Nordén Bengt

Bengt Nordén is Emeritus Chair Professor of Physical Chemistry of Chalmers University of Technology. Research: circular and linear dichroism for studying systems not amenable to crystallography, e.g. DNA complexes of RecA and Rad51. Development of new DNA ligands, including PNA. Role of water for life: 'hydrophobic catalysis' and hydrophobic nucleo-base stacking postulated critical for high-fidelity gene recognition. Chairmanships in Swedish Research Council, Science Europe and ERC, since 2008 Nanyang Technological University Research Council and EIC Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics. Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 2000-2003 chair Nobel Committee for Chemistry. Other Academies: German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), Norwegian Academy of Science, Finnish Society of Science and Letters, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Founder of Molecular Frontiers Foundation (www.molecularfrontiers.com) with objective to identify breakthroughs and stimulate young people's interests in science. Awards include Goran Gustafsson’s Prize for Chemistry, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Award, Svante Arrhenius' Gold Medal and Chalmers Gold Medal.