Molecular Photonics

.. is a branch of science that is engaged with the study of the effects that electromagnetic radiation (mostly in the ultraviolet and visible range) has on molecular materials. A few of the hot research topics in this field, with potential applications in materials and life science are (organic) solar cells, luminescence based medical diagnostics, and light sources based on electrochemiluminescence. The scientific background of the Molecular Photonics research team comprises molecular spectroscopy and photochemistry in a broad sense, and our research contributes to the development of these traditional fields. A great challenge is to explore the possibilities to conceive and develop new molecule-based devices in the context of nanotechnology (nanophotonics, plasmonics, biomolecular photonics, molecular machines), and catalysis. 

The main specific areas of interest in my group are:

• light-driven motor molecules
• fluorescent organocatalysts
• photoactivation of water splitting catalysts
• fluorescent labels and probes

The research tools used comprise:      

• molecular design, synthesis and characterization
• surface chemistry
• molecular computational chemistry
• steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopies
• microspectroscopy and microphotochemistry,including single molecule spectroscopy

Student projects are available in all these areas. The nature of the research work can vary from mainly organic synthesis to purely spectroscopic studies, possibly mixed with molecular computations, all depending on the student's interest! 

Since July 1, 2014, I am also working as a group leader in the Advanced Research Center Nanolithography. The research in my group is focused on the understanding of the chemistry of photolithography at very short wavelengths (Extreme Ultraviolet). 

Links

• Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS)

• research group Molecular Photonics

The John van Geuns Foundation

John Waterloo van Geuns (1874-1927) was a chemist who obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam in 1903. His successful career in the oil industry made him quite a prosperous man. In the last part of his life the chemist van Geuns became more and more interested in the interaction of light with molecular matter. This was one of the reasons for his widow, Catharina Van Rossum du Chattel, to choose this as a key theme for the Foundation, dedicated to the memory of her husband, which she established in 1957.
The goal of the John van Geuns Foundation is to promote the study of chemistry at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, in particular of chemical research concerned with the interaction of light and matter. In order to achieve this goal, the John van Geuns Foundation supports staff and talented students with grants, facilitates guest lectures, and maintains a special chair in Molecular Spectroscopy.
Chair holders:
1970-1975 G.J.Hoytink
1975-1985 J. van der Elsken
1988-1995 M. Glasbeek
1995-1999 C.J. Elsevier
1999-2005 W.J. Buma
2006-2011 A.M. Brouwer

2013-present S. Woutersen 

A PhD student position is available for an exciting project in collaboration with Daniel Bonn of the Institute of Physics on super-resolution fluorescence microscopy of contact mechanics and friction.

See http://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/working-at-the-uva/vacancies/item/14-340.html

Other members of the Molecular Photonics team may also have vacancies, see links below.

• prof.dr. Wybren Jan Buma

• dr. Sander Woutersen

• dr. René M. Williams

• dr. Hong Zhang

Descartes Prize

The SynNanoMotor consortium was awarded one of the three Descartes Prizes for Excellence in Science of the European Commission on March 12, 2008. Prof. Wybren Jan Buma was present at the ceremony to receive the prize on behalf of our HIMS Molecular Photonics team. We are very pleased with the appreciation of our work on molecular motors!

• press release

• FNWI News

• Dutch Radio

John van Geuns Chair Molecular Spectroscopy

Since December 1, 2006, I held the special chair "Molecular Spectroscopy", supported by the John van Geuns Foundation. More information on the activities of the John van Geuns Foundation is available via the link at the top of the page.

My inaugural lecture was on April 18, 2008. (in Dutch)

De tekst en de vertoonde slides van mijn oratie op 18 april 2008:

• Uitnodiging

• presentatie (hoge resolutie, 37 MB!!)

• presentatie (lage resolutie, 3.7 MB)

• voorlopige versie tekst

4th Photochemistry Summer School 2012 "Photochemistry, Fundamentals and Applications"

It is our pleasure to announce the 4th Photochemistry Summer School 2012, an advanced course covering fundamentals and applications of photochemistry. This School will be from September 15-19, 2012 inWijk aan Zee (The Netherlands) and is organized by the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry under the auspices of the European Photochemistry Association (EPA).  This post-graduate school is intended for PhD students and other interested scientists who are active in the field of photochemistry in the broadest sense, or make use of photochemical or photophysical methods in their research work. The specialized lectures by international experts will be preceded by a short(optional) recapitulation of the basic aspects of molecular photochemistry and photophysics. The lecturers will be:    Céline Frochot (Nancy, France),  Rienk van Grondelle (Amsterdam, The Netherlands),  A. Prasanna de Silva (Belfast, UK),  Michel Orrit (Leiden, The Netherlands),  Adalgisa Sinicropi (Siena, Italy),  Sander Woutersen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Registration is open for PhD-students, postdoctoral students and industrial scientists. For more information and registration see www.hrsmc.nl

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