The International Peace Foundation

Keynote Speaker

Professor Sir Harold W. Kroto is a 1996 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry and the Francis Eppes Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the carbon compounds called fullerenes and a new type of the carbon element: Buckminsterfullerene (C60). As the third stable allotrope of carbon, C60 is a cage-shaped ball composed of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons, and its geometrical shape is the same as a football. The discovery of C60 lead to a tremendous shock wave in the scientific field and started a completely new chemical realm, having its influence on physics, chemistry, bio-materials and astronomy, especially on non-linear optics and super-conductivity. Professor Kroto's discovery opened up an entirely new branch of chemistry, with consequences in such diverse areas as astrochemistry, superconductivity and materials chemistry/physics.

While having contributed to major research in spectroscopy, liquid-phase interactions and astrophysical chemistry, Professor Kroto's C60 discovery is considered one of the most important cornerstones in the development of nanoscience. Nanoscience and nanotechnology involves the creation, study and application of accurately-constructed, complex molecules with hundreds to thousands of atoms and overall nanoscale dimensions (ca. 10-9 m). It is the defining science of the 21st century, and strategic applications of new advances in this area offer the exciting promise of major socio-economic as well as humanitarian benefits.

Professor Kroto is among the chemists who are currently developing a vast range of novel synthetic strategies to create large molecules with not only intricate structures but also valuable functions. Nanoscale devices may soon replace silicon and metal in chips to make pocket supercomputers possible, and the tensile strengths of these new materials promise exciting possibilities in engineering. This field is providing challenging advances with exciting objectives which will affect all our lives in the future.

Professor Kroto was knighted in 1996 for his contributions to chemistry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and has served as president of the Royal Society of Chemistry from 2002 to 2004. He has received numerous awards such as the International Prize for New Materials by the American Physical Society (1992), the Italgas Prize for Innovation in Chemistry (1992), the Longstaff Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1993), the Hewlett Packard Europhysics Prize (1994), the Copley Medal (2004) and the Faraday Award (2001), given annually to a scientist who has contributed most to further public communication of science, engineering or technology in the United Kingdom. He holds 37 honorary doctorate degrees from universities worldwide.

Before joining Florida State University in 2004, Professor Kroto taught and carried out research at the University of Sussex in England for 37 years. After a post-doctoral position at the National Research Council in Ottawa and a year at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, he started his academic career at the University of Sussex at Brighton in 1967, where he became a professor in 1985 and in 1991 was appointed a Royal Society Research Professor. He earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Sheffield.

An ardent advocate for science education, Professor Kroto set up the Vega Science Trust in 1995, a UK educational charity and TV science channel accessed by over 165 countries, of which many programs have been broadcast on BBC, which aims to improve knowledge and raise awareness of scientific achievements. Vega has produced some 280 plus programs and several series, such as the critically acclaimed discussion programs "The Next Big Thing" and, most recently, the "Snapshots" careers programs. Professor Kroto is now heavily involved with GEOSET, a Global Educational Outreach for Science, Engineering and Technology program (www.geoset.info and www.geoset.fsu.edu) which he initiated after moving to Florida State University. GEOSET seeks to exploit the revolutionary creative dynamics of the Internet to improve the general level of science understanding and awareness worldwide. Geoset is doing this by enabling scientists wherever they are in the world to contribute personally to a rapidly growing globally-accessible cache of educational STEM material.

SCHEDULE

Monday, January 28, 2013

10:00 Dialogue with high school students at Shrewsbury International School in Bangkok (Thailand) (not a public event)

14:00 Keynote speech and dialogue hosted by Naresuan University at the Millennium Hilton Bangkok (Thailand)
Information and free seat reservation:
phone (055) 962-381, fax (055) 962-380, email Duangjitp@nu.ac.th

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

10:00 Keynote speech and dialogue at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi (Vietnam)
Information and free seat reservation:
phone (091) 322-2632, email anhlt.vnu@gmail.com

Please follow this link to the live Webcast:
https://cisco.webex.com/cisco/j.php?J=205691695&PW=NNTEzNzE5OWMw
Meeting Number: 205 691 695
Meeting Password: 123