Archive for the ‘news’ Category

RSC Advances Announces Concurrent Editing

Here at RSC Advances we aim to make the publishing experience as simple as possible for authors. We are therefore delighted to announce the introduction of concurrent editing!

Concurrent editing allows you and your co-authors to work on an accepted manuscript’s corrections at the same time; while corresponding authors can track, review and approve all changes.

The option to share access with your co-authors will be listed on the initial instructions panel and tracked on the workflow and editing panel as you work on your corrections together.

 

 

To use concurrent editing, the corresponding author will need to share the proof with any co-authors using the “Invite Collaborators” feature in Proof Central as shown below. This will give each invited author a unique link, allowing their changes to be tracked and all authors to work on corrections at the same time. The corresponding author can then review and approve all changes before submitting the final corrections. Full instructions can be found on Proof Central.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to supply proof corrections by annotating the PDF, this option will still be available and can also be done through Proof Central and an editor will apply the corrections on your behalf.

In addition to RSC Advances, concurrent editing will soon be a feature on all Royal Society of Chemistry journals, so watch out for this exciting tool with your next proof!

 

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RSC Advances Announces Co-Review

RSC Advances is delighted to announce that it has launched co-review.

RSC Advances aims to support authors, researchers and reviewers at all stages of their career. The team behind RSC Advances always endeavours to promote innovative ideas that enable opportunities for all.

We are therefore excited to announce the option for co-review at RSC Advances. The co-review process allows two individuals to collaborate on the peer review of a manuscript and both reviewers eligible for recognition through the Web of Science Reviewer Recognition Service.

The launch of co-review aims to provide a way for early career researchers who assist their supervisor reviewing a manuscript the chance for recognition and to receive credit for their contribution.

Co-review enables early-career researchers to develop their skills in peer review through collaboration with an experienced colleague and to demonstrate experience that may further their career. Please note that co-reviewers must meet the RSC’s peer reviewer eligibility criteria to review for RSC Advances. More information can be found at our Author and Reviewer Hub.

Here are what our Co-Editors in Chief had to say:

“We are really excited to launch this new initiative and to give early-career researchers the opportunity to take part in, and importantly, get recognition for their contribution to peer review. RSC Advances strives to ensure excellent peer review for all our authors and this new initiative, alongside transparent peer review, gives a strong opportunity to train and support the next generation of reviewers” – Karen Faulds, Editor-in-Chief, RSC Advances.

“The RSC Advances Reviewer Panel is at the heart of our journal. We now want to propagate that reviewing experience to the next generation of scientists, and co-review will be a great way to do this. Innovations in ScholarOne will allow experienced reviewers to pass on their expertise to more junior colleagues, and for both to get credit for the work” – Russell J. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, RSC Advances.

To support our early career researchers and those who are just starting to write reviewer reports we ran a blog series earlier this year titled ‘Perfecting Peer Review’ which provides insights from our Associate Editors in review writing. We encourage all reviewers, from the very experienced to the brand new to check out that series here!  We hope everyone will be able to find some useful tips and tricks on review writing.

To find out more about co-review, please read our Editorial here.

We wish all our reviewers the best, and we look forward to receiving your next reviewer report!

 

 

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Deputy Editor Sarah Rainford visits Professor Leyong Wang and Qingdong Zheng at Nanjing University

Deputy Editor Sarah Rainford visited RSC Advances Editorial Board members Prof. Qingdong Zheng and Prof. Leyong Wang at Nanjing University in June.

Sarah Rainford gave a lecture on “How to Publish with Impact – an Editor’s guide to peer review” at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (Nanjing University) and the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (Southeast University). She gave a report on her work in journal publication in recent years and discussed the Open Access future of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In the discussion session, teachers and students actively asked questions and had a lively exchange and discussion on all things related to publishing. Sarah also visited Prof. Yitao Long, Associate Editor for Chemical Science, and Prof. Li-Min Zheng, Associate Editor for Dalton Transactions.

Sarah would like to thank her wonderful hosts at Nanjing University and Southeast University for their terrific hospitality!

