Herre van der Zant, professor at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at TU Delft and a member of the advisory board for the Nano Area of Advance, was recently awarded an honorary doctorate at Chalmers. Professor Van der Zant shares what this recognition means to him and reflects on some of the most exciting discoveries of his career.
Congratulations on receiving an honorary doctorate from Chalmers! What does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
“Of course, I feel honored and it is a clear recognition, not only for the scientific work but also for my advising role here at Chalmers that I fulfilled with a lot of pleasure over the years. I was surprised, it was totally unexpected. It is a moment like this that makes you to look a back and to say: I am proud of what I achieved”.
Your pioneering work in nanoelectronics and nanomechanics has had a significant impact. What made you begin research in this field?
“I am an experimentalist, who explores new nanodevices and measurements techniques. In doing so, you enter new territories where no one was before. You explore and find many unexpected results. To figure out what is going is then a puzzle and that provides the motivation to go on. A curiosity driven journey.”
Looking back at your career, what have been some of the most exciting or unexpected breakthroughs?
"Difficult to say, there have been many unexpected results/breakthroughs, which range from measuring the position of a suspended beam with a precision better than that of the size of the nucleus of an atom to quantifying quantum phenomena in transport through just a single molecule."
What advice would you give to young researchers and students at Chalmers who are just starting their scientific journey?
"Follow your curiosity and make your scientific journey a fun thing to do; see it as an adventure!"