IHEE Hyotcherl, associate director of the IBS Center for Nanomateirals and Chemical Reactions(KAIST Professor) is presented the 12th Kyung Ahm Arts & Academy Prize in natural science by the Kyung Ahm Education & Culture Foundation.

In 2015, Ihee’s research group succeeded in achieving the world's first real-time observation of the moment in which chemical bonding takes place, where atoms are combined to form a molecule. The study drew great interest from the scientific community for its novel approach of using femtosecond X-ray pulses with a time resolution of 0.1 ps or 100 femtoseconds.

The 2015 study is a step forward from Ihee’s previous triumph in 2005 where the research team observed the bond breaking processes. Ihee’s research group is highly praised by the academic community for their splendid achievement of revealing the beginning and end of chemical reactions. By allowing for the observation of the moment of protein formation and the step-by-step changes of protein structures, the work is deemed to enable researchers to obtain basic information necessary for the treatment of diseases and the development of new drugs, as well as for controlling the reactions.

The prize award ceremony will be held in Nurimaru APEC House, Busan on November 4.

▲ IHEE Hyotcherl, associate director of the IBS Center for Nanomateirals and Chemical Reactions