Profile of the advisor
Thomas Schlathölter studied Physics at the University of Osnabrück/Germany. He worked as a PhD student at the University of Osnabrück and at the Université Paris Sud in Orsay/France in the field of surface science and received his PhD in 1996. Schlathölter came to Groningen as a Marie-Curie fellow, to work on highly charged ion interactions with fullerenes. During a 5 year fellowship with the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences starting in 2000, Schlathölter started investigating molecular processes underlying biological radiation damage and cancer therapy. In 2013 Schlathölter joined the Zernike Institute as a group leader working on Gas Phase Biomolecules and Energetic Interactions.
Expertise
Gas phase biomolecular structure and dynamics, molecular mechanisms underlying radiotherapy, mass spectrometry, synchrotron radiation, free electron lasers, astrochemistry.
Profile of the research group
The Gas-Phase Biomolecules and Energetic Interactions group typically has 3-4 PhD students and about the same number of undergraduate students. The research relies on home-built experimental setups combining mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectroscopy with synchrotron and free electron laser beams. Current research focuses on structure and dynamics of DNA and self-assembling DNA nanostructures, bimolecular radiation damage and proton/heavy ion therapy and molecular hydrogen formation on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
