My background

A version of my curriculum vitae (created on October 4, 2024) can be found here.

Dr. Bouwman obtained his physics degree (B. Eng.) from the Technische Hogeschool Rijswijk. As a thesis subject he studied high resolution infrared spectra of van der Waals bound clusters formed in an electron impact plasma expansion at the Laser Laboratory of the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. This sparked his interest in the application of light to study molecules and he decided to pursue a master's degree in chemistry at the VU.

After successfully finishing the masters study "Laser Sciences", dr. Bouwman continued his career at the Leiden University, where in 2010 he obtained his PhD degree on his thesis titled "Spectroscopy and Chemistry of Interstellar Ice Analogues" in the Laboratory for Astrophysics led by prof. Harold Linnartz. 

With his PhD degree in his pocket, dr. Bouwman moved to the University of California, Berkeley to start a postdoc in the group of prof. dr. Stephen Leone. Here, dr. Bouwman studied the formation of hydrocarbons with isomer specificity under low temperature conditions that resemble the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Furthermore, he was involved in pump-probe spectroscopy using high harmonics generated using femtosecond laser systems. 

After spending three years at the synchrotron of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and on the UC Berkeley campus, he moved on to the Free Electron Laser Facility FELIX, at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Here, dr. Bouwman studied - on a personal (VENI) research grant - the dissociation of aromatic molecules using sensitive mid-IR action spectroscopy. 

From Radboud University, dr. Bouwman returned to his alma mater in Leiden as an assistant professor on a personal Vidi research grant in the group of prof. dr. Harold Linnartz at the Laboratory for Astrophysics at Leiden Observatory. His research there revolved around understanding the formation and destruction of complex organic molecules (e.g. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)) in an astronomical setting. Furthermore, he characterized organic molecules spectroscopically with the aim to facilitate their detection in remote environments.

On August 16, 2021 dr. Bouwman started his position as an assistant professor of cosmochemistry in the IMPACT group at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and with CU Boulder's chemistry department as his tenure home.