Piet Gros and Rens Voesenek appointed as Faculty Professor

Piet Gros and Rens Voesenek will both be appointed to the post of Faculty Professor at the Faculty of Science as of 1 June 2018. 'Through their scientific accomplishments, membership of faculty and university boards, and the way they place science in a social context, Piet and Rens have pushed our faculty forward and made us more visible to the outside world", according to Dean Sjef Smeekens.

Prof. Piet Gros

Piet Gros

Piet Gros is a chemist and crystallographer, and has had many scientific successes over the years. He studies proteins that circulate in the blood and protect against infections and inflammatory diseases.

Recently, he received a second ERC Advanced Grant to study whether a cell is healthy or not. Piet has won many awards, from the Spinoza Prize to the prestigious Swedish Gregori Aminoff Prize, and now he has been appointed Faculty Professor; is he pleased with the new position? 

“Prizes, appointments, and grants all help me to continue the work of my team, and I’m truly pleased with that. The fact that this appointment was made by my own faculty makes it special to me. It is a token of appreciation expressed by closest colleagues.”

 

Rens Voesenek

Rens Voesenek is Professor of Ecophysiology of Plants and head of the Biology department. In the past, he has served as an Institute Director and as the faculty’s Vice-Dean of Education. He is the initiator and President of the Future Food Utrecht HUB within the Sustainability strategic theme. 

“As Faculty Professor, I want to work to raise the food profile of the faculty and the university. It’s my ambition for the excellent food-related researchers at our university to collaborate even more, and to set up truly interdisciplinary research and education. Utrecht University is a leading university, and with the Future Food hub, the faculty can create a unique identity in society and contribute to several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.” 

 

Faculty Professors 

The Faculty of Science has four other Faculty Professors as well. In 2012, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis Bert Weckhuysen was appointed as a Faculty Professor. Three years later, Professor of Plant-Microbe Interactions Corné Pieterse followed. In 2017 Albert Heck, Professor in Mass spectrometry and Proteomics was appointed, and last December the honour was granted to former Dean and Professor of Biochemistry, Gerrit van Meer.