In May 2014, IUPAC and Solvay announced the winners of the 2014 IUPAC-SOLVAY International Award for Young Chemists presented for the best PhD theses in the chemical sciences as described in 1000-word essays.
The five Winners are:
· Keary Mark Engle, USA/UK - The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA, joint with University of Oxford, UK
· Albert C. Fahrenbach, USA—Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
· Yohei Ishida, Japan - Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan
· Ahmad Masarwa, Israel - Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
· Rodrigo Andreas Vargas Jentzsch, Switzerland - University of Geneva, Switzerland
The Winners will each receive a cash prize of USD 1000 and travel expenses to the 45th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress, 9-14 August 2015, in Busan, Korea. Each prizewinner is also invited to present a poster at the IUPAC Congress describing his/her award-winning work and to submit a short critical review on aspects of his/her research topic to be published in Pure and Applied Chemistry. The awards will be presented to the winners during the Opening Ceremony of the Congress.
The essays describing the 2014 Winners’ theses may be found on the IUPAC web site and cover a wide range of subject matter:
· Dr. Engle: (1) Ligand-Accelerated Catalysis in Palladium(II)-Mediated C–H Functionalization; and (2) Hydrogen-Bonding Effects on the Reactivity of Fluoride Anion
· Dr. Fahrenbach: Molecular Switches Based on Donor-Acceptor, Radical and Coulombic Interactions – From Solution, to Solid-State to Application
· Dr. Ishida: Artificial Light-Harvesting System by Supramolecular Host-Guest Assemblies
· Dr. Masarwa: Selective Metal-Mediated C-C Bond Activation of Strain Compounds: Application to Challenging non-Natural Product Synthesis
· Dr. Vargas Jentzsch: Anion Transport with Anion-π Interactions and Halogen Bonds
There were 55 applications from 20 different countries. The Prize Selection Committee comprised members of the IUPAC Bureau with a wide range of expertise in chemistry. Professor Kazuyuki Tatsumi, former IUPAC President, chaired the committee. The 2014 International Award for Young Chemists is the first sponsored by Solvay and is intended to encourage outstanding young research scientists at the beginning of their careers. In making their decisions, the jury was keen to recognize a global representation of the awards in line with the pool of applications.
In view of the many high-quality applications, the Committee also decided to give four Honorable Mention Awards to:
· Yoichi Hoshimoto, Japan - Osaka University, Japan
· Frank A. Leibfarth, USA – California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
· Robert J. Macfarlane, USA - Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
· Xuemei Sun, China - Fudan University, Shanghai, China
The recipients of Honorable Mention Awards will receive a copy of the Principles of Chemical Nomenclature – A guide to IUPAC Recommendations. The book is published by Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and offered with the compliments of RSC Publishing.
Now in its 15th year, the International Award for Young Chemists has steadily attracted bright young chemists. Everyone is invited to review the latest collection published in Pure and Applied Chemistry covering last year’s awards, which appeared in January 2014. Also, in 2011, PAC published a special issue, fittingly subtitled “Perspectives and Challenges” inviting winners of the very early years of the prize. IUPAC is proud of its commitment to engage and encourage young scientists. Hopefully, the contents of these PAC issues will inspire and enthuse readers with fascinating insights into new and emerging aspects of chemical sciences.
Applications for the 2015 Prizes are now being solicited; application deadline is 1 February 2015.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston