Theo M. Smit is a Dutch chemist who has made several contributions to the field of polymerization

Polymerization

In polymer chemistry, polymerization is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form three-dimensional networks or polymer chains...

 catalysis

Catalysis

Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....

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After completing an MSc. at Leiden University

Leiden University

Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...

, Dr. Smit gained a PhD at Imperial College London

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

 under the supervision of Prof. Vernon C. Gibson

Vernon C. Gibson

-Early life:He was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the son of Dennis and Pamela Gibson. He attended the King’s School in Grantham , then studied at Sheffield where he graduated in 1980. After gaining a D.Phil...

. The title of his thesis was 'Heteroatom substitutued bis(imino)pyridine and bis(phenoxy-amine) transition metal complexes for the polymerisation of olefins'. His work lead to publications in various peer-reviewed journals.^1-3

Presently Dr. Smit in employed within Prof. Gibson's group to carry out PostDoctoral research into new initiators for the polymerization of functional monomers.

Affectionately known as SmitHead by his colleagues, Dr. Smit is in the process of relocating to Germany and starting employment with BASF

BASF

BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...

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