My name is Espen Horgen Hansen, and I am currently a master’s student in physical chemistry at the University of Bergen. I am working under the guidance of Associate Professors Jarl Underhaug and Markus Miettinen, as well as PhD fellow Tobias Rindfleisch. My master’s thesis focuses on testing and characterizing molecular dynamics models of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). The primary objective of my research is to evaluate the capability of existing IDP force fields to accurately model oligopeptides, which are expected to exhibit similar structural and dynamic behaviors to IDPs. Central to my project is the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data to compare and assess the performance and quality of these force fields.
I earned my bachelor’s degree in late 2023, completing a project in petroleum chemistry that involved the thermochemical conversion of digested sewage sludge into bio-oils. My growing interest in NMR and its intricacies led me to pursue a master’s in physical chemistry. This interest introduced me to Jarl and his collaboration with Markus, providing an opportunity to combine my passions for programming, analysis, and physical chemistry.