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Deputy Editor Sarah Rainford visits Professor Ahjeong Son at Ewha Womans University

RSC Advances Deputy Editor Sarah Rainford was delighted to visit our Associate Editor, Professor Ahjeong Song, at Ewha Womans University in May.

Sarah met with members of Ahjeong’s research group, and delivered a talk on Publishing with Impact, providing tips and tricks on how to prepare your manuscript, and how to ensure you include all the relevant information that editors, reviewers and readers would want to see.

Sarah thanks her wonderful host for such a terrific visit!

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Welcome Beatriz Jurado Sánchez and Qian Li as Associate Editors!

The RSC Advances team are delighted to welcome Beatriz Jurado Sánchez and Qian Li as our newest Associate Editors!

Associate Professor Beatriz Jurado Sánchez, University of Alcalá, Spain

Research Areas: synthesis of tubular and Janus micromotors based on nanomaterials, the integration of micromotors into portable instrumentation, biosensing with micromotors integrating quantum dots, and the development of micromotor based environmental remediation approaches.

Beatriz Jurado Sánchez received her PhD in chemistry from the University of Cordoba in 2009. Then, in 2013, she was awarded the prestigious Marie Curie IOF fellowship to carry out research at the University of California, San Diego under the supervision of Prof Joseph Wang.

From 2017 to 2022, Beatriz was a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the the University of Alcalá. Since 2022, she has been an Associate Professor at the same university – she is currently supervising 9 PhD students, 5 Masters students and many undergraduate students!

Beatriz has co-authored over 82 scientific papers (H Index = 36), 5 book chapters and more than 20 communications in international conferences. Her research has been highlighted in the covers of top impact journals Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Chemical Science and Analytical Chemistry. She is currently an Assistant Editor at Microchimica Acta and has also served as reviewer for many international journals.

Check out Prof Juardo’s latest RSC publications!

Photoresponsive MoS2 and WS2 microflakes as mobile biocide agents
Víctor de la Asunción-Nadal, Javier Bujalance-Fernández, Beatriz Jurado-Sánchez and Alberto Escarpa
Nanoscale, 2023, Advance Article

Transition metal dichalcogenide micromotors with programmable photophoretic swarming motion
Víctor de la Asunción-Nadal, Daniel Rojas, Beatriz Jurado-Sánchez and Alberto Escarpa
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 1239-1245

On-board smartphone micromotor-based fluorescence assays
Kaisong Yuan, Víctor de la Asunción-Nadal, Carmen Cuntín-Abal, Beatriz Jurado-Sánchez and Alberto Escarpa
Lab Chip, 2022,22, 928-935

Professor Qian Li, Shandong University, P. R. China

Research Areas: environmental functional materials, organic solid waste treatment and resource recovery, wastewater treatment and resource recovery, biomass conversion, catalytic oxidation, photothermal conversion, desalination, and green chemistry.

Qian Li is the Professor of School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Shandong University, P. R. China. Prof Li obtained her PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from Shandong University in 2008 under the supervision of Prof Qinyan Yue and Prof Baoyu Gao. She was a postdoctoral researcher in the field of green chemistry at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University from 2008-2010, and a visiting scholar at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA from 2016-2017.

Her expertise and practical experience cover the areas of the development of environmental functional materials, low carbon and efficient management of environmental pollution and resource recovery, including but not limited to the resource of biomass solid waste, design of environmentally friendly materials and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), photothermal conversion processes, industrial water treatment, water and wastewater reclamation, soil improvement and remediation, etc. Her research involves preparations and applications of catalysts, adsorbent, nanomaterial, hydrogel, etc. from biomass-derived materials; AOPs including Fenton-like reactions, photocatalysis, etc. for organic pollutants degradation and resource recovery; recycling and reusing of the biosorbent and hydrogel as the templates for the preparation of hydrogen storage materials; design of biomaterial-based solar evaporators and their application in water purification; the use of biomass-derived materials to control soil nitrogen/phosphorus loss or to remediate soils contaminated with organic pollutants.

