Klaus Bechgaard (5 March 1945 – 7 March 2017) was a Danish

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

and

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe ...

, noted for being one of the first scientists in the world to synthesize a number of organic charge transfer complexes and demonstrate their

superconductivity Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlik ...

, therefore the name

Bechgaard salt In organic chemistry, a Bechgaard salt is any one of a number of organic charge-transfer complexes that exhibit superconductivity at low temperatures. They are named for chemist Klaus Bechgaard, who was one of the first scientists to synthesize ...

. These salts all exhibit superconductivity at low temperatures. The first unconventional superconductor composed of organic material, was discovered by Bechgaard and Denis Jerome in 1979. This discovery garnered attention in the international scientific community, and for a period he was one of the most cited scientists in the field of natural sciences. He also received a nomination for the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

in chemistry for this discovery.

Research

Klaus Bechgaard did research at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, where he also held a

Professorship 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 ...

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 materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clay ...

until 1993. From 1993 until 2000 he was the chairman of the Department of Physics and Chemistry at Risø and in 2001 he was appointed head of the newly assigned Department of

Polymer A polymer (; Greek ''poly-'', "many" + '' -mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic and ...

Research at Risø. From 2001 and onwards he was the head of Risø's nano technology programme, and The Danish Center of Polymers which is a joint venture between the Technical University of Copenhagen and Risø. Bechgaard also conducted research in the field of

polymers A polymer (; Greek ''poly-'', "many" + '' -mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic an ...

and nano technology at the

Career and achievements

Education: * 1969: Cand scient. Organic Chemistry, University of Copenhagen * 1973: Lic.Scient. (Chemistry), University of Copenhagen. Academic Appointments: * 1974–1984: Lecturer at the University of Copenhagen. * 1984–1989: Research Professor at the University of Copenhagen * 1989–1993: Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen. * 1993–2000: Head of the Department of

Condensed Matter Physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the s ...

and Chemistry. Risø * 2001–2003: In charge of the

Interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

Nanotechnology Programme, Risø * 2001–2003: Temporary Head of The Danish Polymer Centre and the Polymer Department Risø * 2004–2017: Professor of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen (May 2004 – March 2017). Deputy Head of Department Other: * 2004: A. J. Heeger Endowed Chair, UCSB, Santa Barbara Honours: * 1983: Elected member of the Danish Academy of Natural Sciences * 1984: Elected member of the Royal Danish Academy. * 2002: Elected member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

Publications: * Approximately 370 peer reviewed papers in Chemistry and Solid State Physics, 7 patents Awards: http://www.kemifokus.dk/klaus-bechgaard-med-hjaelp-fra-kongen/ * 1981: The HN-prize * 1986: The B.S. Friedmann-prize, University of California * 1987: The Director Ib Henriksen's Foundation Research award * 1990: The

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

Research award * 1991: EPS Europhysics Prize * 1991: The

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

Europhysics prize * 1997: The NKT scientific prize * 2000: The EU Descartes prize * 2008: The Hartmann Foundation memorial prize

References

* * People, ideas, entrepreneurship & innovation.http://www.tmp.ucsb.edu/extracurricular/on_the_edge.html * D. Jérome, A. Mazaud, M. Ribault, K. Bechgaard, Superconductivity in a synthetic organic conductor: (TMTSF)2PF6], J. Phys. Lett. (Paris) 41, L95 (1980). * K. Bechgaard, K. Carneiro, M. Olsen, F. Rasmussen and C.S. Jacobsen, Zero-pressure organic superconductor: di-(tetramethyltetraselenafulvalenium)-perchlorate TMTSF)2ClO4 Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 852 (1981). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bechgaard, Klaus 1945 births 2017 deaths Danish scientists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Solid state chemists Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen

Research

Career and achievements

See also

References