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ChemComm Poster Prize winner for the 2nd Early Career Researchers Meeting of the RSC–Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Group

02 Aug 2018

Dr Guillaume De Bo (left) presenting the ChemComm prize to Alexander Elmi (right).

The 2^nd Early Career Researchers Meeting of the RSC-Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (RSC-MASC) Group took place on 27^th July 2018 at the University of Manchester, UK. This one-day symposium was organised by Dr. Guillaume De Bo (University of Manchester) and was attended by PhD students and post-doctoral researchers within the supramolecular field.

The meeting consisted of fifteen selected talks from submitted abstracts, and all attendees were invited to present a poster. The day ended with a plenary lecture by Professor Anthony Davis (University of Bristol) on ‘Biomimetic Carbohydrate Recognition: The Host-Guest Chemistry of Carbohydrates in Water’.

ChemComm was proud to sponsor this successful symposium. Alexander Elmi (University of Edinburgh) received the ChemComm poster prize for his poster entitled ‘Understanding Aromatic Stacking Interactions In Solution’.

Congratulations Alexander from everyone at ChemComm!

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Dr Rafal Klajn’s UK tour as the 2018 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize winner

10 Jul 2018

We are delighted to announce that Dr Rafal Klajn, winner of the ChemComm sponsored 2018 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize, will be giving a series of lectures at UK universities during the week commencing 16^th July 2018.

Rafal began his independent research career in November 2009 at the Weizmann Insitute of Science, Israel, directly after obtaining his PhD degree. His group has worked on nanoscale reactivity and self-assembly – incorporating photo-responsive moieties into nanoporous solids, working with superparamagnetic nanoparticles of various shapes and demonstrating that cubic nanoparticles of iron oxide could spontaneously assemble into helical materials, and developing the concept of “dynamically self-assembling nanoflasks” capable of accelerating chemical reactions using light, working with flexible metal-organic (coordination) cages that can encapsulate diverse organic molecules ranging from fluorescent dyes to nonpolar pharmaceuticals, among other projects.

He is currently an Associate Professor at Department of Organic Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science and now focuses on creating synthetic out-of-equilibrium systems and “life-like” materials, not only to develop innovative functional materials, but also to tackle what he deems as one of the most important and fascinating problems – the origin of life.

As part of the Prize, Rafal presents 3 lectures and we are delighted to announce that 2 of these will be taking place during his UK tour. He will be giving these in conjunction with lectures for the 2017 Chem Soc Rev Emerging Investigator Lectureship that was also awarded to him. You can find details for his upcoming UK tour below.

Day	University	Host
Monday 16^th July	University of Bristol	Professor Jonathan Reid
Tuesday 17^th July	Durham University	Professor Jonathan Steed
Wednesday 18^th July	University of Nottingham	Professor David Amabilino
Thursday 19^th July	University of Cambridge	Professor Jonathan Nitschke
Friday 20^th July	University College London (UCL)	Dr Tung Chun Lee

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Meeting of Inorganic Chemists Recently Appointed

28 Jun 2018

Chemical Communications, Chemical Science and Dalton Transactions are pleased to sponsor the 2018 Meeting of Inorganic Chemists Recently Appointed (MICRA). This biennial event is being organised by Dr Timothy Easun and Dr Rebecca Melen from Cardiff University, and is taking place on 10 – 12 September 2018 at Cardiff University in Wales.

The meeting brings together junior inorganic chemistry academics from across the UK to help aid their development into independent researchers through networking and exchanging experiences. MICRA 2018 will have exciting talks from experts such as Paul Saines (University of Kent), Timothy Easun (Cardiff University) and Rebecca Melen (Cardiff University).

For more information and to register, go to: https://www.micra2018.com/

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ChemComm poster prize winner at the 16th Symposium for Host-Guest and Supramolecular Chemistry

26 Jun 2018

The 16th Symposium for Host-Guest and Supramolecular Chemistry was held on 2 – 3 June 2018 at the Tokyo University of Science in Japan.

This annual symposium covers all aspects of the chemical sciences related to molecular recognition and supramolecular chemistry, including the discussion of topics around intermolecular interactions. The event included a special lecture by Dr Shigeki Sasaki and invited lectures by Dr Takashi Hayashi and Dr Katsuhiko Ariga.

ChemComm is delighted to announce that the ChemComm poster prize was awarded to Hiroshi Koganezawa from the Tokyo University of Science for a poster entitled ‘Synthesis of [2]Rotaxanes with Spirofluorene and Pyrrole Moieties’.

Well done Hiroshi from everyone at ChemComm!

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ChemComm poster prize winner at the 2018 European Materials Research Society Spring Meeting

20 Jun 2018

The 2018 European Materials Research Society (EMRS) Spring Meeting was held from the 18^th – 22^nd June in the Strasbourg Convention Centre in France.

