Archive for the ‘Brazil’ Category

Materials Horizons 10th Anniversary Collection for the Americas

02 Nov 2023

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Materials Horizons, the journal has been preparing monthly Regional Spotlight Collections, highlighting the most popular articles publishing in Materials Horizons from contributors across the globe.

Recently, the spotlight collection for the Americas was released, containing 33 of the very best publications from this region in the past 10 years.

Click here to read this collection of fantastic articles, and click here to learn more about upcoming activities honoring Materials Horizons on its 10th anniversary.

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Join the Materials Horizons and Nanoscale Horizons Community Board!

07 Jun 2023

Do you know an early career researcher or PhD candidate interested in materials science and/or nanoscience? Are they interested in participating the development of two of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journals? If so, now is the time to nominate them for the Materials Horizons and Nanoscale Horizons Community Board!

The Community Board is a group of early career researchers and students who work with the journals’ Executive Editors and Editorial Boards to guide how the journals can best support the community of students, postdoctoral researchers, and early career researchers interested in Materials Horizons and Nanoscale Horizons. They provide feedback on the community’s perception of the journals, help guide the journals’ engagement through suggested themed collections and Focus Article topics, and suggest education-focused initiatives for the journals to support the community.

If you are interested in nominating someone for the Materials Horizons and Nanoscale Horizons Community Board, submissions are open through July 19th, 2023. Check out the post on the Materials Horizons Blog for full details on eligibility, nomination process, and more details about the role of the Community Board.

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Updates from the Brazil Office for RSC Americas

05 Jul 2022

Written by Elizabeth Magalhaes

A satellite office of RSC Americas, the Brazilian office in São Paulo, has been operating since 2012 and represents the whole portfolio in the region including all of South America. Now, after the worst (we hope) of the pandemic, we are re-assessing our approach in the region. The main partner in the community is the Brazilian Chemical Society, SBQ. At the beginning of 2022, RSC president Tom Welton gave a webinar to SBQ to reflect on Sustainability, which has become a prominent subject from 2022 onwards in the Brazilian Community.

Most of our publications in Brazil come from the local chemistry community, totalling nearly 500 at RSC. More and more, research in this area has become multidisciplinary, so following Biochemistry, Materials, Food Engineering, and Energy topics has played an important role in pursuing submission leading to publications locally. This movement has been essential in times where national funding has become an issue in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Other sources of funding, such as applications through innovation, are paving initial steps to enable research despite major cuts in governments’ science budgets.

Our goal in the region is to keep RSC relevant and to continue to be a trustworthy source for quality publications. To perform best in our aims, we support the most important local meetings in our communities, general or specific, to better understand the local environment. We look for opportunities to find engaged authors and editors, as well as to enlighten the future generation. We recently came back from one of the largest events in the area, the 45^th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Chemical Society. This conference was an opportunity to showcase our portfolio in full, including journals, books, databases, and other campaigns on Diversity and Inclusion. Our marketing stand attracted attention and was an effective point of contact for researchers.

At the conference, we presented a How-to-Publish talk with 3 of our local editorial board members in an interactive section. A highlight of the trip was the second annual awarding of the so-called JP RSC RASBQ prize, organized in partnership with SBQ. This award recognizes two young researchers for their scientific competence and quality of work, providing them with funding to attend international conferences and to boost their initial careers as professionals by covering research costs. More about the award and this year’s recipients can be found here (in Portuguese).

Yet there is still more to come, and this year we will sponsor and/or attend focus events and meetings in Materials, Analytical, Inorganic, Medicinal, and Organic Chemistry, including ICCST 15 – the International Conference on the Chemistry of Selenium and Tellurium. Watch this space!

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Outstanding Reviewers of 2021

19 Apr 2022

The accuracy and quality of chemical science literature is only possible through the hard work of dedicated reviewers. We would like to thank all those who have contributed to the peer review process this past year, and especially recognize those from the Americas selected as Outstanding Reviewers. These reviewers have been chosen based on the number, timeliness, and quality of reports completed over 2021.

For a full list of the Outstanding Reviewers of 2021 from over 130 countries, please click here.

(more…)

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Welcome 2020 North and South American Editorial Board members!

15 Dec 2020

The RSC US and Brazilian offices want to give a big welcome to our North and South American board members appointed in the past year!

