She received her doctorate with the distinction 'cum laude', recognizing the outstanding quality of her research under the supervision of professors Célia Fonseca Guerra and F. Matthias Bickelhaupt and co-promotor Dr. Trevor A. Hamlin at the Theoretical Chemistry Group of the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The promotion committee was very impressed by Nieuwland’s outstanding defense and unanimous voted for the judicium cum laude. In total she (co-)authored twelve scientific publications in leading general chemistry and physical chemistry journals, which garnered media attention and resulted in two news features in the chemistry magazine C2W.
Decoding Nature’s design principles
The crucial role of hydrogen-bond interactions in biochemical systems, such as DNA and proteins, has inspired chemists to use these interactions in designing novel catalysts, macromolecules, and materials, leading to the popular field of bio-inspired supramolecular chemistry. During her PhD, Dr. Nieuwland demonstrated that the structure and stability of bio(-inspired) supramolecular systems can nowadays be understood and explained through accurate quantum-chemical calculations. Although experimental research can provide many important insights, she proved that computational studies are indispensable for unraveling (bio)molecular bonding mechanisms.
In her thesis, Dr. Nieuwland introduced clear physical concepts that now enable rational explanation and prediction in supramolecular chemistry and biochemistry, fields that previously have been challenging for quantum-chemical design principles due to their mix of complexity and subtlety. Her work shows that Decoding Nature’s design principles cannot only enrich our comprehension of fundamental molecular interactions but also opens new avenues for designing advanced supramolecular systems and materials with tailored properties.
C. Nieuwland – Bio-inspired Supramolecular Chemistry: Insights from quantum-chemical bonding analyses
Download the PDF of the thesis from the VU repository.