Marc Koper wins 2017 Faraday Medal
Leiden chemist Marc Koper is the winner of the 2017 Faraday Medal for his significant contribution to electrochemistry, from fundamental science to practical application.
The Faraday Medal is awarded annually by the Electrochemistry Group of the RSC to an electrochemist working outside the UK and Ireland in recognition of their outstanding original contributions and innovation as a mid-career researcher in any field of electrochemistry. The selection comittee reported that it is extremely enthusiastic about Koper's very significant contributions to diverse areas within electrochemistry, varying from fundamental science to practical applications, and encompassing both theory and experiments at the highest level.
Clean energy
Koper has been Professor of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry at Leiden University since 2005. Together with his colleagues at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) he is working on developing new forms of clean energy. He is, for example, studying the possibilities of reproducing fuel from CO2 using electricity. He is also working on electrochemical reactions that should make it possible to store solar energy in hydrogen.
Conference
The Faraday Medal is named after British physicist and chemist Michael Faraday, a pioneer in the area of electricity and electrochemistry. Koper will be presented with the silver medal during the annual British conference on electrochemistry, Electrochem 2017, that takes place from 10 to 12 September at the University of Birmingham. He will also give a lecture during the coference.
Recognition
Koper has already received the Hellmuth Fischer Medal 2012 from the German Society for Chemical Technology, the Carl Wagner Memorial Award 2013 from the American Electrochemical Society and the Brian Conway Prize 2016 from the International Society of Electrochemistry.