The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on November 12 elected Prof. James Barber, Imperial College, London, UK, as new foreign member of the Academy’s IV Class (Chemistry). Prof. Barber is one of the world’s leading authorities on photosynthesis.
James Barber has combined advanced biochemical techniques with different kinds of spectrometry. This approach has made him a world leading authority in the understanding of the mechanisms behind light capture and energy transition in pigment antennae and photosynthetic electron transport.
He had a collaboration for a long time with the Nobel laureate George Porter. Early, they developed a technique using spectroscopy with time resolution to investigate the function of photosystems. Barber has been awarded several prestigious scientific awards and has held important positions at the Imperial College.