The EMRS Spring Meeting is the society’s major conference and covers all aspects of materials science including energy and environment, biomaterials, semiconductors, nanomaterials, functional materials, and materials processing and characterization. It offers on average 25 topical symposia and is widely recognised as being of the highest international significance, with approximately 2,500 attendees every year.

ChemComm is proud to announce that the ChemComm poster prize was awarded to Dr Manal Alkhamisi from the University of Nottingham (School of Physics and Astronomy) for ‘The Growth and Fluorescence of Phthalocyanine Monolayers and Thin Films on Hexagonal Boron Nitride’. Manal was awarded the prize by ChemComm Associate Editor Steven De Feyter.

Well done Manal!

ChemComm Associate Editor Steven De Feyter (left) awarding the poster prize to Dr Manal Alkhamisi (right)

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Amanda Hargrove and Alexander Miller: Winners of the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2018

17 May 2018

On behalf of the ChemComm Editorial Board, we are pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship – Amanda Hargrove and Alexander Miller. Our warmest congratulations to Amanda and Alexander!

Amanda Hargrove

Amanda was awarded her PhD in 2010 at the University of Texas at Austin, where she worked with Professors Eric V. Anslyn and Jonathan L. Sessler on combining recognition motifs for improved sensing and biological activity of oligosaccharides and phosphorylated molecules. During her independent career, she has received the 2014 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, 2015 Prostrate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award, 2017 Cottrell Scholar Awards and 2018 National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

She is currently an Assistant Professor at Duke University and her group works at the interface of chemistry and biology, using organic chemistry tools to study the structure and function of long noncoding RNAs.

Alexander Miller

Alexander completed his PhD in 2011 at the California Institute of Technology, where he worked on emissive monocopper amidophosphine complexes and Lewis acid-assisted reductive coupling of carbon monoxide with Professors John E. Bercaw and Jay A. Labinger. He has been awarded several honours during his independent career, including the 2014 University Research Council James Moeser Award for Distinguished Research, 2016 National Science Foundation CAREER Award and 2017 Organometallics Distinguished Author Award.

He currently has a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina, and his group’s research focusses on the storage of solar energy in chemical fuels, proton-coupled electron transfer reactions, and hydrocarbon transformations.

As part of the Lectureship, Amanda and Alexander will present a lecture at three locations over the coming year, with at least one of these events taking place at an international conference. Details of the lectures will be announced in due course – keep an eye on Twitter for details.

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3rd Japan-UK Joint Symposium on Coordination Chemistry RSC poster prize winners

01 May 2018

The Japan-UK Joint Symposium on Coordination Chemistry is now in its third iteration and highlights the networks and partnerships between the two countries. The meeting, which is supported by Royal Society of Chemistry Dalton Division, Coordination Chemistry interest group, invited 20 excellent coordination chemists from each country to deliver lectures on their recent advances in coordination chemistry, in one of five themes: supramolecular chemistry; materials chemistry; energy and environmental science; organometallic chemistry/catalysis; and bio-coordination chemistry. This year the meeting took place at the University of St Andrews between on 30 April-2 May 2018. The event was attended by a little under a hundred people and 17 posters were presented.

Chemical Science, ChemComm, Dalton Transactions and Catalysis Science & Technology supported the meeting with poster prizes for the six most outstanding poster presentations:

Qingshu Zheng from University of Edinburgh was awarded the Chemical Science award for their poster titled: How important are metallophilic interactions?

Ellie Tanaka from University of Edinburgh was awarded the Chemical Science award for their poster titled: Copper iodide complexes for hole transport in solid-state mesoscopic solar cells.

Diego Rota Matir from University of St Andrews was awarded the ChemComm award for their poster titled: Homochiral emissive supramolecular [Ir₈Pd₄]¹⁶⁺ cages.

Hannah Potter from University of St Andrews was awarded the Dalton Transaction award for their poster titled: Design, synthesis and characterisation of Pt(II)-metalloligands used for thermal and photochemical self-assembly.

Cei Provis-Evans from University of Bath was awarded the Catalysis Science & Technology award for their poster titled: Ironing out the competition: iron catalysed alkyne trimerisation at room temperature.

Michael Shipman from University of Glasgow was awarded the Catalysis Science & Technology award for their poster titled: A re-evaluation of Sn(II) phthalocyanine as a catalyst for the electrosynthesis of ammonia.

From left to right: Co-organiser Professor Neil Robertson (University of Edinburgh) with winners Hannah Potter, Diego Rota Matir, Cei Provis-Evans, Michael Shipman, Ellie Tanaka, Qingshu Zheng, along with Dr Jeremy Allen (Royal Society of Chemistry).

