Chemical Society Reviews Blog

We are very pleased to announce that Connie Lu and Daniele Leonori are the winners of the 2021 Chem Soc Rev Pioneering Investigator Lectureship! Connie and Daniele were selected by Editorial Board members due to their outstanding and innovative contributions to chemistry research.

Daniele Leonori

Daniele obtained his PhD at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Professor Iain Coldham (2010). After postdoctoral studies with Professors Magnus Rueping (RWTH Aachen University) and Peter H. Seeberger (Max Planck Institute) he joined the group of Professor Varinder K. Aggarwal FRS as Research Officer (University of Bristol). In 2014 he commenced his independent career as Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at the University of Manchester and was promoted to Reader in 2018 and Professor in 2020. In 2022 Daniele moved to RWTH Aachen University where he is W3 Professor of Organic Chemistry.

Connie’s research interests span inorganic and organometallic chemistry, especially topics in chemical bonding, electronic structure, reactivity and catalysis. Her research group designs and develops bimetallic active sites, primarily in molecular complexes but also in metal-organic frameworks, to harness metal-metal interactions for small-molecule activation and catalysis. Connie was born in Taipei, Taiwan and grew up in Miami, Florida, USA. She earned a BS degree from MIT and a PhD degree from Caltech with Jonas Peters. She was an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck for Bioinorganic Chemistry with Karl Wieghardt. Connie started her independent career at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2009, received tenure in 2015, and became full professor in 2020.

Connie Lu

The Chem Soc Rev Pioneering Investigator Lectureship recognises mid-career scientists who have firmly established themselves in their independent careers, continuously published innovative work, and have pioneered several research areas.

For the 2021 Lectureship, eligible nominees completed their PhD between January 2005 and December 2012. Appropriate consideration was given to those who had taken a career break or followed a different study path. Eligible nominees were shortlisted and then further assessed by members of the Chem Soc Rev Editorial Board, and the winners were determined by independent vote by Editorial Board members.

As part of the Lectureship award, Daniele and Connie will each be presenting lectures over the coming 12 months. Details of the lectures will be announced in due course but keep an eye on Twitter @ChemSocRev for details!

We are pleased to welcome nominations for the 2021 Pioneering Investigator Lectureship for Chem Soc Rev.

All nominations must be received by 1st February 2021.

Chem Soc Rev Pioneering Investigator Lectureship Recognises mid-career scientists who have firmly established themselves in their independent careers, continuously publish innovative work, and have pioneered several research areas. Eligible nominees should have completed their PhD between January 2005 and December 2012. Appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken a career break or followed a different study path.

Early career researchers may be nominated for the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship.

Lectureship details

• The winner will be invited to present a lecture on their work, as well as receive £1500 and a certificate of recognition.
• The recipient will also 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 chemsocrev-rsc@rsc.org by 1st February 2021.

• 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.
• The recipient of the lectureship will be selected and endorsed by a selection panel composed of members of the ChemSocRev Editorial Board.

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

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