Paul Popelier is a Professor and Head of Computational & Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Manchester. He holds a Licentiaat in Chemistry from the University of Antwerp, a PhD in Structural Chemistry, and a DSc from UMIST. His research focuses on Quantum Chemical Topology (QCT), electron density analysis, and applications in biochemistry, drug design, and molecular dynamics. He leads the development of the FFLUX force field and the MORPHY computational program, widely used in over 65 laboratories globally. Key research areas include machine learning-enhanced force fields (e.g., Gaussian Process Regression models), non-covalent interactions, and topological atom partitioning. He has supervised over 20 students and contributed to interdisciplinary projects at the Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocenter. His work intersects computational chemistry with sustainable development goals, particularly in bioenergy and drug discovery. Popelier's group actively publishes in high-impact journals like Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation and Acta Crystallographica . He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and has collaborated internationally, including with institutions in Canada and the USA. His lab develops open-source tools like ICHOR for force field development and supports academic-industrial partnerships in computational chemistry.