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Congratulations to the 2018 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize winner: Rafal Klajn

06 Mar 2018

We are proud to announce that Dr. Rafal Klajn, at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, as the recipient of this year’s Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize in Supramolecular Chemistry! This prize, sponsored by ChemComm, is named in honour of the winners of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and recognises significant original and independent work in supramolecular chemistry. Our warmest congratulations to Rafal, a well-deserved winner!

Dr. Rafal Klajn

Rafal is an Associate Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science and will receive the award during the 2018 International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC).

This annual conference consists of sessions of invited lectures that focus upon a single topic area, award lectures and poster sessions. This year, the conference will also feature evening sessions on supramolecular chemistry with keynote speakers as well as an exciting series of Nobel Lectures on the final day!

Find out more and register here.

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ChemComm poster prize winners at the Pan Africa Chemistry Network Congress

06 Dec 2017

The Pan Africa Chemistry Network (PACN) Congress was held on 7 – 9 November in Accra, Ghana and was attended by approximately 250 researchers and policy-makers.

The PACN Congress is the flagship annual event for the PACN, which seeks to create a self-sustaining science based in Africa, helping to build capacity, solve local challenges and contribute to global knowledge. The topic for this year’s Congress was ‘Sustainable Agriculture: how the chemical sciences can contribute to food security for a growing population’.

ChemComm is proud to have supported the poster prizes for this wonderful event and the 1^st prize was awarded to Francis Asiam, from KNUST in Ghana, for his poster entitled ‘Collection, distribution, extraction and characterisation of vegetable oils from 40 varieties of high yielding Allanblackia parviflora in Ghana’. A full list of the poster prize recipients and poster titles can be found below.

Well done to all of the well-deserved winners!

PACN Prize 1st place: Francis Asiam (KNUST, Ghana) for ‘Collection, distribution, extraction and characterisation of vegetable oils from 40 varieties of high yielding Allanblackia parviflora in Ghana

PACN Prize 2nd place: EA Asamoah (KNUST, Ghana) for ‘Development of Rabbit Meat Sausages’

PACN Prize, 3rd place: Ray Voegborlo (KNUST, Ghana) for ‘Human Exposure Assessment of Ochratoxin A through consumption of cocoa beans’

Agilent supported prize: Nkechinyere Isienyi (Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria) for ‘Impact of heavy metal on soil near Lapite dumpsite in Ibadan, Nigeria’

Syngenta supported prize: Flaure Essoung (ICIPE, Kenya) for ‘Welwitschianol A and B: Two cyclohexene derivatives and other insecticidal constituents of Caesalpinia Welwitschiana’

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ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship – nominations now open!

29 Nov 2017

We are pleased to welcome nominations for the 2018 Emerging Investigator Lectureship for ChemComm.

All nominations must be received by Monday, 19 February 2018.

ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship
• Recognises emerging scientists in the early stages of their independent academic career.
• Eligible nominees should have completed their PhD on or after the 15th September 2009.

Lectureship details
• The recipient of the lectureship will be invited to present a lecture at three different locations over a 12-month period, with at least one of these events taking place at an international conference.
• The recipient will receive a contribution of £1500 towards travel and accommodation costs for their lectures, as well as a certificate.
• The recipient will be asked to contribute a review article for the journal.

How to nominate
Self-nomination is not permitted. Nominators must send the following to the editorial team via chemcomm-rsc@rsc.org by Monday, 19 February 2018.
• Recommendation letter, including the name, contact details and website URL of the nominee.
• A one-page CV for the nominee, including a summary of their education, dates of key career achievements, a list of up to five of their top independent publications, total numbers of publications and patents, and other indicators of esteem, together with evidence of career independence.
• A copy of the candidate’s best publication to date (as judged by the nominator).
• Two supporting letters of recommendation from two independent referees. These should not be someone from the same institution or the candidate’s post doc or PhD supervisor.

The nominator and independent referees should comment on the candidate’s presenting skills.

Incomplete nominations or those not adhering to the above requirements will not be considered, and nominees will not be contacted regarding any missing or incorrect documents.

Selection procedure
• The editorial team will screen each nomination for eligibility and draw up a shortlist of candidates based on the nomination documents provided.
• Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide a brief supporting statement summarising their key achievements, highlighting the impact of their work and justifying why they deserve the specific lectureship for which they have been entered.
• The recipient of the lectureship will then be selected and endorsed by a selection panel composed of members of the ChemComm Editorial Board. The winner will be announced in the first half of 2018.

NB: Please note that members of the selection panel from the ChemComm Editorial Board are not eligible to nominate, or provide references, for this lectureship.

For any queries, please contact the editorial team at chemcomm-rsc@rsc.org.

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