Current positions

(1) Senior scientist, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht University, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, the Netherlands,

(2) Professor of Organic Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University (UU), Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, the Netherlands. Tel +31 30-2535117; email: jaap.damste@nioz.nl. 

(3) Director of the Netherlands Earth System Science Centre.

Education

• BSc degree: Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 1982.
• MSc degree: Environmental Organic Chemistry (advisors Prof. Dr. L. de Galan, Dr. Ir. E.W.B. de Leer), Delft University of Technology 1984 (cum laude; upper 3%).
• PhD degree: Organic Geochemistry. Thesis: Organically bound sulphur in the geosphere: A molecular approach (advisors Prof. Dr. P.A. Schenck, Prof. Dr. J.W. de Leeuw), Delft University of Technology, 1988 (cum laude; upper 3%).

Former appointments

• Professor of Molecular Palaeontology, University of Utrecht (UU) 2004-2009.
• Assistant professor, Geochemistry, University of Utrecht (UU) 1993-2004.
• Senior scientist, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1993-2002.
• Associate Scientist, Organic Geochemistry Unit, Delft University of Technology 1989-1992.
• Assistant Scientist, Organic Geochemistry Unit, Delft University of Technology 1984-1989.
• Head of Department, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 2003-2019.

Scientific leadership and management skills

• Head of a scientific department composed of ca. 80 people (NIOZ).
• Scientific leader of a research group composed of ca. 8 people (UU)
• Scientific coordinator/PI of many past and current (inter)national research projects
• Initiator and coordinator of a successful FP5 Marie Curie Research Network (HPRN-CT-1999-00055) with seven European partners.

Professional results

• (Co)authorship of almost 800 journal publications (with 46500 ISI citations) since 1985 from which 23 appeared in Nature, 12 in Science and 7 in PNAS, resulting in a current Hirsch Index of 111 (ISI) or 135 (Google citations). In addition, 13 book chapters and 40 contributions to proceeding volumes were published.
• Editor of four special issues published in scientific journals.
• (Co)advisor of 55 completed PhD theses.
• >40 invited lectures in the last decade.

National functions

• Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) since 2004; member section geosciences, advisory membership of section of biological sciences.
• Member of Member of Council for Earth and Life Sciences of the KNAW (RAL) (2008-2013)
• Member of many review panels of the Dutch Science Foundation.
• Member of the scientific committee of the Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO) (2005-2010).
• Member of the steering committee of the national Darwin Centre for Biogeosciences (2005-2014).
• Chairman of the scientific committee of the Dutch Geological Science meeting (NAC-10) (2010).

International functions

• (Co)convenor of international symposia.
• Member of scientific and programme committees for scientific meetings (IMOG, Goldschmidt, ISME)
• Referee for research proposals submitted to NSF, NERC, DFG, ERC etc.
• Member of ERC panel for evalution of research proposals
• Referee for Science, Nature, PNAS, Nature Geosciences, Geology, EPSL, GCA and many other journals.
• Member of the EGU Vernadsky Medal, GS Treibs Medal and KNAW Heineken Prize Selection committees.

Editorships scientific journals

• Associate Editor Organic Geochemistry (1994-2004).
• Editorial Board Geology (2003-2005).
• Associate Editor Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2006-2014).
• Editorial board Environmental Microbiology (2008-2018).

Prizes and awards

• 1988 Best paper award of the Organic Geochemistry Division of the American Geochemical Society.
• 1993 the first Schenck Award from the European Association of Organic Geochemists, the biennial award for the best organic geochemist under 35.
• 1993 PIONIER-award (0.9 M€) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
• 2004 ISI Highly Cited Researcher in Geosciences.
• 2004 Spinoza award (1.5 M€) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). This prize, sometimes viewed as the 'Dutch Nobel Prize', is awarded each year to 3-4 Dutch researchers who rank among the world's top scientists. The laureates are internationally renowned, and know how to inspire young researchers.
• 2005 Membership Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Section of Earth Sciences.
• 2005 Treibs Medal from the Geochemical Society. The Alfred Treibs medal is awarded to researchers for lifetime achievements in organic geochemistry.
• 2007 Vernadsky Medal from the Biogeosciences Division of the European Geosciences Union, for “innovative use of biomarkers to elucidate interactions between the Biosphere and Geosphere across major ecosystems and timescales”.
• 2008 ERC advanced research grant (2.5 M€) in the first round ever organized.
• 2013 Main applicant of Gravitation Award from the Dutch Ministry of Science and Education (28 M€) for the Netherlands Earth Systen Science Centre; co-applicant of Gravitation Award from the Dutch Ministry of Science and Education (23 M€) for the Soehngen Institute of Anaerobic Microbiology
• 2014 Dr. A.H. Heineken prize for Environmental Sciences.
• 2014 ISI Highly Cited Researcher (the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication, earning them the mark of exceptional impact) in Geosciences
• 2016 ERC advanced research grant (2.5 M€) 
• 2018 ISI Highly Cited Researcher (the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication, earning them the mark of exceptional impact) in Geosciences