Niek van Hulst

Niek van Hulst received his PhD in Molecular & Laser-Physics at the University of Nijmegen (NL), on microwave-laser double resonance molecular-beam spectroscopy. Specialisation on non-linear optics of organic materials, integrated optics, atomic force and near-field optical microscopy. Since 1997 full Professor Applied Optics at MESA+ Institute for NanoTechnology (the Netherlands) with focus on single molecule detection and scanning probe technology. From 2005, ICREA Research Professor and senior group leader at ICFO – the Institute of Photonic Sciences – Castelldefels (Barcelona).

Fellow of the Optical Society of America; Coordinator Spanish CONSOLIDER program NanoLight; European Science prize; two ERC Advanced Investigator Grants; Head Academic Program at ICFO. Author of 240 refereed papers, with >10000 citations, h-index 54.

Research interest: control of light interaction at the nanometer scale. Specialization on nano-antennas which confine light to far sub-wavelength hot-spots, and on broad-band coherent control schemes to command light pulses at few fs timescale. Use of optical antennas to address locally individual molecules, quantum dots and proteins, enhancing their excitation and managing emission rate, spectra, polarization and direction of single photon emission. Coherent control of fs dynamics of individual molecules, nanoparticles and plasmonic hot spots. Recently focus on long-lived coherences in single light-harvesting antenna complexes at native conditions, to unravel the remarkably high efficiency of energy conversion in such natural molecular antennas.