Andre Konstantinovich Geim, FRS (Russian: Андрей Константинович Гейм) is a Russian-born Dutch physicist[1][2][3] who is known for his work on graphene,[4][5] the development of gecko tape, and his research on diamagnetic levitation. On October 5, 2010, he was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Konstantin Novoselov, "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene".[6]

Education

Andre Geim was born in October 1958 in Sochi (USSR), to a family of German heritage.[7][8][9][10][11] His parents — Konstantin Alekseyevich Geim (1910-1998) and Nina Nikolayevna Bayer (1927-) — were both engineers. In 1964 the family moved to Nalchik, where Andre graduated from a specialized English language highschool. In 1982 Geim received his his MSc degree 1st class from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and in 1987 he obtained a PhD degree at the Institute of Solid State Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences.[3]

As he was Russia German, he faced discrimination in the Soviet Union when it came to his studies: "It was extremely selective, and my nationality didn’t help. I was regarded as a potential emigrant who would leave the country, so I had to get the top marks in those exams to get in."[12]

Career

Geim worked as a research scientist at the Institute for Microelectronics Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences in Chernogolovka and from 1990 as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Nottingham, the University of Bath and the University of Copenhagen before becoming an associate professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen. In 2001 he became Langworthy Professor of Physics at the University of Manchester and is director of the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology. Since 2007 he has been an EPSRC Senior Research Fellow.[3][13] In 2010 the Radboud University Nijmegen appointed him as professor of innovative materials and nanoscience.[14]

Geim holds the titles of Langworthy Professor and Royal Society 2010 Anniversary Research Professor.[3][15]

Research

His most notable achievements include the discovery of graphene, the development of a biomimetic adhesive which became known as gecko tape,[16] and research into diamagnetic levitation (which resulted in the famous flying frog experiment).[17] Geim is also an expert in mesoscopic physics and superconductivity.[3]

Honours
Magnetically levitating a live frog, an experiment that earned Andre Geim and Sir Michael Berry the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize

Geim shares the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in physics with Sir Michael Berry of Bristol University, for an experiment in which a live frog was magnetically levitated.

The Institute of Physics (UK) awarded Geim the 2007 Mott Medal and Prize "for his discovery of a new class of materials – free-standing two-dimensional crystals – in particular graphene". He shared the EuroPhysics Prize with Konstantin Novoselov "for discovering and isolating a single free-standing atomic layer of carbon (graphene) and elucidating its remarkable electronic properties". In May 2007 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society [18]. In 2009 he also received the Körber European Science Award. The US National Academy of Sciences honoured Geim with the 2010 John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science "for his experimental realization and investigation of graphene, the two-dimensional form of carbon". The Royal Society added its 2010 Hughes Medal for Geim's "revolutionary discovery of graphene and elucidation of its remarkable properties".

Geim was awarded honorary doctorates by Delft University of Technology, ETH Zürich and University of Antwerp.

Geim was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Konstantin Novoselov, "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene". In the first reactions, Geim said "I'm fine, I slept well. I didn't expect the Nobel Prize this year". He also mentioned that his plans for the day would not change – he said he would go back to work and carry on with his research papers.[19] Geim said that he hopes that graphene and other two-dimensional crystals will change everyday life as plastics did for humanity.[20]

Trivia

* In 2001 Geim made his favourite hamster co-author in a research paper (named as H.A.M.S. ter Tisha).[21] [22]
* Geim is the first person to hold both a Nobel Prize and an Ig Nobel Prize as an individual.[23]

Publications at ADS NASA

* Astrophysics Data System

References

1. ^ a b http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8043355/Nobel-Prize-for-Physics-won-by-Andre-Geim-and-Konstantin-Novoselov.html
2. ^ a b Nobel Prize for Dutch physicist Andre Geim – website de Volkskrant (Dutch)
3. ^ a b c d e f "Geim's CV". http://onnes.ph.man.ac.uk/~geim/Geim%20CV&resume.doc. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
4. ^ "October 22, 2004: Discovery of Graphene". APS News. October 2009. http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200910/physicshistory.cfm.
5. ^ Novoselov, K.S. et al.. Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films. Science 306, 666 (2004) doi:10.1126/science.1102896
6. ^ "2010 Nobel Prize in Physics announcement". Nobelprize.org. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/announcement.html. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
7. ^ A physicist of many talents, from "Physics World", february 2006
8. ^ [1]
9. ^ http://museum.phystech.edu/gallery/scientists/mipt/nobel/geim.html?start=30&img=838760 autobiography]
10. ^ Renaissance scientist with fund of ideas#Top grades at school, Scientific Computing World, June/July 2006
11. ^ Student's Certificate
12. ^ Renaissance scientist with fund of ideas#Top grades at school, Scientific Computing World, June/July 2006
13. ^ "nanotech.net". nanotech.net. http://www.nanotech.net/node/119. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
14. ^ Dr. Andre Geim benoemd tot hoogleraar Innovative Materials and Nanoscience – website Radboud University (Dutch)
15. ^ "Top researchers receive Royal Society 2010 Anniversary Professorships". The Royal Society. http://royalsociety.org/Top-researchers-receive-Royal-Society-2010-Anniversary-Professorships. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
16. ^ Black, Richard (1 June 2003). "Gecko inspires sticky tape". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2953852.stm.
17. ^ "The Frog That Learned to Fly; webpage in Holland". Ru.nl. http://www.ru.nl/hfml/research/levitation/. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
18. ^ "Fellows". The Royal Society. http://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
19. ^ "Materials breakthrough wins Nobel". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11476301. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
20. ^ "Research into graphene wins Nobel Prize". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/05/sweden.nobel.physics/index.html?hpt=T2. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
21. ^ A.K. Geim and H.A.M.S. ter Tisha, Physica B 294–295, 736–739 (2001) doi:10.1016/S0921-4526(00)00753-5
22. ^ http://pineda-krch.com/2010/10/05/ter-tisha-the-dark-lady-of-physics/
23. ^ http://improbable.com/2010/10/05/geim-becomes-first-nobel-ig-nobel-winner/