Gerard van Rooij is full professor in plasma chemistry at Maastricht University and in sustainable plasma chemistry at the Eindhoven University of Technology. He obtained his MSc in Physics at the Eindhoven University of Technology (specialization Plasma Physics) and received his PhD degree at the University of Amsterdam for his research on macromolecular  mass spectrometry that he performed at AMOLF. As a project leader for low temperature plasma physics, he pioneered the scientific basis of the unique devices for plasma surface interaction studies within DIFFER and participated in the research programs of the major international facilities for fusion research to study the role of plasma chemistry therein. Since 2012, he researches plasma activation of chemical reactions to aid storage of sustainable energy in chemical potential energy for its integration in other sectors such as transport and chemical industry, work that he currently continues part-time at DIFFER. In 2020, he was appointed to head of the Circular Chemical Engineering department. From his role at Maastricht, Van Rooij participates in various program lines connected to the Brightsite consortium that aims at providing climate neutral solutions to the chemical industry.