Dr. Chao Zhang was awarded with Jülich Excellence-Prize 2013

June 15, 2013 - Dr. Chao Zhang received the Jülich Excellence-Prize 2013. The prize recognizes the exceptional scientific achievements at an early career stage, which exceed the expected standard of good young scientists by far.
In his thesis Chao Zhang provided fundamental contributions to our understanding of proton transport on cell membrane surfaces. He performed one of the largest quantum mechanical simulations in biophysics so far, using the Petaflop-computer JUGENE in Jülich in the framework of a PRACE project. With this, Chao Zhang was able to elucidate a longstanding experimental puzzle, namely how to reconcile strong binding of protons to the cell membrane surface with fast interfacial proton motion. His ab initio simulations have shown unambiguously that some protons are localized at the cell surface. However, protons located in a second interfacial water layer migrate very quickly and yet experience sufficient attractive forces to prevent release to the bulk water.
The prize have been delivered during the annual JuDocs event at the Forschungszentrum Jülich on June 15, 2013.