Qian has published over 120 research papers in the fields of environmental pollution control, chemical engineering, biomass resource engineering and materials engineering in a broad scope of journals such as Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Chemical Engineering Journal, Bioresource Technology, RSC Advances, and so on.

Check out Prof Li’s latest RSC publications!

Adsorption behavior and mechanism of heavy metal ions by chicken feather protein-based semi-interpenetrating polymer networks super absorbent resin
Wenjia Kong, Qian Li, Jia Liu, Xiaodi Li, Liwei Zhao, Yuan Su, Qinyan Yue and Baoyu Gao
RSC Adv., 2016,6, 83234-83243

A wheat straw cellulose based semi-IPN hydrogel reactor for metal nanoparticles preparation and catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol
Jianzi Ding, Qian Li, Liwei Zhao, Xiaodi Li, Qinyan Yue and Baoyu Gao
RSC Adv., 2017,7, 17599-17611

Submit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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RSC Advances Welcomes Stephen Ojwach as a New Associate Editor

The RSC Advances team are delighted to welcome Professor Stephen Ojwach as our newest Associate Editor!

Professor Stephen Ojwach, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Research Areas: organometallic chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, coordination chemistry, ligand design, transition metal chemistry, and green chemistry.

Prof Ojwach obtained his PhD in Organometallic Chemistry and Homogeneous Catalysis from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa under the supervision of Professor James Darkwa. Currently a professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, he is also a visiting professor at a number of institutions: the University of Lethbridge, Canada, RWTH Aachen University and Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, and University of Strasbourg, France, among others.

Prof Ojwach has made exemplary contribution to the design and development of transition metal complexes as catalysts for various organic transformations, including, but not limited to, oligomerization, polymerization, carbonylation, and hydrogenation reactions. His research involves careful manipulation of ligand design to optimize the catalytic properties (Structure-Property-Activity-Relationship, SPAR) of complexes in given transformation. Kinetics, mechanistic and theoretical studies are undertaken to offer insights for rationale future catalyst designs.

Prof Ojwach has published over 100 research articles in the fields of inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and catalysis in a broad scope of journals such as RSC Advances, Dalton Transactions, Organometallics, Molecular Catalysis, and Inorganic Chemistry.

Check out Prof Ojwach’s latest RSC publications!

Structural and ethylene oligomerization studies of chelating (imino)phenol Fe(ii), Co(ii) and Ni(ii) complexes: an experimental and theoretical approach
Makhosonke Ngcobo, Holliness Nose, Arumugam Jayamani and Stephen O. Ojwach
New J. Chem., 2022,46, 6219-6229

Carboxamide carbonyl-ruthenium(II) complexes: detailed structural and mechanistic studies in the transfer hydrogenation of ketones
Robert T. Kumah, Paranthaman Vijayan and Stephen O. Ojwach
New J. Chem., 2022,46, 3146-3155

Role of π-conjugation on the coordination behaviour, substitution kinetics, DNA/BSA interactions, and in vitro cytotoxicity of carboxamide palladium(II) complexes
Reinner O. Omondi, Nicole R. S. Sibuyi, Adewale O. Fadaka, Mervin Meyer, Deogratius Jaganyi and Stephen O. Ojwach.
Dalton Trans., 2021,50, 8127-8143

Prof Ojwach is looking forward to receiving your papers! Submit to RSC Advances today. Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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RSC Advances 2021 Outstanding Student Paper Award webinars

We are delighted to announce a series of webinars to celebrate the winners of our 2021 Outstanding Student Paper Awards.

RSC Advances Outstanding Student Paper Awards 2021 – these awards recognise outstanding work published in the journal in 2021, for which a substantial component of the research was conducted by a student. We received over 900 nominations, which were shortlisted, and the winning papers were then selected by our Editorial Board and Associate Editors.

You can view the winning contributions and hear more about the winners in our collection.

In a series of webinars, some of the award winners will present their research and there will be an opportunity to ask the winners questions about their work.

Registration is free, so sign up now to support our winners and hear about the exciting research that helped them to win the award!

