17. October 2019

Previous DNRF-head of center Karl Anker Jørgensen is the first recipient of H. C. Ørsted Gold Medal in 30 years

For the first time in 30 years, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Society for the Dissemination of Natural Science decided to give an H.C. Ørsted gold Medal. The medal is given in chemistry and the recipient is Karl Anker Jørgensen, a chemistry professor from Aarhus University and previous head of center at the DNRF’s Center for Catalysis, funded from 1997 to 2008. Professor Jørgensen has been awarded the medal for his internationally ground-breaking research in the field of catalytic chemistry and his exceptional ability to communicate scientific results to a broader audience. The gold medal was awarded by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe in the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters on October 16.

Professor Karl Anker Jørgensen.
Professor Karl Anker Jørgensen. Photo: The Royal Danish Academy for Sciences and Letters.

Professor and former head of center at the DNRF’s Center for Catalysis Karl Anker Jørgensen has received the H. C. Ørsted Gold Medal, a medal that has not been awarded in 30 years. Professor Jørgensen received the gold medal for his groundbreaking international research in catalytic chemistry and for his extraordinary ability to convey scientific results to a broad audience.

Professor Jørgensen studies asymmetrical catalysis. With natural chemistry as a point of departure, he has developed catalysts that can control the three-dimensional creation and construction of molecules that emerge as mirrors of one another. Jørgesen’s research is used for industrial development of more sustainable medicaments.

In addition to the gold medal, Jørgensen also recieved a travel grant of DKK 75,000 from the Carlsberg Bequest and the energy company Ørsted in honor of the coming 200-year anniversary of H. C. Ørsted’s discovery of electro-magnetism in 1820.

The gold medal is rarely awarded. Professor Jørgensen is one of only 17 recipients over 110 years, including Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr in 1924.

More information about Professor Karl Anker Jørgensen and the gold medal can be found in a press release from Aarhus University here

Sign up for our newsletter