Scientific Committees
The International Scientific Committees for Physics and Chemistry are responsible for the scientific organisation of the Solvay Conferences. They are in charge of defining the general theme of the conference and if selecting a chair person. Their outstanding quality is what makes the International Solvay Institutes renowned worldwide. Each member is appointed for a 6-year period term, renewable once. The International Solvay Institutes are proud of their Scientific Committees and most grateful for their remarkable work.
Scientific Committee for Physics
Chair
David Gross
2004 Nobel Laureate
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara, USA
Members
Roger Blandford
Stanford University, USA
Alessandra Buonanno
Max-Planck-Institut, Potsdam, Germany
Steven Chu
1997 Nobel Laureate
Stanford University, USA
Fabiola Gianotti
CERN, Geneva,Switzerland
Bertrand Halperin
Harvard University, USA
Wolfgang Ketterle
Nobel Laureate 2001
MIT, Cambridge, USA
Juan Maldacena
IAS Princeton, USA
Giorgio Parisi
2021 Nobel Laureate
U. La Sapienza, Roma, Italy
Peter Zoller
University of Innsbruck, Austria
Scientific Secretary
Alexandre Sevrin
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Scientific Committee for Chemistry
Chair
Ben Feringa
2016 Nobel Laureate
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Members
Takuzo Aida
Tokyo University, Japan
Joanna Aizenberg
Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Carolyn Bertozzi
Stanford University, USA
Thomas Ebbesen
Strasbourg University, France
Stefan Hell
2014 Nobel Laureate
Max Planck Institute, Germany
David W. MacMillan
2021 Nobel Laureate
Princeton University, USA
Bert Weckhuysen
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Helma Wennemers
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Omar Yaghi
Berkeley University, USA
Scientific Secretary
Anne De Wit
Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Previous Chairs of the Scientific Committees
Chairs of the International Scientific Committee for Physics
1911 - 1928
Hendrik Lorentz
1902 Nobel Laureate
Haarlem, The Netherlands
1928 - 1946
Paul Langevin
Paris, France
1946 - 1962
Sir Lawrence Bragg
1915 Nobel Laureate
Cambridge, United Kingdom
1962 - 1967
Robert Oppenheimer
Princeton, USA
1967 - 1968
Christian Mølle
Copenhagen, Denmark
1969 - 1980
Edoardo Amaldi
Rome, Italy
1980 - 1990
Léon Van Hove
Genève, Suisse
1992 - 2006
Herbert Walther
Munich, Germany
2006 - present
David Gross
2004 Nobel Laureate
Santa Barbara, USA
Chairs of the International Scientific Committee for Chemistry
1922 - 1939
Sir William Pope
Cambridge, United Kingdom
1945 - 1958
Paul Karrer
1937 Nobel Laureate
Zürich, Switzerland
1958 - 1988
Alfred Ubbelohde
London, United Kingdom
1989 - 2011
Stuart Rice
Chicago, USA
2011 - 2022
Kurt Wüthrich
2002 Nobel Laureate
Zürich, Switzerland
2022 - present
Ben Feringa
2016 Nobel Laureate
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
The local scientific committees are composed of chemists and physicists active in Belgian research institutions. Their mission is to provide advice and help in the preparation of the scientific program of the local activities (i.e., all activities but the Solvay Conferences, which are run by the International Committees): workshops, chairs and colloquia.
