Berend Smit elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy
Berend Smit. Credit: EPFL
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has elected Professor Berend Smit at EPFL as a Foreign Member.
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) is “the forum, the voice and the conscience of science in the Netherlands”. Its activities are based on the conviction that knowledge and creativity are the most important ingredients for well-being and prosperity.
The Academy is a prestigious society of distinguished scientists and scholars, offering lifetime membership based on achievements. It includes both ordinary members, who work in the Netherlands, and foreign members, who work abroad. Members share knowledge, debate science policy, contribute to advisory work, participate in committees, and serve on panels awarding scientific prizes.
This year, KNAW has inducted seventeen new members in its ranks. Among them is Professor Berend Smit, elected as a Foreign Member. Smit is Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at EPFL, where he directs the Laboratory of Molecular Simulation at the Sion campus.
Smit’s research focuses on molecular simulations, which he has applied in a broad array of research fields, including methane storage, carbon capture, biological membranes, simulation techniques, separations, zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, surfactants, and phase equilibrium.
Berend Smit has developed novel molecular simulation techniques for key chemical processes involving nanoporous materials. Understanding and simulating nanoporous materials requires a knowledge of the absorption and transport properties of the molecules that make up such materials. It had proved difficult if not impossible to calculate these properties until Smit developed an entirely novel set of simulation methods. His research has improved our understanding of nonporous materials and made their effective design possible. His findings are of relevance in such applications as carbon capture and other chemical technologies of vital importance to the climate.
Reacting on X (formerly Twitter), Smit said: “I am honored to announce my election as a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). This honor was made possible because of exceptional PhD students, postdocs, and colleagues. I am deeply grateful to all of them!”