Marc Koper new President International Society of Electrochemistry
Marc Koper, Professor of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, has been elected as President Elect of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE). He will be President Elect for two years starting January 2019, followed by two years as President and two years as Immediate Past President.
ISE
The ISE aims to advance electrochemical science and technology, spread their knowledge, and promote international cooperation in the field of electrochemistry. The ISE is convinced that Koper’s experience will help to serve its members and fulfil the goals of the society, states the current ISE President Philip N. Bartlett.
Renewable energy
Koper is an internationally renowned electrochemist. He performs fundamental research on what exactly happens on the surface of electrodes, at an atomic level. His fundamental discoveries provide insights which are helpful for applications in the field of sustainable energy. For instance, his research makes it possible to design better catalysts for the conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels. Another example is the production of energy from electricity and water, for which the current techniques are still too expensive to be applied on a large scale.
‘In the stars’
Did Koper see this coming? ‘I was Vice President of ISE a few years ago, and I was main organiser of the ISE Annual Meeting in The Hague in 2016, so this election was somewhat “in the stars”. This is a special honour, of course, and an opportunity to serve the international electrochemistry community in a time that electrochemistry is attracting ample attention because of the energy transition. My former PhD supervisor Sluyters wrote me that I am the second Dutch electrochemist to become president, after Ketelaar in the 1960s. That makes it extra special.’
Goals
‘The international but very collegial atmosphere of ISE, with its high-quality scientific meetings, is something very special, I believe, and something to guard, preserve, and promote. ISE provides a forum for electrochemists from all over the world. Next year, we have our first Annual Meeting in Africa, a decision I supported when I was Vice President. This forward-looking non-profit character of ISE is something I appreciate and hope to further reinforce.’
Prizes
In the past, 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, the Brian Conway Prize 2016 from ISE, and the Faraday Medal 2017. In 2017, Koper has also been appointed as member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
The International Society of Electrochemistry was founded in 1949 by leading European and American Electrochemists to serve the growing needs of electrochemistry in becoming a modern scientific discipline. At that time only a handful of experts were assembled in the original CITCE (Comité International de Thermodynamique et Cinétique Electrochimiques). Since then the association has evolved and now comprises about 3000 individual members and more than 20 Corporate Members (teaching institutions, non-profit-making research organizations and learned societies) and Corporate Sustaining Members (industrial and commercial organizations). Its membership comes from more than 70 countries and is organized in over 40 regional sections. Both industrialized and developing countries from all five continents are represented. ISE is, therefore, a truly world-wide organization. ISE is a non-profit-making organization with its seat in Lausanne, Switzerland.