Where, when and how did life first start? The enormous amount of data accumulated lately across science fields seems to tell us that we should be looking for answers far into space, into the times when the Solar System did not even exist. The results also suggest there might be primitive forms of life all over the Cosmos. But then why can’t we see (for now) whatsoever sign of alien life despite the many years of searching? These are a few of the questions Prof. Nikolay Denkov from Sofia University invites you to discuss with him as he seeks the boundaries between living and non-living matter in nature.
Nikolay Denkov is a Professor in Physical Chemistry at Sofia University. One of the most active and internationally recognized Bulgarian scientists with more than 150 published research articles, including 2 papers in Nature and 1 in Nature Communications, 12 invited reviews in journals and 6 chapters in books, cited over 6500 times in literature. Combining fundamental with applied studies, he has led over 40 projects with international companies. He has been visiting researcher in Nagayama Protein Array Project (Japan, 1994-1995); senior researcher in the Research Center of Rhone-Poulenc (France, 1997-1998); and lead scientist in Unilever R&D (USA, 2004-2005). In 2010 he was granted with the highest National award "Pythagoras" for scientific achievements. He was Vice Dean of Chemistry, Deputy Minister and Minister of Education and Science of Bulgaria.