Home >> Member Center >> Member Directory

Member Center

Member Directory

Prof. Hero Jan Heeres

发布时间：2026-03-27

Prof. Hero Jan Heeres

University of Groningen

Professional career: H.J. (Erik) Heeres was born in Nieuwe Pekela, the Netherlands (25-06-1963). He obtained a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Groningen in 1986 and a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Twente in 1995. He carried out his Ph.D. research at the University of Groningen on the development of novel homogeneous lanthanide catalysts for the conversion of unsaturated hydrocarbons and graduated in 1990. Afterward, he performed a post-doc at the University of Oxford in the group of Prof. J. M. Brown on asymmetric catalysis. From 1991-1999, he was employed at Shell Research B.V. (Amsterdam and Pernis, the Netherlands) and worked on a range of applied catalysis topics. Heeres joined the chemical engineering department of the University of Groningen in 1999 as an assistant professor. In 2003, he was appointed here as a full professor in green chemical reaction engineering. 

Research profile: Heeres’s research interests focus on developing efficient catalytic technologies for circular carbon conversion. This involves the use of biomass for biofuels (catalytic pyrolysis, pyrolysis oil upgrading), platform chemicals (levulinic acid, hydroxymethylfurfural), and performance materials. Recently, the group began activities in plastic recycling using pyrolysis technology. He was the first supervisor of > 40 PhD students and currently supervises 10 PhD students and 1 PostDoc. Heeres is the co-(author) of > 320 papers in peer-reviewed international journals (H-index: 78, > 20000 citations, WOS); 15 patents in the field of (applied) catalysis and reaction engineering. 

Tokens of recognition: Heeres is a member of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (2013-) and one of the first batch members of the NAE (Netherlands Academy of Engineers (2023-). He was awarded the Groene Groninger of the Year 2020 (together with his brother, Dr. Andre Heeres) and the Impact Innovator Excellence Award (University of Groningen, 2025).