Bert Meijer: ‘I'm in love with molecules’

My parents grew up during the second world war. They were people who had to work extremely hard to get things done during and after the war. And if you’re a child of such parents, you must do that as well.

I was not really interested in chemistry when I was at high school. At that time, I did everything except think about what the next step for me would be. Suddenly, I decided I wanted to go to university. I would have loved to do medicine, but I can’t stand the sight of blood. It was clear that I was a science person. Mathematics and physics were too abstract. And biology at that time was too much about looking at birds and trees. And so, in between, there was chemistry.

My PhD was the best time of my life. Being a PhD student means you can go your own way. You learn a lot at a critical period in life. My BSc in Groningen was okay, but I didn’t really get excited about chemistry back then. That changed completely when I met my PhD advisor Hans Wynberg. He was so excited about organic chemistry that he made me very excited as well. He was like a second father to me. Ever since working with him, I would say ‘I’m in love with molecules’.