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Bernd Michael Rode (born July 14, 1946 in Innsbruck, Austria) is an Austrian Professor of Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck and founder of the Austrian-South-East-Asian Academic University Network (ASEA-UNINET). Prof. Rode has been retired in 2011 but he is still actively involved in teaching and research as well as in the thesis supervision.
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Biography
In 1964 Bernd Michael Rode graduated from High School (“Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck”) and commenced studies in Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck. In 1973 he received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry with sub auspiciis praesidentis from the University of Innsbruck.
In 1973 Prof. Rode started his career as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry of the University of Innsbruck. After research stays in Germany (University of Stuttgart and University of Karlsruhe) he became an Associate Professor in Innsbruck in the year 1976. After spending a 1-year research stay at the University of Tokyo, Prof. Rode started his Professorship at the Institute of Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck. From 2006 to 2011 he was head of the Department of Theoretical Chemistry and head of the Institute for General Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry.
One of Prof. Rode’s largest achievements was the foundation of the University Network ASEA-UNINET (Austrian South East Asian University Partnership Network) in 1994. The foundations for this network were laid by informal contacts between the University of Innsbruck and Thai Universities that date back to the 1970s. In the 1980s partnerships between the University of Innsbruck, the University of Vienna, the University of Agricultural Sciences Vienna, the Chulalongkorn University, the Mahidol University, the Kasetsart University and the Chiang Mai University were concluded. With the target to unify these bilateral partnership agreements into one multilateral network, Prof. Rode invited interested Universities from Austria, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam to participate in the first ASEA-UNINET Plenary Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City. In 1994 the network comprised 25 Universities from Austria, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. As of June 2014, more than 70 Universities from 16 European and South-East-Asian countries participate in the network.
In addition to his scientific and networking activities, Prof. Rode served during the periods 1998–2001 and 2005–2008 as vice-president in the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD) representing the WEOG states EU, USA, Canada and Australia. In 2004 he became the first Ausrian, to serve as president in the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development.
Awards and decorations
For his commitment in Asian countries Prof. Rode has received many awards, amongst others the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Sciences of the Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok (1995), the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Sciences of the King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang, Bangkok (1998) and the Honorary Doctorate Degree in Sciences of the Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2000). In 2007 the King of Thailand, awarded Prof. Rode with the Knight Grand Cross (First Class), the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand, for his activities and achievements to intensify the European-Asian scientific collaborations. In 2008 the Comenius University Bratislava awarded him an Honorary Doctorate Degree for his pioneer work in quantum chemistry studies of molecule and super molecule systems of ion solvation and molecular modelling of biomolecules and medicaments. In 2014 he was appointed Honorary President of ASEA-UNINET.
Overview most important Awards and Decorations:
According to the Theoretical Chemistry Genealogy Project, Bernd Michael Rode is the most successful doctoral thesis supervisor of German-speaking countries in the field of Theoretical Chemistry. Between 1976 and 2011 Prof. Rode has led not less than 70 students to their Ph.D. degree. Due to his close contacts to South-East-Asia many of them come from Asian countries.
Research activities
Bernd M. Rode’s scientific achievements are reflected in seven monographies / books, more than 440 publications in international research journals and 30 book contributions. According to ISI Thomson's Web of Science citation report these contributions received more than 8300 citations (as of May 2014) with a Hirsch-index of 41.
Prof. Rode's research focus lies in Theoretical and Computational as well as Bioinorganic Chemistry. In detail his publications emphasise on the following aspects:
Theoretical chemistry
Although Prof. Rode's initial research activities were in field of inorganic chemistry, he soon extended his expertise into the rapidly developing field of theoretical and computational chemistry. Whereas in the beginning most studies focused on quantum chemical computations of a broad range of chemical systems, later application focused on the application of chemical simulation techniques such as Monte-Carlo(MC) and Molecular Dynamics(MD), mostly in the context of solution chemistry.
A particular notable contribution of Prof. Rode's research is the development and application of hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) simulation techniques, focusing on a broad range of problems in solution chemistry. In 2004 an improved QM/MM technique known as Quantum Mechanical Charge Field (QMCF) Molecular Dynamics explicitly aimed at the treatment of solvated systems has been developed in Prof. Rode's research group. During the last years the application of the QMCF MD technique enabled accurate simulations of ionic compounds and organic species as well as coordination complexes in aqueous solution.His most recent research is focussed on the lanthanoid ions in aqueous solution.
Chemical evolution
Prof. Rode's second main field of research lies in the area of bioinorganic chemistry, in particular abiogenesis. At the end of the 1980s Prof. Rode and his coworkers discovered the salt induced peptide formation (SIPF) reaction as a simple route to synthesis peptides from amino acid monomers under prebiotic conditions. Instead of enzymes transition metals act as catalyst to induce peptide formation in highly concentrated aqueous NaCl solution, with copper (II) showing the highest catalytic activity. Typically, evaporation cycle experiments have been carried out to mimic day/night cycles on shore and in lagoons, thereby generating supersaturated solutions. Since such solutions have a tendency to dilute themselves, the thermodynamic and kinetic unfavourable peptide formation reaction is promoted. The research conducted by Prof. Rode investigates the properties of the SIPF reaction under various conditions, highlighting also its possible connection to biohomochirality. Furthermore, Prof. Rode also carried out Miller-Urey experiments, taking new insights of the composition of the primordial atmosphere into account. It was shown that peptides may also form in a neutral atmosphere (CO2/N2/H2O) subject to electric discharges.
Molvision®
Together with his Ph.D. student Hung Tung Tran Prof. Rode developed the practical and flexible visualization software Molvision® capable of interactively analyzing dynamic simulation data. In 2003 Dr. Tran was awarded with a European Innovation Award for the development of this program.