Rate My Professor Jonathan De Roo

Prof. Jonathan De Roo is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Basel, having joined as a tenure-track assistant professor in September 2019 and receiving promotion in 2024. Born in 1989 in Belgium, he completed his Bachelor of Chemistry (2007–2010), Master of Science in Chemistry (2010–2012), and Doctor of Science in Chemistry (2012–2016) at Ghent University. His doctoral thesis focused on the surface chemistry of metal oxide nanocrystals, supervised by Prof. Zeger Hens, Prof. Isabel Van Driessche, and Prof. José C. Martins, and included a three-month research stay at ETH Zürich with Prof. Maksym Kovalenko. He then served as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University under Prof. Jonathan S. Owen (2016–2018) and at Ghent University (2018–2019).

De Roo's research group specializes in the precise chemical synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals and their structural characterization via X-ray scattering, emphasizing group 4 metal oxides such as titanium, zirconium, and hafnium oxides. Key interests include surface chemistry of organic-inorganic interfaces, ligand binding thermodynamics probed by NMR, manipulation of nanocrystal surfaces for aqueous solubility or bioconjugation, hafnia nanocrystals as CT contrast agents, and metal oxo clusters as nodes in metal-organic frameworks or catalysts. Notable publications include "Highly dynamic ligand binding and light absorption coefficient of cesium lead bromide perovskite nanocrystals" (2016, cited 2067 times), "Chemical Considerations for Colloidal Nanocrystal Synthesis" (Chem. Mater., 2022), and recent works such as "M₆O₈ metal oxo clusters: A key structural motif across the periodic table" (Coord. Chem. Rev., 2026). With over 6,800 citations on Google Scholar, his contributions have advanced nanocrystal synthesis mechanisms and applications. Awards include the SNSF Starting Grant (2023), Umicore Materials Technology Ph.D. Award (2017), E-MRS Young Scientist Awards (2014, 2016), Fulbright Scholarship (2016), and Umicore Poster Award (2016). At Basel, he coordinates the Organic and Inorganic Chemistry seminar program and acts as student counselor.