Michelle Arkin, University of California San Francisco (USA)

RSC Chemical Biology Editorial Board Member

Curtis Berlinguette, University of British Columbia (Canada)

Journal of Materials Chemistry A / Materials Advances Associate Editor

Lin Chen, Northwestern University (USA)

Chemical Science Associate Editor

Zhongwei (John) Chen, University of Waterloo (Canada)

Energy & Environment Book Series, Editor in Chief

Jianjun Cheng, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (USA)

Biomaterials Science Editor in Chief (formerly Associate Editor)

Wendell Coltro, Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil)

Analytical Methods Associate Editor

Neil Donahue, Carnegie Mellon University (USA)

Environmental Science: Atmospheres Editor in Chief

Norm Dovichi, University of Notre Dame (USA)

Analyst Editor in Chief

Leanne Gilbertson, University of Pittsburgh (USA)

Environmental Science: Nano Editorial Board Member

Jen Heemstra, Emory University (USA)

RSC Chemical Biology Editorial Board Member

Corey Hopkins, University of Nebraska Medical Center (USA)

Drug Discovery Book series, Series Editor

CJ Li, McGill University (Canada)

ChemComm Associate Editor (previously Green Chemistry Associate Editor)

Jennifer Love, University of Calgary (Canada)

Chemical Society Reviews Editorial Board Chair (previously Catalysis Science & Technology Associate Editor)

Gabriel Merino, Cinvestav Mérida (Mexico)

Chemical Science Associate Editor

Shirley Nagagaki, Universidade Federal do Paraná (Brazil)

RSC Advances Editorial Board Member

Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska, University of Michigan (USA)

RSC Chemical Biology Editorial Board Member

Dong Qin, Georgia Tech (USA)

Nanoscale / Nanoscale Advances Associate Editor

Joel Thornton, University of Washington (USA)

Environmental Science: Atmospheres Editorial Board Member

Doug Stephan, University of Toronto (Canada)

ChemComm Editorial Board Chair (previously Chemical Society Reviews Editorial Board Chair)

Stacey Wetmore, University of Lethbridge (Canada)

RSC Advances Editorial Board Member

Hua-Zhong (Hogan) Yu, Simon Fraser University (Canada)

Analyst Reviews Editor

Vassilia Zorba, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA)

JAAS Editorial Board Member

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PAN-NANO-2020: a unique event before the crisis

23 Jun 2020

The second Pan-American Nanotechnology Conference

PAN-NANO-2020 happened Mar 4-7, 2020 in Águas de Lindoia-SP, just before the Covid-19 crisis struck Brazil. During that week, we were aware of the situation spreading in the world, but Brazil had just a few cases and social distancing was only a distant idea. Águas de Lindoia has hot springs where people normally go to relax and is attractive due its mild climate. The organizers prepared for the uncertainties (with masks and alcohol-gel), and around 200 attendees, in total, were present. This conference was a joint effort between several engaged institutions with common interests and the same continent, the Americas.

Being “Pan-American”, related to North, South and Central America collectively, the organizers used their common scientific subject, NANO, to create the PAN-NANO event. The purpose was to develop useful and sustainable applications of nanotechnologies throughout the Pan-American region by understanding nanotechnology and nanoparticles’ behavior in biological, chemical and environmental systems.

The Royal Society of Chemistry had already sponsored its first edition, and the journals Nanoscale, Nanoscale Advances, Nanoscale Horizons and Environmental Science: Nano saw a good opportunity to get involved with a such variety of communities, which include Physicists, Chemists and Engineers.

RSC supported Prof Rebecca Kapler (U. Wisconsin-Milwaukee), who gave a plenary talk on Interactions at the Nano-Bio Interface Across Biological Systems. The talk showed the significant variation in these interactions due to differences in the biological characteristics of organisms and the environments where they are found. She highlighted how it is necessary to probe the molecular interactions that occur at the interface of the nanomaterial and the places where the material comes in contact with the organism. In addition, she discussed the molecular interaction of nanomaterials across species. On the same day, RSC promoted a special Meet the Editor event, in a “Pint-of-Science” like format, to attract the audience and encourage them to have a beer and relax during the discussions.

