Four Royal Decorations for physics

Prof. Cees Dekker
FOM workgroup leader Cees Dekker, Professor of Molecular Biophysics at the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Delft University of Technology, received this decoration for his groundbreaking scientific work of major relevance to society. He is one of the most charismatic physicists in the Netherlands and an international leading light in the area of nanoscience, due to his inventive research into nanotubes and other nanosystems. More recently he has extended his interest to molecular biophysics, a discipline that focuses on the functioning of individual cells up to the molecular level. Understanding the mechanisms that take place in the cell could lead, for example, to better healthcare, drugs aimed at molecular targets and the development of new energy sources. In 2003, Dekker received the NWO Spinoza Prize and he was appointed a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). For further information please see the website of Delft University of Technology.
Source: FOM/ Delft University of Technology

Professor Leo Kouwenhoven
FOM focus group leader Leo Kouwenhoven, Professor of Nanophysics at the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Delft University of Technology, was decorated for his groundbreaking and worldwide leading research. He is an authority in the area of the electronic characteristics of nanostructures. For example, he did groundbreaking research into quantum dots: minuscule structures in semiconducting material that exhibit special quantum characteristics.
Kouwenhoven’s research group at Delft University of Technology belongs to the world top in the area of nanophysics. In the spring of 2012 he attracted considerable scientific and public interest due to the discovery of the Majorana fermions. Since the 1980s this group has received substantial support from Delft University of Technology, NWO and FOM. For example, FOM has made major investments in tenured scientific and technical personnel, equipment and infrastructure and large contributions have also been received from the NWO Governing Board. An important example is the setting up of the FOM focus group 'Solid state quantum information processing' in 2004 under the leadership of Kouwenhoven. The aim of this FOM focus group is to design extensive quantum systems to study the behaviour of entangled multiparticle states. Kouwenhoven is also the scientific director of QuTech, the institute that must form the bridge between research into the quantum computer and the Dutch high-tech industry. The realisation of QuTech was made financially possible by contributions Delft University of Technology, the Dutch government and TNO. NWO, including FOM, and industry (for example, Microsoft) will also make a contribution. For further information please see the website of Delft University of Technology.
Source: FOM/Delft University of Technology

Professor Bernard de Wit
Former FOM workgroup leader and emeritus professor of theoretical physics at Utrecht University Bernard de Wit has been decorated as Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion due to his exceptional services as a scientist and administrator. De Wit is recognised worldwide as one of the leading researchers in the area of 'supergravitation and black holes'. In 2012, he moved with his research group from Utrecht University to the theory group of the FOM institute Nikhef. He has fulfilled various important national and international administrative positions and he is an inspiring example for young scientists and students. For example he has been director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics, member of the board of Physics and Astronomy and in 2010 he received an ERC Advanced Grant. He was also chair of the board of Nikhef, member of the Governing Board of FOM, and a member of the Advisory Committee on Higher Education of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). De Wit is currently a member of the Breimer Committee, the national committee that advises the Minister for Education, Culture and Science about the Sector Plan Physics and Chemistry. Outside of the Netherlands he was, for example, a Scientific Delegate of the CERN Council. For further information please see the website of Utrecht University
Source: FOM/ Utrecht University

Professor Ad van der Avoird
Former FOM workgroup leader professor Ad van der Avoird, emeritus professor of theoretical chemistry at Radboud University Nijmegen, received his decoration amongst other things for the model of the benzene dimer. In 1990, Van der Avoird was a member of the FOM advisory committee for atomic physics and quantum mechanics. He shares his knowledge with scientists across the world. Van der Avoird has remained active in science since his retirement and has continued to publish as well. The model, in which a decade-old problem in the interpretation of the spectrum of the benzene dimer was solved, was completely developed by Van der Avoird and published in Angewandte Chemie 2013. The chemist shares his knowledge with the entire world: he travels from France to China and from Rhodos to the United States to give lectures. For further information please see the website of the Radboud University Nijmegen.
Source: Radboud University Nijmegen

Further information
For further information please see www.lintjes.nl (in Dutch only).