Ben Feringa

When computers were invented, they were as big as refrigerators - now they come in handy smartphone format. Technology is shrinking their size dimensions ever further, down to the nano level: chemist Ben Feringa is constructing tiny molecules that can move on command and perform complex tasks. These "machines" are about one nanometer in size. By comparison, a human hair is 100,000 nanometers thick. This discovery may open up new avenues for energy storage, data processing and medicine. The nanomachines could, for example, be injected into the body with a drug and ensure that it only acts in one spot. Ben Feringa inspires us with his charismatic demeanor and takes us on his journey into the world of molecular switches and motors.

Bernard "Ben" L. Feringa is a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. In 2016, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Fraser Stoddart for his "Molecular Machines".

Introduction: Prof. Dr. Christine Selhuber-Unkel, Lautenschläger Research Award Winner, IMSEAM at Heidelberg University.

Language: English

In the framework of the International Science Festival - Geist Heidelberg

Back to overview