Koen Binnemans was born in Geel, Belgium, in 1970. He obtained his M. Sc. degree (1992) and Ph.D. degree (1996) in Chemistry at the Catholic University of Leuven, under the supervision of Prof. C. Go ¨rller-Walrand. In the period 1999-2005, he was a postdoctoral fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (Belgium). He did postdoctoral work with Prof. Jacques Lucas (Rennes, France) and Prof. Duncan W. Bruce (Exeter, U.K.). In 2000, he received the first ERES Junior Award (ERES, European Rare-Earth and Actinide Society). From 2002 until 2005, he was (parttime) associate professor. Presently, he is professor of chemistry at the Catholic University of Leuven. His current research interests are metalcontaining liquid crystals (metallomesogens), lanthanide-mediated organic reactions, lanthanide spectroscopy, luminescent molecular materials, and ionic liquids.