Pavel Jungwirth (born 20 May 1966 in Prague, Czech Republic) is a Czech physical chemist. Since 2004, he has been the head of the Senior Research Group at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He has also been a professor in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University since 2000.[1][2] He has also been a senior editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry since 2009.[2] He is popularly known for studying the explosive reaction between alkali metals, such as sodium and potassium, and water; his research on this subject indicates that these reactions result from a Coulomb explosion.[3] He and his colleagues have also discovered a way to slow down this reaction, which they used to determine the source of a blue flash that is briefly produced during the reaction.[4]

Pavel Jungwirth
Born (1966-05-20) 20 May 1966 (age 57)
Alma materCzech Academy of Sciences (D. Phil., 1993)
SpouseIva (née Kratochvilova)
AwardsOtto Wichterle Prize (2002), Spiers Memorial Prize from the Royal Society for Chemistry (2008), Member of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic since 2009
Scientific career
FieldsOrganic chemistry
InstitutionsInstitute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Doctoral advisorRudolf Zahradník
Websitejungwirth.group.uochb.cz/en

Pavel Jungwirth is a coordinator of an international science competition Dream Chemistry Award.

References edit

  1. ^ "Pavel Jungwirth, Ph.D." Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. Czech Academy of Sciences.
  2. ^ a b Jungwirth, Pavel. "Pavel Jungwirth Curriculum Vitae".
  3. ^ Webb, Jonathan (26 January 2015). "Metal explosions 'driven by charge'". BBC News.
  4. ^ Coghlan, Andy (9 August 2016). "Watch a classic chemistry lab explosion tamed to run in slow-mo". New Scientist.