The recipient of 2016 Lee Hsun Lecture Series—Lee Hsun Lecture Award, Prof. Flemming Besenbacher from Aarhus University, Denmark visited Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMR, CAS) from October 18 to 20, 2016.

During the visit, Prof. Besenbacher delivered a lecture entitled “Catalytic model systems studied by high-resolution, video-rate Scanning Tunneling Microscopy”. He showed how STM can reveal fundamental processes in relation to catalysis, and how to extract quantitative information on surface diffusion of adatoms and molecules in his lecture.

Prof. Besenbacher is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Faculty of Science, Aarhus University, Denmark. He is director and founder of the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center and head of the graduate school. He is a member of numerous prestigious Danish and international academies/societies/committees including the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, The Danish Academy of Technical Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the US Materials Research Society, American Vacuum Society, Institute of Physics, and Institute of Nanotechnology. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Carlsberg Foundation, the Carlsberg Breweries A/S, and of the Tuborg Foundation. In 2007 he was knighted by the Danish Queen.

Prof. Besenbacher is one of the pioneers in Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) studies of nanocatalysts, the surface chemistry of oxides, molecular self-assembly and dynamic studies of surface chemical reactions. His SPM group takes part in numerous interdisciplinary project involving researchers from departments ranging from physics and chemistry to biology and medicine. His current research activities include the development and use of scanning probe microscopies and a variety of other surface-sensitive techniques for the study of 1) clean and adsorbate-covered surfaces, 2) synthesis and characterization of nanostructures on surfaces, 3) dynamic phenomena on surface by fast-scanning STM, 4) self-assembled molecular nanostructures, 5) biomolecules and self-assembled nanoparticles under liquid conditions, and 6) biocompatible surfaces. He acts as referee for top-ranked journals within his field and has published more than 400 papers in international journals and several in high-impact journals such as Nature, Science, Phys. Rev. Lett., and Angew. Chem.

Prof. YANG Rui, the Director of IMR presents the plaque of Lee Hsun Lecture Series to Prof. Flemming Besenbacher. (Image by IMR)

Prof. Flemming Besenbacher delivers a lecture. (Image by IMR)