First Prize for Davey Loos of the Catholic University of Leuven
Belgian researcher Davey Loos has won the first prize in the DSM Awards for
Chemistry and Technology 2005. An international jury selected Dr Davey Loos,
who earned his doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven, for his
research in the field of biocatalysis.
Dr Loos has succeeded in developing a technique for studying single enzyme
molecules as opposed to ensembles of billions of molecules – something that
biochemists have long wanted to be able to do but which has been impossible
because of the nanoscale involved. Dr Loos’ work opens the way to new research
into fundamental questions about how enzymes function, which will enable
smarter use of enzymes in a variety of applications, for example in detergents.
Davey Loos was presented with a certificate by Mr Jan Zuidam, deputy chairman
of DSM’s Managing Board. As the winner of the first prize he also received a
cash prize of EUR 7,500.
The winner of the second prize, Jessica Kroeze (Delft University of
Technology, Netherlands), received a cash prize of EUR 5,000, and the winner
of the third prize, Dirk Aarts (Utrecht University, Netherlands), received a
cash prize of EUR 2,500. The other six prize-winners all received prizes of
EUR 1,250.
The jury had the following to say in its report about the winner of the first
prize: “The work of Dr. Loos opens the way to detailed molecular understanding
and intensification of a variety of enzymatic and other scientifically and
industrially relevant catalytic processes.”
The jury expects the
findings of the research performed not only by the first prize winner, but
also by the other laureates, to make valuable contributions to new
developments in de disciplines in question.
