Developing better catalysts is essential to make Power-to-X and the transition to a more sustainable society possible. Associate Professor Jakob Kibsgaard receives the Hartmann Foundation's Diploma Prize for his promising efforts in this area.
Research into catalysts for the use of the Power-to-X technologies has exploded internationally in the last few years. At DTU, a couple of the world's leading research groups in the field have especially gained recognition for their work in characterizing the surfaces of the catalytic materials very precisely and correlating the atomic structure to the catalytic activity.
Jakob Kibsgaard is one of the leading forces in the experimental part of the work. In partnership with the theorists, he focuses on developing and understanding catalytic materials at an atomic level. They are doing this to control and increase the chemical reaction rates, e.g. splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. This research helps to ensure that the transition to sustainable energy can be successful.
"I am both very proud and honoured to receive the Hartmann Foundation's Diploma Award for my work in contributing to the green transformation. This applies especially when I see who has previously received the award," says Jakob Kibsgaard, associate professor at DTU Physics.
The Hartmann Foundation's Diploma Award has previously been given to prominent researchers in the world of science such as Eske Willerslev and other notable figures such as the actor Thure Lindhardt and architect Margrét Matthiasdottir.
International attention
Jakob Kibsgaard has a strong background in surface physics and catalytic model systems. He has published more than 50 articles in leading international scientific journals. His work with sulfide- and phosphide-based catalysts for hydrogen production has attracted significant international attention.
Jakob Kibsgaard is a senior employee in the Basic Research Center "Center for Visualizing Catalytic Processes (VISION)" at DTU, which is granted by Denmark's Basic Research Foundation, and in December 2020 he was awarded one of the European Research Council's prestigious five-year ERC Consolidator Grants.
Facts
The Hartmann Foundation's Diploma Prize is awarded to younger people who within Danish society are expected to make a valuable contribution after having shown promising results of general societal value in social, humanitarian, scientific or cultural areas.
The Hartmann Foundation's Diploma Prize is DKK 150,000.
Jakob Kibsgaard
Jakob Kibsgaard was born in 1980 in Farsø in Vesthimmerland, became a student at Tørring Gymnasium in 1999, graduated with a cand.scient. and subsequent Ph.D. in physics and nanotechnology from Aarhus University in 2008.
He has worked as a researcher at Stanford University for six years and at the iNANO Center at Aarhus University for two years. Since 2016, he has been employed at the Department of Physics at DTU, first as an assistant professor, and since 2018 as an associate professor.
He lives with his wife in Lyngby, north of Copenhagen.