Elizabeth and Rebecca gave an overview of RSC, promoted the main RSC journals in the area, as well databases and books. Finally, Prof Rebecca gave general tips on how to submit and write, giving inside information on the article life cycle. Some slides supported the talk, but the audience got involved in a vivid discussion on publication motivation; Editors’ expectations; and the importance of showing novelty, comparing with the existing work and including backup citations.

Finally, at the end of the conference, RSC awarded two poster prizes, each consisting of £100 book voucher and certificate from Nanoscale and Environmental Science: Nano. We would like to congratulate the winners shown below receiving their prizes at the closing ceremony:

Poster prize winners with Prof Debora Frigi Rodrigues (Houston University), the winners Kayla Kurtz (University of Rhode Island) and Izaac Sit (University of California, San Diego), and also Profs Rebecca Klaper (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Isabel C. Escobar (University of Kentucky) and Ademar Benevolo Lugão (IPEN/CNEN).

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Wrapping up BRAZIL 2019: Theory, Materials, Microfluidics, She/Her, Natural Products and SBQ-Sul in 2019

30 Mar 2020

Copacabana Beach landscape during the 2019-2020 New Year´s Eve

The year of 2019 left us some time ago. In the Southern Hemisphere, end of the year celebrations are different: outdoors, hot and part of the summer holiday season. The Northern Hemisphere still finds it difficult to understand that if it is summer, it is our time of the year to take big holidays. As yet, I will tell you a secret: the water spins around in the sink in an counterclockwise direction. For us, down here, it is time to wrap up our thoughts, hope for a better year and begin the next one slowly (always keeping an eye on Carnival).

So, to show you all how we closed the year, here are our last events of 2019.

Similar to at the Brazilian Chemical Society Meeting in 2019, where a Women’s Hub was created and a prize named after Prof Dr Vanderlan Bolzani awarded, sections discussing Women in Science issues were held at the BrazMedChem symposium and at the 20^th CBCat. Discussion included numbers from Academia (data from CNPq) to show how women are progressing as whole in Chemistry (or Science) but are not achieving as many higher decision-making positions as men. The big question: why is that? There are multiple answers and still lots of discussion to be had.

Prof. Marisa Orth gave a nice overview at the CBCat with numbers from a CNPq database and Prof Heloise Pastore moderated a friendly discussion with the audience. One thing was obvious: men have to take part in this as an important agent to change the future. These numbers corroborate with our recently launched Report on Gender Bias in Publishing.

Later on in September, in a different location (Federal University of Pelotas-UFPel-RS), our recent recipient of the JAAS Lectureship, Prof Marcia Mesko, with the RSC Brazil office’s support, coordinated a panel discussion totally dedicated to diversity and inclusion of women, the “She/Her on Science”, with lectures and panel discussions dedicated to the subject.

With experienced and young female researchers in the discussions [Profs Drs Márcia Barbosa (UFRGS), Maysa Furlan (CAPES and UNESP), Ethel Wilhelm, Lucielli Savegnago, Márcia Mesko, Mariana Vieira, Rosélia Spanevello (all from UFPel), Laura Fonseca (UFSM), Vanderlan Bolzani (UNESP), Fernanda Staniscuaski (UFRGS), Hellen Stulzer (UFSC), Marina Prigol (UNIPAMPA), Paola Mello (UFSM), Marina Trevisan (UFRGS)], the subjects varied between challenges for young female scientists in the South, parenthood in science, gender equity, awards’ impact, institutional action on gender inclusion and perspectives from new young female talent. We still have a long way to go, but those discussions, happening over and over again, will wake up the world, and especially will wake up women to be present and active in discussions and acts. Support to get support, that is how things change, little by little, grain by grain!.

Finally the year ended with five meetings in a row. The RSC office supported them in different ways and the organizers did a very good job in raising awareness of the RSC and our journals. The Brazilian Materials Research Society (B-MRS) organized its annual meeting, the XVIII Brazilian MRS, involving the community of materials research. It was held in Balneário Camboriú-SC, September 22-26th, 2019. Parallel sections with varied subjects covering Physics to Chemistry, mixed with Engineering, had the participation of several Latin American Materials Research Societies. RSC promoted J. Mat. Chem. A, J. Mat. Chem. B, J. Mat. Chem. C, Mat. Horizons, Nanoscale and Nanoscale Horizons and their respective prizes and lectureships there. As a pre-meeting promotion, the RSC organzied a Virtual issue on Materials with authors from Latin America.

