Henry Chapman named honorary doctor at Uppsala University

Henry N. Chapman, Leading Scientist at CFEL/DESY, has been named honorary doctor at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University in Sweden. The title of Honorary Doctor of Philosophy will be conferred on Chapman at Uppsala University in January.

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Henry Chapman. Photo: DESY, Gesine Born

Chapman, who is also a Professor of Physics at Universität Hamburg, Germany, leads the coherent imaging division at CFEL at DESY, where algorithms, instruments and methods for X-ray imaging are developed in cooperation with leading materials researchers and structural biologists.

Together with researchers from Uppsala University, Chapman has conducted innovative experiments where complex biological molecules have been depicted with ultra short and extremely intensive X-ray pulses from the free-electron laser. The collaboration has created a new interdisciplinary research domain, which gathers researchers from various disciplines, ranging from biology to chemistry and physics, to develop new methods for atomic imaging and has resulted in a large number of joint publications.

“Henry Chapman is one of the most innovative and prolific pioneers in the area of free-electron laser science, and constantly pushing the field forward. The inspiring collaboration with scientists from Uppsala has enabled X-ray views from the nanocosm of biomolecules that didn't seem feasible just a few years ago,” said DESY director Helmut Dosch. “I cordially congratulate Henry Chapman to this distinction.”

Together with Chapman, four other scientists from different disciplines will be honored at Uppsala.