Chemist Pavel Hobza Again One of the Most Cited Scientists in the World
Professor Pavel Hobza is one of the most cited scientists in the world. Photo: Martina Šaradínová
Chemist Pavel Hobza, who works at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Czech Academy of Sciences, and also at the UP Faculty of Science and the Regional Centre for Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM), has proven his strong position among the world’s scientific elite. He has again placed in the top one percent of cited chemists in the world. The Czech Republic has four representatives on the prestigious Thomson Reuters list for 2015.
The selection Highly Cited Researchers 2015 contains over 3100 names of the most influential scientists in the areas of natural and social sciences, which are divided into 21 scientific categories, including Chemistry and Biology-Biochemistry. The list is based on analyses of data on citations in the Web of Sciences and InCites databases. Prof Hobza has placed on this list for the second time.
“I see it as proof of the fact that the projects we are working on are ever-topical. The large citation numbers bear witness that our projects are going in the right direction, the direction which this scientific discipline should take in the future. I have great co-workers and still have fresh ideas, thank God. And maybe a little luck too,” stated Hobza, who is world-class in the area of computational and theoretical chemistry. At present he devotes himself primarily to computerised design of new drugs. “We are embarking on a truly big project, which should be called Noncovalent Functionalization of Graphene and Other Surfaces. I really like this project and we think it shows great promise,” added Hobza.
He achieved fame primarily due to his discovery of improper hydrogen bonds, which created a great stir in the scientific community. Prior to that, it was generally considered that there was nothing more to discover about hydrogen bonding. His theory was soon confirmed by laboratory experiments. Other important findings by Hobza include clarifying the role of level interactions in DNA bases and proteins and also explaining the role of dispersal energy in biomacromolecules.
The other Czech academics on the list are Petr Pyšek (Environmental Protection/Ecology) from the Botanical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Vojtěch Jarošík (who passed away two years ago) from the same institute was also on the list. And finally, cardiologist Petr Widimský (Clinical Medicine) from Charles University. Neighbouring countries are represented by the following numbers: Austria 20, Germany 181, Poland 4, Slovakia and Hungary with none.
Entry into the elite company of the most-cited scientists and researchers comes about by writing a large number of scientific papers and via their reception in the scientific world. The Web of Science lists 526 articles by Hobza, which have been cited over 30 thousand times. His H-index is 92. He is the recipient of the highest Czech award for science, Czech Mind, and is a member of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic.