Cristie Luis Kugelmeier-UFSCar (Soft Matter + Biomaterials Sci + Molecular Systems and Design & Engineering £100 cash prize and certificate) for his symposium presentation on “Advances in steel metallurgy and applications”;

Maya Alencar Medeiros-UFSCar (ChemSci £100 book voucher) for her poster on “Materials and Fabrication Processes for Aeronautic and Space Applications”;

Danilo Waismann Losito-UNIFESP (Nanoscale + Nanoscale Horinzons + Nanoscale Advances £100 cash prize and certificate) for his symposium presentation on “Molecular Sieves: synthesis and applications”;

Julia Andrea Carpenter-ETH, Switzerland (J. Mat. Chem. A, J. Mat. Chem. B, J. Mat. Chem. C, £100 cash prize and certificate) for his symposium presentation on “Biological, biopolymer-based and bio-inspired materials”; from left to right

The Microfluidics Workshop that celebrated the long term collaboration between Brazil and Argentina happened in Cordoba, Argentina.

Then the XX Brazilian Symposium on Theoretical Chemistry was held in the Northeast of the country, João Pessoa-PB, where we also provided RSC lanyards as promotional items. The community is broad, varying from calculations for Inorganic/Organic Chemistry and data handling to Analytical Chemistry, in addition to pure Physical Chemistry.

As one of the last events we attended in 2019, the 7th Brazilian Conference on Natural Products was held at a military facility-IME. The Brazilian Army is well known for its intense research on flora and fauna of the country, for surveillance reasons and biodiversity security. So, vast knowledge is held by the military in the natural products area. During the conference, we had an RSC table with lanyards and Prof Peter Leadlay from Cambridge University as one of the highlights of the meeting.

Discussions on local biodiversity and the future of science with the expected budget constraints were important for the future of the area, which was once pioneering when Brazil was considered a sub-developed country. Now, we have to protect biodiversity and change the way natural products are seen.

The Rio landscape certainly helped:

Finally, at the end of the year, RSC and the British Government joined forces and presented two seminars during the Regional South Meeting of the Brazilian Chemical Society. The meeting was held a UCS (University of Caxias do Sul) a community university. The region is well known for its regional development linked to basic industries and crops, and also a huge German-Italian immigration community.

RSC contributed a How to Publish seminar, talking about the mission and vision of RSC, as well as what our journals can offer for authors in the country, along with other offerings, such as Chemistry World and our databases such as ChemSpider and MarinLit. Afterwards, the Chevening director in Brazil, Dr James Edward, presented the Chevening Brazil program, how these scholarships work and its objectives: to find leaders coming from the hard sciences, who normally don´t apply. The SBQ-Sul was a good audience for both RSC and Chevening.

Watch our space for 2020!

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Recognizing the Brazilian Chemistry Community

15 Aug 2019

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Brazilian Connections

While many people can properly guess that the Royal Society of Chemistry originated in the UK, they may not be aware of just how far we’ve come, literally, since our British beginnings in 1841. Over 175 years later, we have offices around the world, including one in beautiful São Paulo, the most populous city in Brazil and in the Southern Hemisphere. The city has one of the most vibrant and thriving economies in Latin America, but even though the country has seen growth in the science and engineering research sector over the last decade, times are hard right now for academics in Brazil. In the spirit of internationalization, our office in Brazil has been working hard to promote the science that is being accomplished here to our colleagues around the world.

It certainly helps that we’re located next to the Science and Innovation Network in Brazil, one of the British government’s strategic partnerships in 30 countries/territories, that aim to mutually benefit both the UK and host-country. Through the RSC’s physical presence in this partner nation, we can forge strong UK-Brazil interactions that support research and innovation for the whole world. We have been working with other partners to create networking opportunities that put researchers in the global spotlight, and lubricate the group gears in the search for solutions to global problems. It is a win-win situation. You interact more, you expose yourself, you embrace big problems and that helps push to solve local (and often critically necessary) ones.

