主讲人：Martina Havenith，波鸿鲁尔大学教授
时 间：2026年9月24日10:00
地 点：超算中心会议室
联系人：余晓青
讲座摘要：Terahertz (THz)-calorimetry is a framework that allows for the deduction and quantification of changes in solvation entropy and enthalpy associated with biological processes in real-time. Fundamental biological processes are inherently non-equilibrium and a small imbalance in free energy can trigger protein condensation or folding. While biophysical techniques typically focus mainly on structural characterization, water is often ignored. Being a generic solvent, the intermolecular protein-water interactions act as a strong competitor for intramolecular protein-protein interactions, leading to a delicate balance between functional structure formation and complete solvation. Characteristics for biological processes are large, but competing enthalpic and entropic solvation contributions to the total Gibbs free energy leads to subtle energy differences of only a few kJ mol−1, capable of dictating biological functions. THz-calorimetry spotlights these intermolecular coupled protein–water interactions. With experimental advances in THz technology, a new frequency window has been opened, which is ideally suited to probe these low-frequency intermolecular interactions. The future impact of these studies is based on the belief that the observed changes in solvation entropy and enthalpy are not secondary effects, but dictate biological function.
主讲人简介：Martina Havenith教授是欧洲科学院院士，德国洪堡基金会副主席。自1998年以来担任波鸿鲁尔大学的物理化学教授。她于2012年创立了卓越研究群体“鲁尔探究溶剂化（RESOLV）”，该群体覆盖了鲁尔地区5个机构的50多个研究小组，获得欧盟及联邦政府的相关资助（2012-2018年：2800万欧元，2019-2025年：4200万欧元，2025-2031：7800万欧元）。她也是分子光谱与溶剂控制过程模拟中（ZEMOS）的主任。2021年，她被选为Henriette Herz Scouting Prog-ram（亨丽埃特·赫茨人才发掘计划）的“Scout（人才推荐人）”，负责发掘和推荐优秀国际青年科研人才。自2022年以来，她成为新成立的大学联盟鲁尔化学科学与可持续性研究中心的主任，该中心由北莱茵-威斯特法伦州资助。其团队开发并开创了新的红外（IR）和太赫兹（THz）激光技术，以探索化学中的基础问题。她的主要研究领域是溶剂化科学，旨在提供一个统一的框架来理解和预测溶剂过程。她利用线性和非线性太赫兹光谱技术来研究溶剂反应的机理，并探索如何实现对这些反应的调控。此外，她还重点开展“微观溶剂化（microsolvation）和超冷化学（ultracold chemistry）”方面的研究。