RSC Advances Outstanding Student Award webinar part 1 – Tuesday 22nd November at 16:00-17:00 GMT

During this first webinar, we will hear from the following winners
Analytical chemistry winner: Vanessa N. Ataide, São Paulo University, Brazil
Energy chemistry winner: Alexandra H. Teodor, University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA
Inorganic chemistry winner: Aayushi Arora, Doon University, India

[Registration link]

RSC Advances Outstanding Student Award webinar part 2 – Wednesday 30th November at 09:00-10:00 GMT

During this second webinar, we will hear from the following winners
Environmental chemistry winner: Yin Sim Ng, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Food chemistry winner: Yao Lu, Renmin University of China, China
Catalysis chemistry winner: Jairus L. Lamola, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Organic chemistry winner: Ajaz Ahmed, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, India

[Registration link]

RSC Advances Outstanding Student Award webinar part 3Wednesday 30th November at 16:00-17:00 GMT

During this third and final webinar, we will hear from the following winners
Materials chemistry winner: Shyam K. Pahari, University of Massachusetts, USA
Computational and theoretical chemistry winner: Abhishek T. Sose, Virginia Tech, USA

[Registration link]

We hope to see you there!

 

 

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Welcome to our new Associate Editors: Shivani Bhardwaj Mishra and Chiharu Tokoro

The RSC Advances team are delighted to welcome Professor Shivani Bhardwaj Mishra and Professor Chiharu Tokoro as our new Associate Editors!

Professor Shivani Bhardwaj Mishra, University of South Africa

Research Areas: Sol-gel technology, nanomaterials, ceramics and water treatment.

Professor Shivani Bhardwaj Mishra is Founder and Director of Academy of Nanotechnology and Waste water Innovations [ANWWI]. She is serving as an Adjunct Professor at Hebei University of Science and Technology, China and as International Advisory Board member at TU Wien, Austria. This has boosted her academic career allowing her to expand her research expertise with joint projects, publications and knowledge exchange activities. Over twenty years of her academic experience accounts for teaching organic chemistry and research in the field of nanomaterials, nanocomposites and its various environmental and material applications. Besides, her core research interest is waste valorization to promote sustainability and circular economy growth. Her educational background involves a PhD in Chemistry from Jamia Millia Islamia, Master of Science [Organic Chemistry] and Bachelor of Science [Chemistry] from University of Madras, India.

For her outstanding profile and academic achievements, she was inducted as prestigious Fellow member of Royal Society of Chemistry in 2015 and is a member of American Chemical Society, USA, South African Chemical Society and many others. She is the recipient of many accolades and among these are, Distinguished Woman Scientist award from Department of Science and Technology, South Africa, Woman in Research Leadership Award from University of South Africa and recognised as Top 10 researchers at University of Johannesburg. She is Associate Editor for Frontiers for Green and sustainable chemistry and Guest Associate Editor for Medicinal and Pharmaceutical chemistry, editorial board member and reviewer for various journals. She has more than hundred publications in renowned journals.

Read Shivani’s recent RSC Advances publication: 

Mechanistic pathways for the degradation of SMX drug and floatation of degraded products using F-Pt co-doped TiO2 photocatalysts, M Jahdi, SB Mishra, EN Nxumalo, SD Mhlanga, AK Mishra, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 27662-27675, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA05009A

 

Professor Chiharu Tokoro, Waseda University

 

Research Areas: Mineral processing, resource recycling, environmental purification, powder technologies and chemical engineering.

Professor Chiharu Tokoro received her Dr. Eng from the University of Tokyo in 2003. She then went on to work at Waseda University where she has currently held the position of Professor since 2015. From 2021 she also became a Professor at Professor at the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo.

Professor Chiharu Tokoro is currently on the Editorial Board for Elsevier’s Advanced Powder Technology. She has won the 2020 Waseda Research Award, was a finalist for the Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2021 in Engineering and Technology and won the Waseda University Best Paper award in 2021.

