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Herman J.C. Berendsen

this is me I am retired professor of (bio)physical chemistry of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and until October 1, 1999, I was the supervisor of the MD (Molecular Dynamics) group., which belongs to the research institute GBB (Groningen Biomolecular Science and Biotechnology Institute). From Oct 1, 1999, until 2005, the MD group has been supervised by Prof. Dr A.E. Mark (Alan), who took up a position in Australia in 2005. Since 2006 Prof. Dr S.-J. Marrink (Siewert-Jan) leads the MD group.
My research has focused on biomolecular modeling, with special interest in proteins and membranes; mixed quantum/classical dynamical simulations, functional motions on longer time scales, and polarisable force fields. On the computer side: we have developed the public domain software GROMACS, based on a parallel computer project. See www.gromacs.org

Hierarchical Modelling

In the past years I have given a course on Hierarchical Modelling at several institutes [April-June 2000 at the ETH in Zürich, Switzerland, March/April 2001 at the University of Rome (La Sapienza), April-June 2002 at the Unilever Cambridge Centre for Molecular Informatics, Dept of Chemistry, University of Cambridge (UK), Dept of Chemistry, October 2003 at the Chemistry and Biochemsitry Departments of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA].

I have written a book on this subject, entitled Simulating the Physical World, Hierarchical Modeling from Quantum Mechanics to Fluid Dynamics. The book was published in July 2007 by Cambridge University Press. For web pages related to the book click here.

Bioinformatics

After having served in an advisory role with the KNAW (see the Position Paper "De Toekomst van Bioinformatica in Nederland" ) and with the NWO "RegieOrgaan Genomics" for the BSIK proposal (2003) for financial support of the BioRange program, I have been a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Netherlands Bio-Informatics Center (NBIC) until mid-2006. In the third quarter of 2006 I was the chairman of an international Evaluation Committee for the NBIC: see the evaluation report (pdf file).

I have been the Secretary of the InterUnion Bioinformatics Group (IUBG), which is a joint organisation of several international scientific unions (IUPAB, IUBMB, IUCr, IUPAC and CODATA), with ICSU/UNESCO support, aimed at safeguarding the public access to biodata. The IUBG has completed its final report in May 2002. The IUBG Final Report is available here.

Publications

Look here for a list of my publications. The publications of the MD group (with links to the articles) can be found here, and our publications together with those of my former collaborator Wilfred van Gunsteren (now at the ETH, Zurich) can be found here.
By ISI my name has been put on the list of 'highly cited' authors (click here to view the entry). View also an interview with ISI Special Topics (New Hot Paper Comments).

Here is a short curriculum vitae.

Contact Info

Prof. Dr H.J.C. Berendsen
GBB/MD
University of Groningen
Nijenborgh 4
9747 AG GRONINGEN
the Netherlands

E-mail: H.J.C.Berendsen@rug.nl  
Phone: lab and secretary +31.50.3634323; fax +31.50.3634398

Being retired, I will often be unreachable at this phone number. Send me an email! Or leave a message with the secretary. If everything fails, I am likely to be lost [with my wife and/or (grand)children] in the snow , in a forest , at a beach , on a sailing boat , in an interesting city , or in an ancient abbey.