Ruben van Lommel

PhD Student

Ruben is a Belgian researcher that obtained his MSc degree in chemistry from KU Leuven in 2018. That same year, Ruben started his FWO-funded, joint PhD under the supervision of Prof. Wim De Borggraeve (KU Leuven), Prof. Frank De Proft (VUB), and Dr. Mercedes Alonso (VUB). In his research, Ruben employs both synthetic and computational chemistry to better understand and develop supramolecular gels. Besides his formal PhD topic, he is interested in the integration of computational methods in synthetic organic chemistry and the elucidation of various organic reaction mechanisms by means of static QM calculations as well as ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations. Ruben joins the research group for a research stay, in which he will investigate the effect of solvation on Menshutkin reactions. In his spare time, you can find Ruben running, cooking, or playing football.