Carmen Claver is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University Rovira i Virgili (URV) in Tarragona, Spain, since 1991. A group leader since 1985, her research focuses on the development of novel selective catalysts, synthesis of ligands and complexes for catalytic applications, catalyst heterogeneization, continuous flow processes, nanocatalysis and catalysis for CO2 transformation. She was Vice-Rector of Research at URV (1993–1997), a Catalan Government Distinguished Researcher (2003) and a member of the CNRS Scientific Council (2009–2014). She was awarded the “Narcis Monturiol” medal for her contributions to scientific and technological development in Catalonia (2007) and the “Pierre de Fermat” Chair of Excellence in France (2009). Her other awards include "Ciamician-Gonzalez" Lecturer Award by "Real Sociedad Española de Química" and "Società Chimica Italiana" (2014) a Gold Medal for Research on Organometallic GEQO-RSEQ (2015) and the “Miguel Catalán - Paul Sabatier” Prize, Societé Chimie Française (2016) She is a correspondent member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain (since2010) and a member of the Academia European (since2012). She has been the Scientific Director of the Technological Center for Chemistry of Catalonia (2009–2020). She is a Doctor “Honoris Causa” at the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse (2019).
Piet van Leeuwen joined Shell Amsterdam in 1968 to work on organometallic catalysis. Since 1978 he has been head of the section “Fundamental Aspects of Homogeneous Catalysis”. In 1990, he founded the homogeneous catalysis group at the University of Amsterdam and moved there full-time in 1994. From 2000 to 2005 he was a Professor of Industrial Homogeneous Catalysis in Eindhoven and Director of NRSC Catalysis. In 2004, he became a group leader at ICIQ in Tarragona. In 2015, he moved to LPCNO in INSA Toulouse, where he holds an IDEX Chair. He was the first to takeadvantage of the effect of large steric bulk in rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation, a huge area today. He is well known for his mechanistic work on catalytic C–C bond formations, introduced dendrimers as catalophores, secondary phosphine oxides as ligands in catalysis, and numerous new, highly efficient ligands, including xantphos ligands. Since 2009 his work has focused on ligand effects in metal nanoparticle catalysis. He was awarded a Marie Curie Chair of Excellence in 2005 and an ERC Advanced Grant in 2010. He received the Holleman Award from the Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences. He is a Doctor Honoris Causa at the University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain, and of the Universidade Federal Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In 2019, he received the Alwin Mittasch Prize.
