on artificial organelles, and in 2016 he obtained an ERC Advanced grant on artificial endosymbiosis. Van Hest moved to

in 2016, to chair the

group at the departments of

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

and

Biomedical Technology Biomedical technology is the application of engineering and technology principles to the domain of living or biological systems, with an emphasis on human health and diseases. Biomedical engineering and Biotechnology alike are often loosely called ...

. He was appointed scientific director of the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS) at

in 2018. To date, van Hest has published over 250 peer reviewed scientific articles, cited more than 15,000 times and has an h-index of 57.

Honors and awards

Van Hest was elected member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 2019. He was member of The Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences from 2005 to 2011. Additionally, van Hest is an elected Fellow of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

(FRSC), a visiting fellow of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

, a member of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

and the

Royal Netherlands Chemical Society The Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (In Dutch: ''Koninklijke Nederlandse Chemische Vereniging'', abbreviated: KNCV) is a learned society and professional association founded in 1903 to represent the interests of chemists and chemical engineers ...

. Listed are some of the prizes awarded to van Hest: * 2020 – Spinoza Prize * 2016 – ERC Advanced Grant * 2013 – Radboud Education Award * 2012 – Gravitation program (co-recipient) * 2010 – VICI Award * 2007 – TOP Grant * 1996 – NWO Talent Stipend * 1996 – SNS Bank Prijs * 1996 – DSM Science and Technology Award

Professional activities

Van Hest served as vice-dean at the Faculty of Science in Nijmegen from 2006 to 2010. He is chairman at the Dutch national postgraduate research school Polymer Technology Netherlands. Van Hest serves as associate editor of

Bioconjugate Chemistry ''Bioconjugate Chemistry'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in bioconjugation and the interface between man-made and biological materials. The journal was established in 1990 and is published by the American Chemical ...

. He is furthermore an advisory board member of

Macromolecular Bioscience ''Macromolecular Bioscience'' is a monthly Peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal covering polymer science. It publishes Reviews, Feature Articles, Communications, and Full Papers at the intersection of polymer and materials sciences with Bi ...

Journal of Materials Chemistry The ''Journal of Materials Chemistry'' was a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the applications, properties and synthesis of new materials. It was established in 1991 and published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. At the end of 20 ...

, and

Chemical Science Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their com ...

. Van Hest is a co-founder of the companies, Noviotech, Encapson and Future Chemistry and serves on the scientific board at GATT Tech, Euronol Chemical Technology Center.

References

External links

Profile on NARCIS

Institute of Complex Molecular Systems

Profile at TU/e
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hest, Jan van 1968 births Living people 21st-century Dutch chemists Eindhoven University of Technology alumni Academic staff of the Eindhoven University of Technology Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Tilburg Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen Spinoza Prize winners