One of our long-term Brazilian partners is Sociedade Brasileira de Química (SBQ), the Brazilian Chemical Society; as a not-for-profit organization like the RSC and as a scholarly and professional society, SBQ supports the chemical sciences in Brazil and even publishes its own Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, which it makes freely available to read to advance science literacy. The RSC’s support of SBQ has been historical and since 2007 we have been taking part in the SBQ annual meeting.

The Brazilian Chemistry Certificate of Distinction

For 2019, the IYPT, apart from the splashing success of our IYPT lanyards, we decided to take a step forward and award the researchers who have been publishing with us in the last 2 years. As a publisher, we measure engagement by publication numbers. More importantly, we want to recognize engagement, and we hope this boosts publications further and leads to further engagement. As examples, we took part of some Newton Fund Brazil activities and also the Brazil-UK Year of Science and Innovation. We worked together with our recent partner, CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) – the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – which is a part of the Ministry of Science and Technology under the Brazilian federal government. Joining forces with CNPq, we put the new prize together: the Brazilian Chemistry Certificate of Distinction. The idea was to recognize researchers with outstanding publication records and give back the opportunity for networking, to help make the awardees gain further recognition and encourage the new ones in the game to look for opportunities.

During the 42th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Chemical Society in Joiville last May, we presented the prize winners. During the honor ceremony we presented the two awardees. Firstly, representing Women in Chemistry, Prof Dirce Pozebon from UFGRS, was awarded. Prof Pozebon publshed 6 Articles in 2017-2018 which collectively received 39 citations. Prof Eufrânio N. Silva Jr from UFMG, was awarded after publishing 8 Articles in 2017-2018, which received 42 citations. He was not able to attend, but Prof Luis Claudio Barbosa from UFMG (one of our FRSC) represented him during the ceremony.

Prof Dirce Pozebon (3rd from the left) from UFRGS receiving her prize certificate from the hands of Prof Alsion Hulme (representing RSC), Prof Vanderlan Bolzani (representing the CNPq president João Luiz Filgueiras de Azevedo) and Prof Norberto Pereira Lopes (representing SBQ).

Prof Luiz Claudio Barbosa from UFMG receiving Prof Eufrânio´s prize certificate from the hands of Prof Alison Hulme (representing RSC), Prof Norberto Pereira Lopes (representing SBQ) and Prof Vanderlan Bolzani (representing the CNPq president João Luiz Filgueiras de Azevedo).

The selection guidelines for the Brazilian Chemistry Certificate of Distinction can be found here. This prize it will contribute to winners in their dual roles as the researcher and the professor, with the opportunity to travel abroad to attend an international conference and/or spend some short period interacting with fellow colleagues. The prize includes money towards accommodation and travel from both CNPq and RSC. The Certificate of Distinction shows our commitment to recognizing our interactions with our communities in Brazil. It gives concrete ideas for the future stakeholders who embrace internationalization and networking tools, in giving back to the academic society the knowledge that science, in the end, brings to our lives. A nation with no investment into the scientific community does not flourish, as no progress can be made in the right direction.The scientific production in Brazil needs to be recognized, and the quality of the work done here can make an impact – if only, with all the differences we face and discuss, it is put to the task to solve technological problems.

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Publishing, Presenting, and Peer Review: Helping Showcase Brazilian Chemistry through the RSC Science Connect Program

03 Apr 2019

Work hard and you will succeed. Getting the research ball rolling to publish frequently is a matter of working hard, and also knowing better what publishers expect. Research is a global “business” and we will only progress scientifically in every corner of the world if we connect. As a scientist, there are many components to the game of your career. You have to teach, get students, make reports, sustain your lab, progress in the career, get involved with global problems, solve bureaucratic issues and make yourself knowledgeable. How to do all of that? We can improve various aspects when you publish and make the world recognize what you are doing. Then you will connect globally, you will have greater ideas and see the world that is full of opportunities, where openness is key.

