Halfway through his career, Cees Dekker reinvented himself. After years of hardcore physics, he shifted his focus to ‘nanobiology’ at the turn of the millennium. A term he coined himself, as a matter of fact.

Nanoscientist Cees Dekker is an amiable and flamboyant man who appears much younger than the 62 years he actually is – fashionable glasses, psychedelic shirt, engaging smile – but not one to waste time. He takes his time, but no more than necessary. Questions he finds less interesting, he either dismisses or answers with in a standard way at lightning speed; questions that he do spark his interest are answered enthusiastically halfway through the question. It’s as if he’s running out of time and he can’t wait to let me share in all the beauty that goes on in and outside his lab.

The biophysicist from Delft – who has been one of the most cited scientists in the Netherlands for years – takes his responsibility to contribute to the explanation and popularisation of his work at the border of physics and biology extremely seriously and regularly appears in the media; if not to talk about his work, then about the relationship between science and his Christian faith. He also found time to write several books, send almost forty thousand tweets and lead a successful research group at Delft University of Technology. ‘It doesn’t feel like work’, he says. ‘I’m just terribly curious.’