معرفی
Prof. Peter Chen is a Full Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich. He served as Vice President for Research and Corporate Relations at ETH Zurich from 2007 to 2009. His research focuses on the fundamentals of transition metal catalysis, combining physical measurements, molecular synthesis, and computational methods to study reactive intermediates in organic and organometallic chemistry. Key techniques include mass spectrometry, IRMPD spectroscopy, and trapped ion mobility spectrometry. He is renowned for advancing dispersion effect modeling and improving catalyst design.
Education: BSc in Chemistry from the University of Chicago (1982), PhD from Yale University (1987). Previous roles include Assistant and Associate Professor at Harvard University before joining ETH Zurich in 1994. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Clariant (2006–2018) and the Board of Trustees of IST Austria (since 2020).
Research Interests: Prof. Chen’s work bridges experimental and theoretical approaches to elucidate non-covalent interactions and catalytic mechanisms. His group investigates protonated ligands, dispersion forces in gas-phase ions, and frustrated Lewis pair activation of MTO. He emphasizes understanding short-lived intermediates to control chemical processes, with applications in pharmaceutical and industrial catalysis.
Scientific Awards: Among his accolades are the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Fellowship, Packard Fellowship, and the Golden Owl Award (awarded twice by ETH students for outstanding teaching). He also received the James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry and an ERC Advanced Investigator Grant.
Advising & Grants: While no named advisees are listed, his research is supported by the ERC-funded project 'Mapping Dispersion Spectroscopically in Large Gas-Phase Molecular Ions.' He actively mentors the Chen Research Group, advancing interdisciplinary collaborations. His consulting roles highlight industry engagement.
Labs & Teams: The Chen Research Group at ETH Zurich focuses on catalysis and molecular spectroscopy, developing novel instrumentation (e.g., custom mass spectrometers) and refining computational models to address dispersion effects in complex systems.
