ICTP is pleased to announce that the forthcoming ICTP Colloquium
on "Molecular Motors and Switches at Surfaces" by Professor
Petra Rudolf, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, will
take place on Monday 4 November 2019 at 16:30 hrs, in the
Budinich Lecture Hall, Leonardo Building, ICTP.
Biosketch: Petra Rudolf was born in Munich, Germany. She
studied Physics at the La Sapienza, University of Rome, where
she specialized in Solid State Physics. In 1987 she joined the
National Surface Science laboratory TASC INFM in Trieste for the
following five years, interrupted by two extended periods in
1989 and 1990/1991 at Bell Labs in the USA, where she started to
work on the newly discovered fullerenes. In 1993 she moved to
the University of Namur, Belgium where she received her PhD in
1995 and then quickly moved from postdoctoral researcher to
lecturer and senior lecturer before taking up the Chair in
Experimental Solid State Physics at the University in Groningen
in 2003. Her principal research interests lie in the areas of
condensed matter physics and surface science, particularly
molecular motors, 2D solids, organic thin films and
inorganic-organic hybrids. Dr. Rudolf is the President of the
European Physical Society; she was the President of the Belgian
Physical Society in 2000/2001 and was elected member of the
German Academy of Science and Engineering,honorary member of the
Italian Physical Society, Fellow of the Institute of Physics,
"Lid van verdienst" of the Dutch Physical Society and Fellow of
the American Physical Society. For her work on molecular motors
she received the 2007 Descartes Prize of the European
Commission. In 2013 she was appointed Officer of the Order of
Orange Nassau by H.M. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Abstract: Nano-engines and molecular motors form the
basis of nearly every important biological process. In
contrast to this solution chosen by Nature for achieving
complex tasks, all of mankind's present day technologies
function exclusively through their static or equilibrium
properties. One can therefore easily anticipate that the
controlled movement of molecules or parts of molecules offers
unprecedented technological possibilities for the future. In
this presentation I shall illustrate how introducing new
concepts like incorporating a ratchet mechanism, allows for
the creation of molecular engines that transcend simple
switches. I shall discuss how to build molecular engines that
allow movements at the molecular level to be coupled to the
macroscopic world, e.g., to transport macroscopic objects like
drops of liquid over a surface. Another example are molecular
systems that can be triggered to form spontaneously functional
structures with a well-defined position on surfaces. I shall
discuss molecular switches, which can be addressed with light
and charge transfer and show that such systems can be employed
for “read and write” functions.
The information is available at http://indico.ictp.it/event/8985/
The Colloquium will be livestreamed at ictp.it/livestream
Light refreshments will be served after the talk.
You are all very warmly invited to attend.
With best regards,
Office of the Director, ICTP