Kolthoff Lectureship features Professor Michael Graetzel, Feb. 6-8

The Department of Chemistry hosts Professor Michael Graetzel from the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, from Monday, February 6, through Wednesday, February 8, for its Kolthoff Lectureship in Chemistry. Graetzel will present three lectures, and will meet with faculty and students during his visit to the University of Minnesota and its Department of Chemistry.

Topics, and times, dates and locations for Graetzel's seminars are:

• The Advent of Mesoscopic Solar Cells, 3:45 p.m. Monday, February 6, in 100 Smith Hall. There will be reception immediately following his lecture in 117/119 Smith Hall. All are welcome to attend.
• Optimizing Photon Harvesting and Charge Carrier Collection in Mesoscopic Solar Energy Conversion Systems, 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, February 7, 331 Smith Hall.
• Photo Meets Electrocatalysis: United we Split (. . .Water), 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, February 8, 331 Smith Hall.

Abstracts for Graetzel's seminars are available on the Department of Chemistry seminar web page.

Graetzel pioneered research on energy and electron transfer reactions in mesoscopic-materials and their application in solar energy conversion systems, optoelectronic devices and lithium ion batteries. He discovered a new type of solar cell based on dye sensitized nanocrystalline semiconductor oxide particles. He is the author of more than 800 peer-reviewed publications and two books, and is the inventor of more than 50 patents. He has received prestigious awards, including the Balzan Prize, the Galvani Medal, the Faraday Medal, the Harvey Prize, the Gerischer Award, the Dutch Havinga Award and Medal, the International Prize of the Japanese Society of Coordination Chemistry, the ENI-Italgas Energy-Prize and the year 2000 European Grand Prix of Innovation. He was selected by the Scientific American as one of the 50 top researchers in the world. Additional information is available on his website.

The Kolthoff Lectureship in Chemistry honors the legacy of Izaak Maurits Kolthoff, a world-renowned chemistry researcher and professor who joined the University’s Department of Chemistry in 1927. His research was recognized by many medals and memberships in learned societies throughout the world. Kolthoff died in 1993, at the age of 99.