The Tokoro Lab is currently focusing their efforts into three research areas, developing recycling systems, using powder simulations to explore various powder processes and developing technologies for recovering metals from wastewater.

 

Submit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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RSC Advances welcomes two new Associate Editors: Shannon Biros and Giulia Fiorani

The RSC Advances team is excited to welcome Professor Shannon Biros, Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA and  Professor Giulia Fiorani, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy as our newest Associate Editors.

Shannon Biros, Professor of Chemistry, Grand Valley State University, USA

Research areas: x-ray crystallography, supramolecular chemistry, f-element coordination chemistry, actinide and lanthanide separation chemistry

Shannon M. Biros joined the faculty of GVSU as an Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry in the fall of 2008.  She was a graduate of GVSU, receiving her BA in chemistry and BS in biomedical sciences in 2001. From there she moved to San Diego to pursue a PhD in chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute under the direction of Professor Julius Rebek, Jr. Following the completion of her thesis, Shannon spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley as a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Professor Kenneth N. Raymond investigating the guest binding properties of a series of supramolecular metal-ligand clusters. She is currently in her thirteenth year as a faculty member at GVSU, and maintains an active research group of undergraduate students.

Browse a selection of Shannon’s RSC publications: 

Synthesis of diphenyl-(2-thienyl)phosphine, its chalcogenide derivatives and a series of novel complexes of lanthanide nitrates and triflates, Troy Luster, Hannah J. Van de Roovaart, Kyle J. Korman, Georgia G. Sands, Kylie M. Dunn, Anthony Spyker, Richard J. Staples, Shannon M. Biros and John E. Bender, Dalton Trans., 2022,51, 9103-9115, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2DT01570F

A complex with nitrogen single, double, and triple bonds to the same chromium atom: synthesis, structure, and reactivity, Evan P. Beaumier, Brennan S. Billow, Amrendra K. Singh, Shannon M. Biros and Aaron L. Odom, Chem. Sci., 2016,7, 2532-2536, https://doi.org/10.1039/C5SC04608D

Supramolecular ligands for the extraction of lanthanide and actinide ions, Eric J. Werner and Shannon M. Biros, Org. Chem. Front., 2019,6, 2067-2094, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9QO00242A

 

Giulia Fiorani, Associate Professor, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Research areas: Green chemistry, Organic synthesis, Heterogeneous catalysis (green chemistry), Organic chemistry, Sustainable synthesis, biodegradable/biocompatible polymers, degradation of polymers

Giulia Fiorani received her BSc and MSc in Chemical Sciences from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. In 2010, she obtained her PhD in Chemical Sciences and Technologies from the same university, working on Ionic Liquids, under the supervision of Prof. Valeria Conte. From 2010 to 2012 Giulia was a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the University of Padua, working on hybrid polyoxometalates. She then moved to Ca’ Foscari University of Venice as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant to work on linear organic carbonates. From March 2016 until October 2017, Giulia was a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in polymer chemistry and polymerization catalysis under the supervision of Prof. Charlotte K. Williams, initially at Imperial College London and then at the University of Oxford. Since November 2017, Giulia has been a fixed-term Assistant Professor, and later a tenure-track Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

In May 2015, she was shortlisted among the ten highly commended scientists for the ISGC Young Researcher Award. She was the recipient of the 2017 Junior Prize for Research on “Organic Chemistry for Environment, Energy and Nanoscience” awarded by the Organic Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society and of the “Outstanding Young Researcher Award awardee” awarded by the International Scientific Committee of ICCDU XV, 5-7 July 2017, Shanghai (CN).

Giulia’s research interests focus on the development of novel synthetic and catalytic methodologies for the preparation of renewable-based molecules and materials. Bio-based synthons, including terpenes and lignocellulosic biomass derived platform chemicals, are employed as starting materials for the preparation of functional molecules and/or monomers for (co)-polymers synthesis. These transformations occur via sustainable catalytic processes, including direct CO2 activation, tandem and/or one-pot processes, and use of continuous flow to improve the overall selectivity of synthetic organic chemistry processes.

