PRESS RELEASE 2024-12-05

Press release in pdf format.

The receiver of the 2024 Bror Holmberg Prize is Janos Hajdu, Professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Uppsala University.

Janos Hajdu has a University diploma in Chemistry (1973), a Ph.D. in Biology (1980) and a D.Sc. in Physics (1993), the latter two from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. During the 1980’s and 1990’s he worked at Oxford University (UK) in protein crystallography, using synchrotron radiation at Daresbury Laboratory (UK).

Since 1996 he is Professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Uppsala University. He is also involved in one of the leading laser research centres, ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure), which is a pan-European Research Infrastructure hosting the world’s most intense lasers.

Janos Hajdu has been seminal in the development of the XFEL (X-Ray Free-Electron Laser) technique. Hajdu’s scientific profile comprises both development and application of XFEL lasers and he utilises the intense and short X-ray pulses to make it possible to ”capture” the structure of sensitive proteins before they are destroyed by radiation. The very high time resolution allows him to capture extremely fast reactions.

Among his accomplishments is the discovery of X-ray-driven catalysis in redox enzymes and the ”Diffraction before destruction” concept. Hajdu has previously received awards such as the 2012 Rudbeck Medal for ”Scientific Achievement” from Uppsala University, and the 2021 Gregori Aminoff Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien, KVA) for ”the development of X-ray free-electron laser based structural biology”.

The Bror Holmberg Medal is awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to chemical research. It is usually handed out every three years, but may also be awarded annually or biennially under special circumstances. The prize was established in 1966 to honor the memory of the Swedish Chemical Society’s honorary member and former chairman, Bror Holmberg. Read more about the medal here.

For questions, please contact:
Agnes Rinaldo-Matthis, Head of the Swedish Chemical Society (Svenska Kemisamfundet)
agnes.rinaldo.matthis@kemisamfundet.se