Autor: Thomas Welton

Peter Wasserscheid studied at the RWTH Aachen, receiving his diploma in Chemistry in 1995. He started to work with ionic liquids under the guidance of Prof. Willi Keim and completed his Ph D in 1998. After joining BP Chemicals in Sunbury/GB for a six-months industrial post-doc, Peter returned to the RWTH Aachen where he finished his «Habilitation» in December 2002. In 2003 he became Full Professor in the Department of Chemical and Bioengineering at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He has received several awards including the Max-Buchner-Award of DECHEMA (2001), the Innovation Award of the German Economy (2003, together with Solvent Innovation Gmb H, Cologne) and the Leibniz Award of the German Science Foundation (2006). Tom Welton studied at the University of Sussex, graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry in 1985 and completed his DPhil, under the guidance of Prof. Seddon, in 1990. His interest in ionic liquids dates back to this time and has continued throughout his career. In 1993 he was awarded the prestigious Lloyd»s of London Tercentenary Foundation fellowship, which he chose to take up at Imperial College. He has remained there, initially as a Lecturer, but now as a Professor in Sustainable Chemistry. He is the 2007 Christopher Ingold Lecturer awarded for excellence in physical organic chemistry. Since August 2007 he is head of the department of Chemistry at Imperial College.