The Glasser Visiting Professor Program welcomes Dr. Jiří Šponer from Oct. 11 through Oct. 20, 2011. This program allows a young, innovative scientist from Europe to visit USciences to share and open collaborations. Dr. Jiří Šponer is department head at the Institute of Biophysics at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Brno and senior researcher for the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague.
Dr. Jiří Šponer is also a senior researcher with the Department of Physical Chemistry at Palacky University, Olomouc. He received his Doctor of Science (DSc) in biophysics/molecular biology from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic 2001. He has published over 190 papers and reviews in international journals and books. Dr. Šponer has received numerous awards including the Wichterle Award in 2003 from Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, and a Welcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship.
Dr. Šponer's research interests include structural molecular biology and biophysics, physical chemistry of molecular interactions, computational chemistry, atomistic simulations of biopolymers, structural studies of functional RNA molecules (ribosome, ribozymes), DNA and their complexes with ligands and proteins, quantum-chemical studies of molecular interactions in nucleic acids, bioinformatics of nucleic acids.
In addition to spending time meeting with faculty and students, Dr. Šponer will present two seminars related to his ongoing research. He will also have an office in Griffith Hall.
The first seminar, hosted by the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, is “Theoretical studies of nucleic acids: From quantum chemistry to molecular simulations” on Oct. 17 from 3-4 p.m. in Rosenberger 102.
The second presentation open to all interested faculty and students is on the topic “Computational studies of RNA and DNA: Successes and failures” on Oct. 18 from 5-6 p.m. in McNeil Science and Technology Center’s AstraZeneca Auditorium This presentation will be followed by a reception for Dr. Sponer in the atritum.
Please contact Bryan Park at b.park@usciences.edu or 215-596-8519 if you would like to schedule a meeting with Dr. Šponer.
The Glasser Visiting Professor program is sponsored by a generous donation from Abraham Glasser P’43 and his wife, Gloria. The Glassers’ gift enables the University to invite a young, innovative scientist from Europe to interface with faculty and students and the surrounding scientific community. The Glassers hope such interactions will promote scholarly activity and collaborative efforts in the areas of biotechnology and molecular biology.