Weizmann Institute

Jacob Klein did both his first degree in Physics, and his doctoral research,  at the Cavendish Laboratory ( the Physics department of Cambridge University in England), receiving his Ph.D. in 1977. Following a postdoctoral period at the Weizmann Institute in Israel he held faculty appointments both in the Cavendish and at the Weizmann Institute, where in 1986 he was appointed the Herman Mark Professor of Polymer Physics; in 1989-1991 Klein headed the Institute's Polymer Research department,  and from 1998-2000 was the chairman of the Scientific Council of the Weizmann Institute. From 2000 - 2007 he was the Dr. Lee's Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, heading the department of Physical Chemistry at Oxford between 2000-2005.

Prof. Klein has worked in the broad area of soft matter,  especially on the physics of polymers, interfaces and confined fluids. Using experimental techniques such as nuclear reaction analysis and surface force balances of his own design, he has studied surface, interfacial and dynamic properties of soft materials, and their interactions, directly at the nanometer and subnanometer level. His current research interests in soft matter include studies of simple and polymeric fluids in confined geometries, nanotribology (the study of friction at the molecular level), and biolubrication, of relevance in human joints and for artificial implants.

Klein has published over 200 papers, including some 25 in Science and Nature. Of the 60 or so graduate students and post-docs who have worked with him, more than 20 are currently in academic faculty positions.