Browse a selection of Giulia’s RSC publications: 

Phosphonium salts and P-ylides, G. Fiorani, A. Perosa and M. Selva, From the book: Organophosphorus Chemistry: Volume 50, 2021, 50, 179-242, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/9781839163814-00179

Dimethyl carbonate: a versatile reagent for a sustainable valorization of renewables, G. Fiorani, A. Perosa and M. Selva, Green Chem., 2018,20, 288-322, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C7GC02118F

Submit your research or reviews to Professor Biros and Professor Fiorani, they will be delighted to receive them! See our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest HOT articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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An Interview with Shirley Nakagaki, President of the Brazilian Chemical Society

We are delighted to announce that Shirley Nakagaki, one of our Editorial Board members, has been elected as president of the Brazilian Chemical Society.  

This makes Shirley the second ever female researcher to be president of this society in the forty-five years it has been active. To celebrate this achievement, we asked Shirley the following questions, and we hope you find her answers as motivating as we do!

  1. Can you explain your area of research for a non-specialist in the area?

My main interest lies in the study (preparation, characterization and application) of molecules called metalloporphyrins. The key application of these molecules in my research group is in the preparation of compounds known as catalysts (a kind of chemical that accelerates chemical reactions) for oxidation, sequential and esterification reactions. For example, an important oxidation reaction is one that results in an acid species (adipic acid) which is one of the reactants that produces polymeric fibres like nylon. These fibres are used in a range of materials from pantyhose to very sophisticated devices that are part of the International Space Station. In some cases, the catalytic species I study and develop are inspired by biological systems that act as catalysts, in a chemical model known as biomimetic chemistry. In particular, this means that my compounds that act as catalysts can react in a similar way to enzymes, a chemical component found in very efficient biological systems that accelerate reactions necessary to keep organisms alive. In some cases, the catalytic species I study and develop are inspired by biological systems in a chemical model known as biomimetic chemistry. This means my compounds act as catalysts, in a very similar way to enzymes.

  1. What work are you the proudest of?

Fortunately, I can say that I am proud of all my work developed in my 30-year career in the chemical sciences. I have been a supervisor to many chemistry students, supporting them through their undergraduate projects, master’s degree dissertations and PhD theses. These projects have resulted in different products such as patents and scientific papers. However, the education of new chemistry professionals, be it researchers or chemistry professors, is probably my most important job.

  1. What do you find motivating?

My motivation comes from different parts. Firstly, through being a professor, my motivation comes from my students in the classroom or in the lab. When they ask me about chemistry in general or particularly inorganic chemistry, I find motivation in trying to explain to them in the best way that they can solve whatever doubts they have. Another source of motivation comes from realizing every day, and at the end of every paper I read, that there are many things we still do not know and cannot explain in the light of science, particularly in the chemical sciences. The chemical knowledge is vast and fascinating. Everything around us, in some way, involves a chemical process that can or will be explained, either now or in some distant future, based on the advance of the scientific knowledge.

  1. How did your career path lead you to become elected as the president of the Brazilian Chemical Society?

When I was a chemistry undergraduate student in Sao Paulo University, Ribeirao Preto city campus (countryside part of the Sao Paulo State), I joined Professor Yassuko Iamamoto’s research group with a scholarship to work in the development of catalysts for oxidation reactions. Our first research results were presented in the annual meeting of the SBQ – (Brazilian Chemical Society) of which I became an associate in 1983. After that, every year I attended the annual meeting and presented the research results of my master’s degree or PhD studies. After I finished my graduate school, I joined Federal University of Paraná (a southern state in Brazil) and created my own research group. In the SBQ I joined as a director in the inorganic chemistry division, since I believed and continue to believe that I can contribute with my work to build a strong and big Brazilian chemical society that represents the strength of the chemical science in Brazilian universities as well as Brazilian research centres.

