Dr. Tibor Kudernac

Tibor Kudernac studied organic chemistry (with honors) at the University of P. J. Safarik, Slovakia. His final project involved the synthesis of natural compounds with an emphasis on stereoselective sigmatropic rearrangements. He obtained his PhD with Prof. Ben L. Feringa and Prof. Bart J. van Wees from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), in 2007. His thesis entitled “Light-controlled conductance using molecular switches” was conducted jointly at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry and the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials. His research involved synthesis and characterization of photochromic compounds and their incorporation into solid state devices. After his PhD he moved to KU Leuven (Belgium) to work with Prof. Steven De Feyter on molecular self-assembly at liquid-solid interfaces, in collaboration with the groups of Prof. Klaus Müllen (Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research) and Prof. Sigurd Höger (University of Bonn). The main focus was on design and formation of nanoporous molecular networks on surfaces, using scanning tunneling microscopy as a primary characterization tool. In 2009 he moved back to the University of Groningen to work with Prof. Ben L. Feringa on molecular motors on surfaces. In 2010 he joined the group of Prof. Karl-Heinz Ernst at EMPA (ETH-Domain, Switzerland) as a visiting scientist. In April 2011, he joined the Molecular NanoFabrication group of Prof. Juriaan Huskens at the University of Twente and MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology. He is the recipient of a NWO Vernieuwingsimpuls Veni Grant on a project called “Metallic nanostructures from molecular patterns: Going beyond the limits of lithography”.