Joost Reek is professor of Homogeneous, Supramolecular and Bio-inspired Catalysis and heads the UvA research priority area Sustainable Chemistry. In 2017, he was appointed as distinguished research professor at the UvA Faculty of Science.

With its lectureship award, the International Organic Chemistry Foundation (IOCF) aims to contribute to the academic development in the field of organic chemistry by inviting distinguished organic chemists to Japan to give academic lectures. Professor Reek lectured at the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka University, the Graduate School of Engineering at Kyoto University, and the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University.

Connected to research in Japan

Reek was honored to receive the lectureship award: "The scientific fields of supramolecular chemistry as well as organometallic chemistry and catalysis, in particular with regard to CH activation, are of extremely high standards in Japan. Metal mediated synthesis in Japan has a strong tradition, even resulting in Nobel prizes. This traditions can still be recognized in the research programs. As my research is on the border of these two fields, I feel particularly connected to the research in Japan, and in return, our work is well appreciated and inspirational for the Japanese community."

Currently professor Reek is continuing his Japanese lecture tour in Kyoto, Nagaya and Tokyo, as he also has been awarded a Fellowship of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).