Scientific Committee for Physics
Chair
Marc Henneaux
ULB, Brussels
Members
Conny Aerts
KULeuven
Nicolas Boulanger
UMONS
Giacomo Bruno
UCLouvain
Ben Craps
VUB, Brussels
Jean-René Cudell
ULiège
Sophie De Buyl
VUB, Brussels
Pierre Gaspard
ULB, Brussels
Michael Gillon
U.Liège
Joseph Indekeu
KULeuven
Philippe Lambin
FUNDP, Namur
Jean Manca
UHasselt
Dirk Ryckbosch
UGent
Alexander Sevrin
VUB, Brussels
Jacques Tempere
UAntwerp
Petr Tinyakov
ULB, Brussels
Sophie Van Eck
ULB, Brussels
Frank Verstraete
UGent
Observers
Anne De Wit
ULB, Brussels
Yves Geerts
ULB, Brussels
Scientific Committee for Chemistry
Chair
Yves Geerts
ULB, Brussels
Members
Mercedes Alonso Giner
VUB, Brussels
Annemie Bogaerts
UAntwerp
Benoît Champagne
FUNDP, Namur
Jérôme Cornil
UMONS
Frank De Proft
VUB, Brussels
Anne De Wit
ULB, Brussels
Gert Desmet
VUB, Brussels
Jeremy Harvey
KULeuven
Sophie Hermans
UCLouvain
Luc Moens
UGent
Jean-Christophe M. Monbaliu
ULiège
Han Remaut
VUB, Brussels
Hennie Valkenier
ULB, Brussels
Marlies Van Bael
UHasselt
Veronique Van Speybroeck
UGent
Lode Wyns
VUB, Brussels
Observers
Marc Henneaux
ULB, Brussels
Pierre Gaspard
ULB, Brussels
In 2008, the Board of Directors of the International Solvay Institutes decided to set up an International Advisory Committee. The International Advisory Committee of the Solvay Institutes is composed of distinguished scientists who have the task of periodically evaluating all the scientific activities of the Solvay Institutes (outside the Solvay Conferences which are run by the respective Scientific Committees), make suggestions if appropriate, report to the Board of Directors and provide advice for future developments.
Advisory Committee
Chair
Robbert Dijkgraaf
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Members
Costas Bachas
ENS, Paris, France
Leticia Cugliandolo
Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris VI, France
Karen I. Goldberg
University of Pennsylvania, USA
Bert Meijer
Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Hirosi Ooguri
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Gunnar von Heijne
Stockholm University, Sweden
Honorary Members
Pr. Claudio Bunster
Centro de Estudios Científicos,
Valdivia, Chile
Pr. Thomas Cech
1989 Nobel Laureate
Boulder, Colorado, USA
Pr. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
1997 Nobel Laureate
École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
Pr. Robbert Dijkgraaf
President-Elect of the International
Science Council
Pr. François Englert
2013 Nobel Laureate
ULB, Belgium
Pr. Gerhard Ertl
2007 Nobel Laureate
Fritz-Haber-Institut der
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Berlin, Germany
Pr. Graham Fleming
University of Berkeley, USA
Pr. Gerard ’t Hooft
1999 Nobel Laureate
Spinoza Instituut, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Christian Jourquin
Former CEO Solvay Group,
Belgium
Pr. Roger Kornberg
2006 Nobel Laureate
Stanford University, USA
Pr. Jean-Marie Lehn
1987 Nobel Laureate
Collège de France, Paris, France
Pr. Henk N.W. Lekkerkerker
Utrecht Universiteit
The Netherlands
Pr. Hermann Nicolai
Max-Planck-Institut für
Gravitationsphysik, Golm, Germany
Pr. Kyriacos Costa Nicolaou
University of California, San Diego, USA
Pr. Jacques Prost
Institut Curie, Paris, France
Pr. Pierre Ramond
University of Florida, Gainesville,
USA
Pr. Victor A. Sadovnichy
Moscow State University, Russia
Pr. Roald Sagdeev
University of Maryland, College Park, USA
Madame Solvay de la Hulpe
Belgium
Pr. JoAnne Stubbe
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, USA
Pr. Irina Veretennicoff
Emeritus Professor VUB, Belgium
Pr. Klaus von Klitzing
1985 Nobel Laureate
Max-Planck-Institut, Stuttgart, Germany
Pr. George M. Whitesides
Harvard University, USA
Pr. Kurt Wüthrich
2002 Nobel Laureate
Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA and ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Pr. Chen Ning Yang
1957 Nobel Laureate
Chinese University, Hong Kong & Tsinghua University, Beijing, China