With the opening of the 2023 Lectureship nominations we would like to take the opportunity to celebrate our previous Winner and Runner-Ups from the 2022 Lectureship.

To do this, we asked them a few interview questions to gain some retrospective insight into their successes. We also hope that this could serve as advice and guidance to those who would be nominated for the 2023 Lectureship and beyond.

We have included Luisa’s responses below along with links to her past work for you to further explore.

Luisa Whittaker- Brooks, Journal of Materials Chemistry 2022 Lectureship Runner-Up

How did you feel when you were announced as a runner-up of the 2022 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship? 

I was very excited when I received the email since I know this is a very competitive application. 

In your opinion, what would make for a strong candidate to be considered for the Lectureship? 

A strong candidate will be a scientist performing research at the forefront of the materials field. I believe it will also help if candidates publish their work in any of the Journals of Materials Chemistry and Materials Horizons, given that publishing their findings in these top-tier journals will make them gain visibility among potential selection committee members of the Lectureship award.  

Which of your JMC publications are you most proud of and why? 

I routinely published my best works in JMC and the one that I am most proud of is our paper entitled 
“Vertically oriented TiS_2−x nanobelt arrays as binder- and carbon-free intercalation electrodes for Li- and Na-based energy storage devices (J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 21949-21960)”. It is very special because it was my first publication in JMC as an independent investigator. This paper was also part of the Emerging Investigator themed collection, and it was selected as a cover. 

Do you have any advice for Early-Career researchers who wish to be nominated for the Lectureship award? 

Start working on publishing your best work in JMC as soon as possible. This will help you gain visibility. Also, have someone nominate you for submitting a manuscript to the Emerging Investigator Themed Collection. 

At which upcoming conferences may our community meet you? 

My students and I typically attend the MRS, APS, ACS conferences.  

You can read a selection of Luisa’s work here:

‘Concepts and principles of self-n-doping in perylene diimide chromophores for applications in biochemistry, energy harvesting, energy storage, and catalysis’

Daniel Powell and Luisa Whittaker-Brooks.

Mater. Horiz., 2022,9, 2026-2052 DOI: 10.1039/D2MH00279E

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/mh/d2mh00279e

‘Steric hindrance dependence on the spin and morphology properties of highly oriented self-doped organic small molecule thin films’

Daniel Powell, Eric V. Campbell, Laura Flannery, Jonathan Ogle, Sarah E. Soss and Luisa Whittaker-Brooks.

Mater. Adv., 2021,2, 356-365 DOI: 10.1039/D0MA00822B

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ma/d0ma00822b

‘Vertically oriented TiS_2−x nanobelt arrays as binder- and carbon-free intercalation electrodes for Li- and Na-based energy storage devices’

Casey G. Hawkins and Luisa Whittaker-Brooks.
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 21949-21960 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA05645E

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ta/c8ta05645e

‘Bi₂S₃ nanowire networks as electron acceptor layers in solution-processed hybrid solar cells’

Luisa Whittaker-Brooks, Jia Gao, Anna K. Hailey, Conor R. Thomas, Nan Yao, and Yueh-Lin Loo.
J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 2686-2692. DOI: 10.1039/C4TC02534B

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/tc/c4tc02534b

Many congratulations again to Luisa, and don’t forget to take this opportunity to submit your own nomination for the 2023 Lectureship award. 

For more information and details on eligibility criteria and how to nominate a candidate, please visit the Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship webpage.

 The deadline for nominations is 25 June 2023

Nominate your candidate now!

With the opening of the 2023 Lectureship nominations we would like to take the opportunity to celebrate our previous Winner and Runner-Ups from the 2022 Lectureship.

To do this, we asked them a few interview questions to gain some retrospective insight into their successes. We also hope that this could serve as advice and guidance to those who would be nominated for the 2023 Lectureship and beyond.

We have included  Sahika’s responses below along with links to her past work for you to further explore.

Sahika Inal, Journal of Materials Chemistry 2022 Lectureship Winner

How did you feel when you were announced as the winner/runner-up of the 2022 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship?

I was surprised, happy, grateful, and excited! A healthy balance of feelings which made me appreciate our community.

In your opinion, what would make for a strong candidate to be considered for the Lectureship?

I think service to the community is very important. We often think that academic excellence is the most important factor, but I feel that we are all doing significant scientific work, what probably makes a difference is how one contributes to the others.

Which of your JMC publications are you most proud of and why?

I am proud of all my publications and work my group members have contributed. The publication, Savva et al JMC C, 2018 is however the one I will not forget about as it was the first paper that came out of my independent group.

Do you have any advice for Early-Career researchers who wish to be nominated for the Lectureship award?

I wish them best of luck and suggest them to publish their best work in RSC.

At which upcoming conferences or events may our community meet you?

I will be at FPI in Raleigh, SPIE in San Diego, MRS Fall in Boston

Discover some of Sahika’s work here:

‘Ionic-to-electronic coupling efficiency in PEDOT:PSS films operated in aqueous electrolytes’

Achilleas Savva, Shofarul Wustoni and Sahika Inal.

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018,6, 12023-12030 DOI: 10.1039/C8TC02195C

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/tc/c8tc02195c

‘The effect of the donor moiety of DPP based polymers on the performance of organic electrochemical transistors.’

Yazhou Wang, Amer Hamidi-Sakr, Jokubas Surgailis, Yecheng Zhou, Hailiang Liao, Junxin Chen, Genming Zhu, Zhengke Li, Sahika Inal and Wan Yue.

Mater. Chem. C, 2021,9, 13338-13346 DOI: 10.1039/D1TC02994K

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/tc/d1tc02994k

‘Propylene and butylene glycol: new alternatives to ethylene glycol in conjugated polymers for bioelectronic applications’

Maximilian Moser, Yazhou Wang, Tania Cecilia Hidalgo, Hailiang Liao, Yaping Yu, Junxin Chen, Jiayao Duan, Floriana Moruzzi, Sophie Griggs, Adam Marks, Nicola Gasparini, Andrew Wadsworth, Sahika Inal, Iain McCulloch and Wan Yue.

Mater. Horiz., 2022,9, 973-980 DOI: 10.1039/D1MH01889B

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/mh/d1mh01889b

‘A guide for the characterization of organic electrochemical transistors and channel materials.’

David Ohayon, Victor Druet and Sahika Inal.
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2023,52, 1001-1023. DOI: 10.1039/D2CS00920J

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/cs/d2cs00920j

Many congratulations again to Sahika, and don’t forget to take this opportunity to submit your own nomination for the 2023 Lectureship award. 

For more information and details on eligibility criteria and how to nominate a candidate, please visit the Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship webpage.

 The deadline for nominations is 25 June 2023

Nominate your candidate now!

We are delighted to announce that nominations are now OPEN for the prestigious 2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship. Do you know an outstanding emerging scientist in the field of materials chemistry who deserves recognition? Nominate them today for a chance to win this respected award!

Established in 2010, this international lectureship honours early-career scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of materials chemistry, with previous recipients including Shaojun Guo, Christopher Bettinger, Henry Snaith, Maria Escudero-Escribano and last year’s winner Sahika Inal.

For more information and details on eligibility criteria and how to nominate a candidate, please visit the Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship webpage.

 The deadline for nominations is 25 June 2023

Nominate your candidate now

You are of course welcome to circulate this information more widely with any colleagues who might be interested in making a nomination. We look forward to receiving your nominations!

Find out more about our previous Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship winner, Prof. Sahika Inal and our runners-up Prof. Luisa Whittaker-Brooks and Dr Jessica Wade in our blog post