  1. What will your role entail and what are you aiming to achieve?

Firstly, I believe that my role as president of the SBQ is to contribute daily to the growth of our society and to foster the good work of the previous 21 presidents. In addition, I have a big responsibility to show young chemists, graduate and undergraduate students, the importance of our society as a civil organization. They are a voice to be heard in issues in which the chemical community can contribute to the greater society. We also hope that our voice can be one that includes, fosters, and promotes quality scientific discussion, being plural, diverse and inclusive.

  1. What are the biggest challenges facing the Brazilian Chemistry Community?

Regarding the chemical sciences, there are many challenges we face. For one, providing quality scientific education for young people in a country with continental figures and big social and income inequalities. We find a good, international level education in one part of the country and a complete lack of basic infrastructure in other parts. Regarding the scientific research, we face low and declining levels of investment, which affects the continuity of good research programs. We face many challenges to become the country we dream of.

  1. What are the most exciting areas in the Brazilian Chemistry Community?

We have many strong research areas in Brazil. These include using natural products to explore our big biodiversity, the preparation and use of new materials, and we have excellent researchers making contributions to the new and alternative energies. In addition, given our great natural resource reserve, we have brilliant researchers working on the extraction of new substances from our biodiverse biomes and developing new pharmacological alternatives from these results. Some of these natural findings are already being prepared in our universities. Our scientific community is very versatile and creative. Despite receiving little financial support, we have produced excellent results. This can be seen in the quality of our Brazilian researchers’ publications around the world. For example, I can quote the Brazilian Science Panorama 2015-2020 report from the Science, Technology and Innovation Observatory (CGEE- OCTI), which shows the Brazilian production of scientific research papers grew 32% in 2020 in comparison to 2015, while the global production only grew 27%. During these five years more than 11 million papers were indexed in Web of Science (WoS), of which 372 thousand are papers with at least one author linked to our Brazilian institutions, giving us the 13th position in global production, surpassing Russia (14th), Iran (15th), the Netherlands (16th) and Turkey (17th). In 2020, this participation reached 3.2% of global scientific research production. These figures are considering scientific papers as a whole, but according to WoS, chemistry is the second area of research in number of indexed papers, lagging only behind the engineering area. These are very relevant figures as it shows the strength of chemistry in Brazilian scientific research, which is concentrated mostly in public universities where our SBQ associates work.

  1. How does it feel being the 2nd woman to hold this position and how is this going to inspire a younger generation of female chemists?

I can see in our long line of SBQ female associates so many chemists that could be in my place. Women are about 50% of all SBQ associates. We have excellent scientists, chemical educators and researchers in our pool of associates. I am not the first female president; I am only the second one in this rough path opened by Prof. Vanderlan Bolzani. But, paraphrasing vice-president Kamala Harris, “I will make sure I will not be the last”. Hopefully, my work will serve as an example and inspiration so that women in SBQ can see that it is possible to be in my position and occupy this space, if we serve with dedication and love to the SBQ.

  1. You have been a member of the RSC Advances Editorial Board since September 2020. What would you say are the biggest strengths of the journal?

Being a member of the RSC Advances Editorial Board has been an interesting and significant experience, considering the size and relevance of the RSC to the world and to the SBQ. Through the years both societies have not only kept good relations but developed key partnerships of research. From my remote participation on the meetings (due to the new coronavirus pandemic) I gathered that the main interest of this journal is to deliver papers of unquestionable scientific quality through an open access journal. On this aspect, the journal invests greatly in its editorial board, giving them adequate support for their job. Moreover, I found it very positive the journal’s actions towards making it more inclusive and transparent.

  1. What do you hope to achieve in your career over the next 10 years?

What I hope to achieve in my career over the next 10 years is continuous progress both from scientific and educational standpoints. I hope to continue to investigate multifunctional catalytic solids aimed at sequential reactions as opposed to single process catalysts. I believe they are more adequate alternatives considering the reduction in cost, time and use of available resources during the preparation of reactions. Furthermore, shaping new generations of chemists has always been a career goal of mine, so I hope I can continue to give classes and participate in the education and formation of professionals in this area of science that is dear to my heart, Chemistry!

Please join me in extending our congratulations to Shirley for this achievement. We hope you continue to inspire the next generation of chemists!

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