Joris W. Thybaut (°1975, Ghent Belgium) is full professor in catalytic reaction engineering at the Laboratory for Chemical Technology at Ghent University since October 2014. He obtained his master's degree in chemical engineering in 1998 at the same university, where he continued his PhD studies on single-event microkinetic (SEMK) modeling of hydrocracking and hydrogenation. In 2003 he went to the 'Institut des Recherches sur la Catalyse' in Lyon, France, for a postdoc on high throughput experimentation, before being appointed as assistant professor in 2005 and subsequently associate professor at Ghent University.
Today, prof. Thybaut is heading the Catalytic Reaction Engineering (CaRE) research group, comprising about 15 junior researchers, within the Laboratory for Chemical Technology at Ghent University. Prof. Thybaut and his group actively investigate a variety of large-scale industrial reactions and more particularly, the rational design of the corresponding catalysts. Research projects range from bilateral contracts with industry up to government funded large scale integrated projects. Prof. Thybaut recently acquired an ERC consolidator grant to innovate the SEMK methodology and use it in the framework of renewable, oxygen containing feeds.