The Royal Society of Chemistry wants to help every researcher in the world get a better understanding of our publishing process. Having this in mind, we have collaborated with the British Council in Brazil since 2015 to add inside information from a publisher point-of-view into their Researcher Connect program, sponsored by Newton Fund Brazil. We wanted to unlock the door to publishing for Brazilian researchers: the strategy involves me, Dr. Beth Magalhães, Manager of Publishing in Brazil based in São Paulo, and Dr. Jen Griffiths, the Editorial Development Manager for the Americas from the RSC’s Washington, DC office, traveling together around this big country and getting to know the different cultures and facilities that carry on the nation’s high-quality research. This year especially, we included our tour in the Brazil-UK Year of Science and Innovation agenda. “Science is GREAT“ is a motto for the year, and this aligns with the idea behind what we proposed: spending a whole day giving a series of four totally hands-on workshops for up-and-coming researchers to improve their publishing, presenting, and reviewing skills as scientists. We named it Science Connect, because more than just publishing numbers and volume, we want people to engage across their community and internationally.

On February 7th, we headed to Alfenas, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, and to the Universidade Federal de Alfenas (UNIFAL). UNIFAL received us with a full house of chemists and pharmacists. We had professors, post-docs, MSc and PhD students all present. Minas has a unique and vibrant atmosphere, being well known for the good food and especially, the coffee and pão de queijo, a popular signature dish of bite-sized cheese-balls. We had the support of Prof. Dr. Vanessa Boralli and we were happy that the audience was really involved and talkative throughout.

Group photo at UNIFAL with RSC trainers.

Then we flew to Teresina, and what a surprise: we were received by Prof. Francisco Guedes, the President of Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Piauí (FAPEPI), which is the Piauí State Funding Agency that highlighted our program in their newsletter. Prof. Beatriz Rodrigues, head of the international office of Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI) gave us a warm welcome to the campus, where on February 11th, we held an exciting workshop; together with a varied group of attendees, people were able to talk with us in a relaxed and casual setting. Teresina is located in the far Northeast, and having someone from abroad garnered attention from the locals, who are warm and highly curious about anything. The Serra da Capivara National Park nearby is quite famous for its prehistoric rock paintings which have inspired the local art craft. The weather is hot and humid, and we could feel how proud the locals are of their home, histories and of course the lunch break. By lunchtime it was making total sense why most people stop anything they are doing between 12 and 2 pm, in order to get away from the heat.

Group photo at UFPI with RSC trainers.

Finally, on February 14th, we went from Teresina to Curitiba, heading then to Ponta Grossa. This region is full of soya farms, making the region very attractive for work opportunities. The Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa organized a nice event inside their Astronomy building. Prof. Dr. Jarem Garcia from the Chemistry department put together a nice mix of students and professors to mingle with us and one another. We were surrounded by the beautiful nature of Vila Velha Park and couldn’t resist sampling the local churrasco, giving us the opportunity to experience the renowned barbecue meat that fills the region.

Group photo at UEPG with RSC trainers.

The workshop was filled with opportunities for attendees to talk about their work and gain presenting experience to improve their oral communication skills. They also trained, in a hands-on mode, in identifying a good abstract and title and to improve and optimize their own, and how important is to formulate a cover letter to call attention to your work. Towards the end of the day, posters were discussed in a more informal way, especially to explore how keeping it simple is typically better; attendees also had the opportunity to self-critique and constructively critique peers .

Communicating science through writing, talking, and displaying while increasing personal impact have to be straightforward and thoughtful. Preparation is essential, training is important and persisting is even more crucial. With these keys, we are sure to be rewarded for our hard work; even if the voyage to be taken will be very long, we are willing to pay the price as we did, covering more than 6,700 km, not only for science but also the joys of cheese balls, geology signs and churrasco that come with the journey!

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Have You Ever Been to Bahia? BMOS Went and So Should You!

04 Mar 2019

Brazil is a country made up of states that are sometime more like individual countries. Bahia state, Salvador city, has a different atmosphere, and being away from the usual southwest area gives the science community different opportunities for interaction. The Brazilian soul was there in Salvador, as well our historical beginning as a country, as the most prestigious Organic Synthesis Meeting in Brazil, 17^th BMOS, supported by the Federal University of Bahia-UFBA was held there this year. The RSC Organic Division had a long lasting engagement with the organic synthesis community, organizing the Young Investigator Award in the past. Because the RSC has a close relationship with the Science and Innovation Network in Brazil (SIN Brazil), we included the 17^th BMOS in the 2018-2019 UK-Brazil Year of Science and Innovation, which we have embraced with them from the beginning. It was a big opportunity for us to keep the award alive. After a rebranding, the award was renamed BMOS-RSC Young Investigator Distinction, and captured the support of the GREAT campaign associated with the Year.

