World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Award Badge
Best Scientists
2025

D-Index & Metrics

Best Scientists

D-Index
175
Citations
185496
World Ranking
700
National Ranking
434

Chemistry

D-Index
165
Citations
183780
World Ranking
78
National Ranking
43

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
  • 1992 - Fellow of American Physical Society (APS) Citation In recognition of outstanding contributions in theoretical and computational biology, in particular, the study of bacteriorhodospin, the photosynthetic reaction center, selforganizing sensory mappings, and neutral networks

Overview

Klaus Schulten was affiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States. Their research contributions spanned multiple fields including biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and chemistry. The specialist subfields within their work included molecular biology, spectroscopy, biomedical engineering, physical and theoretical chemistry, and atomic and molecular physics, and optics.

The central topics of their research focused on protein structure and dynamics, advanced NMR techniques and applications, nanopore and nanochannel transport studies, photosynthetic processes and mechanisms, photochemistry and electron transfer studies, as well as spectroscopy and quantum chemical studies.

Klaus Schulten published notable papers such as:

  • "Scalable molecular dynamics on CPU and GPU architectures with NAMD" (2020) in The Journal of Chemical Physics
  • "Theoretical Description of the Primary Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Reaction in the Cytochrome bc1 Complex" (2021) in Journal of the American Chemical Society

The frequent co-authors in Klaus Schulten's work included Zaida Luthey-Schulten, J. C. Phillips, David J. Hardy, Julio D. C. Maia, and John E. Stone. These collaborations reflected a broad engagement with peers working on related scientific topics.

Their research output was published in journals such as The Journal of Chemical Physics and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Klaus Schulten received recognition as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1992, awarded for outstanding contributions in theoretical and computational biology, particularly highlighting work on bacteriorhodopsin, photosynthetic reaction centers, self-organizing sensory mappings, and neutral networks.

Best Publications

  • VMD: Visual molecular dynamics

    William Humphrey;Andrew Dalke;Klaus Schulten

  • Scalable molecular dynamics with NAMD

    James C. Phillips;Rosemary Braun;Wei Wang;James C. Gumbart

  • NAMD2: Greater Scalability for Parallel Molecular Dynamics

    Laxmikant Kalé;Robert Skeel;Milind Bhandarkar;Robert Brunner

  • Scalable molecular dynamics on CPU and GPU architectures with NAMD.

    James C. Phillips;David J. Hardy;Julio D.C. Maia;John E. Stone

  • Molecular biomimetics: nanotechnology through biology

    Mehmet Sarikaya;Candan Tamerler;Candan Tamerler;Alex K. Y. Jen;Klaus Schulten

  • A Model for Photoreceptor-Based Magnetoreception in Birds

    Thorsten Ritz;Salih Adem;Klaus Schulten

  • The crystal structure of the light-harvesting complex II (B800–850) from Rhodospirillum molischianum

    Juergen Koepke;Xiche Hu;Cornelia Muenke;Klaus Schulten

  • Steered molecular dynamics and mechanical functions of proteins

    Barry Isralewitz;Mu Gao;Klaus Schulten

  • Control of the selectivity of the aquaporin water channel family by global orientational tuning.

    Emad Tajkhorshid;Peter Nollert;Morten Ø. Jensen;Larry J. W. Miercke

  • Calculating potentials of mean force from steered molecular dynamics simulations.

    Sanghyun Park;Klaus Schulten

  • Scalable Molecular Dynamics with NAMD.

    James C. Phillips;Klaus Schulten;Abhinav Bhatele;Chao Mei

  • Flexible Fitting of Atomic Structures into Electron Microscopy Maps Using Molecular Dynamics

    Leonardo G. Trabuco;Elizabeth Villa;Kakoli Mitra;Joachim Frank;Joachim Frank

  • Mechanical unfolding intermediates in titin modules.

    Piotr E. Marszalek;Hui Lu;Hongbin Li;Mariano Carrion-Vazquez

  • Mature HIV-1 capsid structure by cryo-electron microscopy and all-atom molecular dynamics

    Gongpu Zhao;Juan R. Perilla;Ernest L. Yufenyuy;Ernest L. Yufenyuy;Xin Meng

  • First passage time approach to diffusion controlled reactions

    Attila Szabo;Klaus Schulten;Zan Schulten

  • Molecular dynamics study of unbinding of the avidin-biotin complex.

    S. Izrailev;S. Stepaniants;M. Balsera;Y. Oono

  • Free energy calculation from steered molecular dynamics simulations using Jarzynski's equality

    Sanghyun Park;Fatemeh Khalili-Araghi;Emad Tajkhorshid;Klaus Schulten

  • Accelerating molecular modeling applications with graphics processors

    John E. Stone;James C. Phillips;Peter L. Freddolino;David J. Hardy

  • Unfolding of Titin Immunoglobulin Domains by Steered Molecular Dynamics Simulation

    Hui Lu;Barry Isralewitz;André Krammer;Viola Vogel

  • Generalized Verlet Algorithm for Efficient Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Long-range Interactions

    H. Grubmüller;H. Heller;A. Windemuth;K. Schulten

  • NAMD: a Parallel, Object-Oriented Molecular Dynamics Program

    Mark T. Nelson;William Humphrey;Attila Gursoy;Andrew Dalke

Frequent Co-Authors

Emad Tajkhorshid
Emad Tajkhorshid University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Christophe Chipot
Christophe Chipot University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
John E. Stone
John E. Stone Nvidia (United States)
Helge Ritter
Helge Ritter Bielefeld University
Benoît Roux
Benoît Roux University of Chicago
Roland Beckmann
Roland Beckmann Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Joachim Frank
Joachim Frank Columbia University
Martin Gruebele
Martin Gruebele University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Thomas Martinetz
Thomas Martinetz University of Lübeck
Aleksei Aksimentiev
Aleksei Aksimentiev University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

For students of Chemistry in the USA, exploring related fields such as forensic science can open diverse career opportunities. Those interested in combining analytical skills with legal investigations might consider pursuing online forensic science courses. These programs provide foundational knowledge applicable in crime labs and research facilities.

Advancing further, an online master's degree in forensic psychology offers specialized training that blends science with behavioral analysis, preparing graduates for investigative and consultative roles within the justice system.

For hands-on positions in medical examination, exploring autopsy technician jobs highlights the educational paths and job outlook for those assisting in post-mortem investigations, marking a niche but critical career within forensic applications of chemistry.

Understanding the broad spectrum of forensic career paths helps students align their Chemistry background with roles in law enforcement, legal consulting, or lab-based research. These pathways demonstrate the versatility of a Chemistry degree in contributing to justice and public safety.

Best Scientists Citing Klaus Schulten

Recently Published Articles