Opening ceremony for the Young Investigator Distinctions, featuring Rui Lopes (Sin Deputy Director), Elizabeth Magalhaes (RSC Manager in Brazil) and Maurício Victor (17th BMOS Chair).

With this encouragement, we were able to offer four prizes, two each for young UK and Brazilian researchers, following early career request selection criteria. The BMOS organization made a huge celebration for that, and we had a whole slot in the event to talk about the importance of UK collaborations, the importance of internationalization and exposition of early career researchers.

One of the criteria for the selection was a collaboration statement between UK and Brazil researchers. We were able to show the Year launching video celebrating UK-Brazil collaboration efforts through the years. The video clearly highlights that collaborations truly make better science. The selected awardees received a certificate from Prof Jonathan Clayden beforehand, and had a slot to talk about their current research work.

Andrew L. Lawrance (The University of Edinburgh, UK), Mauricio Victor, Stephen P Thomas (The University of Edinburgh, UK), Giovanni W. Amarante (Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil), Jonathan Clayden and Diogo S. Ludtke (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) presenting their certificates the BMOS-RSC Young Investigator Distinction ceremony.

Prof Jonathan Clayden (University of Bristol, UK) was our star at the meeting. He came to give a closing talk after the awardees presentations, and he was available during the entire meeting to sign his famous, prestigious and landmark book, “Organic Chemistry”.

Prof. Jonathan Clayden gives the closing talk at BMOS 2019.

Finally, at the closing ceremony two PhD students, Edson Emilio Garambel Vilca and Renoto Zarzotto de Marais, were awarded RSC poster prizes from ChemComm and Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry by for their presentations.

Edson Emilio Garambel Vilca (and Antonio Carlos Bender Burtoloso), Elizabeth Magalhaes, Mauricio Victor and Renato Zorzatto de Morais (and William Kerr, Tell Tuttle) for the titles Studies in the Total Synthesis of (+)-Lysergic Acid and (+)-Lysergol: A Direct Approach for the Construction of the Tetracyclic core of Ergot Alkaloids and Novel Iridium(I) Complexes Bearing Chelating NHC-Phosphine Ligands as Catalysts for C—H Functionalisation Processes, respectively at the poster prize ceremony receiving ChemComm and OrgBiomolecularChem book vouchers and certificates.

This year, the 17^th BMOS in Bahia was another great opportunity for the RSC to engage with the Brazilian community and collaborate with the Brazilian Chemical Society and the British Council for the UK-Brazil Year of Science and Innovation. We look forward to more opportunities to bring together researchers from diverse, international backgrounds and highlight the high quality research in Latin America to the world!

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Archive for the ‘Brazil’ Category

The RSC US and Brazilian offices want to give a big welcome to our North and South American board members appointed in the past year!

Michelle Arkin, University of California San Francisco (USA)

Curtis Berlinguette, University of British Columbia (Canada)

Lin Chen, Northwestern University (USA)

Zhongwei (John) Chen, University of Waterloo (Canada)

Jianjun Cheng, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (USA)

Wendell Coltro, Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil)

Neil Donahue, Carnegie Mellon University (USA)

Norm Dovichi, University of Notre Dame (USA)

Leanne Gilbertson, University of Pittsburgh (USA)

Jen Heemstra, Emory University (USA)

Corey Hopkins, University of Nebraska Medical Center (USA)

CJ Li, McGill University (Canada)

Jennifer Love, University of Calgary (Canada)

Gabriel Merino, Cinvestav Mérida (Mexico)

Shirley Nagagaki, Universidade Federal do Paraná (Brazil)

Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska, University of Michigan (USA)

Dong Qin, Georgia Tech (USA)

Joel Thornton, University of Washington (USA)

Doug Stephan, University of Toronto (Canada)

Stacey Wetmore, University of Lethbridge (Canada)

Hua-Zhong (Hogan) Yu, Simon Fraser University (Canada)

Vassilia Zorba, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA)

Watch our space for 2020!

The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Brazilian Connections

The Brazilian Chemistry Certificate of Distinction

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