Call for Nominations: EurJIC –Wöhler Young Investigator Prize 2017
Nominations are now open for the third EurJIC –Wöhler Young Investigator Prize, which will be presented at the GDCh-Wissenschaftsforum Chemie in Berlin, 10 – 14 September, 2017.
Click here for more information.
The previous awardees were Dr. Kallol Ray, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Germany and Dr. Dorota Koziej, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
LINK: http://www.chemistryviews.org/eurjicwoehler
David Spichiger, SCS
17.10.2016
Swiss Industrial Chemistry Symposium 2016, Oct 28 in Basel
1st Swiss Industrial Chemistry Symposium
Fri, 28. October 2016, 08.30-19.00h
University of Basel, Department of Chemistry
On Oct 28 the industrial research community and scientists from academia will meet at University of Basel for the 1st Swiss Industrial Chemistry Symposium, SICS'16. As per Oct 14 we already received more than 230 registrations, representing about a dozen of Universities across Europe and close to thirty industrial companies. The organizing committee is proud and happy to have such a big and diverse audience with us.
Further Information
- Website of the symposium: http://scg.ch/sics/2016
- Link to the program
- Poster catalogue
- Book of Abstracts. You will get a printed copy at the registration desk.
Please register until October 21 if you like to join the event. No registration at the event day is possible.
We are looking forward to welcome you in Basel
On behalf of the organizing committee, with best regards,
David Spichiger
Executive Director, Swiss Chemical Society
Supporters and Exhibitors:
David Spichiger, SCS
14.10.2016
Call for nominations as member of the European Innovation Council (EIC)
The European Commission attaches great importance to generating high impact from public investments in support of innovation at EU level. In the words of Commissioner Moedas, "Europe does not yet have a world class scheme to support the very best innovations in the way the European Research Council is the global reference for supporting excellent science. So I would like us to take stock of the various schemes to support innovation and SMEs under Horizon 2020, to look at best practice internationally, and to design a new European Innovation Council."
In order to ensure the Commission can benefit from high level advice from active innovators in taking forward this ambitious political initiative, the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) intends to establish a High Level Group of Innovators. This Group is expected to play a crucial role in providing a user perspective on EU innovation support and advise the Commission on potential reforms.
Read more in the attached announcement.
David Spichiger, SCS
13.10.2016
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 to
Jean-Pierre Sauvage
University of Strasbourg, France
Sir J. Fraser Stoddart
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
and
Bernard L. Feringa
University of Groningen, the Netherlands
"for the design and synthesis of molecular machines"
They developed the world's smallest machines
A tiny lift, artificial muscles and miniscule motors. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 is awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for their design and production of molecular machines. They have developed molecules with controllable movements, which can perform a task when energy is added.
The development of computing demonstrates how the miniaturisation of technology can lead to a revolution. The 2016 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have miniaturised machines and taken chemistry to a new dimension.
The first step towards a molecular machine was taken by Jean-Pierre Sauvage in 1983, when he succeeded in linking two ring-shaped molecules together to form a chain, called a catenane. Normally, molecules are joined by strong covalent bonds in which the atoms share electrons, but in the chain they were instead linked by a freer mechanical bond. For a machine to be able to perform a task it must consist of parts that can move relative to each other. The two interlocked rings fulfilled exactly this requirement.
The second step was taken by Fraser Stoddart in 1991, when he developed a rotaxane. He threaded a molecular ring onto a thin molecular axle and demonstrated that the ring was able to move along the axle. Among his developments based on rotaxanes are a molecular lift, a molecular muscle and a molecule-based computer chip.
Bernard Feringa was the first person to develop a molecular motor; in 1999 he got a molecular rotor blade to spin continually in the same direction. Using molecular motors, he has rotated a glass cylinder that is 10,000 times bigger than the motor and also designed a nanocar.
2016's Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken molecular systems out of equilibrium's stalemate and into energy-filled states in which their movements can be controlled. In terms of development, the molecular motor is at the same stage as the electric motor was in the 1830s, when scientists displayed various spinning cranks and wheels, unaware that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans and food processors. Molecular machines will most likely be used in the development of things such as new materials, sensors and energy storage systems.
Press Release to the 2016 Chemistry Nobel Prize
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2016/press.html
05.10.2016
ChemEdu'16 at the SCS Fall Meeting 2016
At the SCS Fall Meeting in Zurich on September 15, 2016, a session on Chemical Education was offered for the fist time. The event in the form of a symposium and workshop entitled “Future of Chemical Education” attracted more than 140 teachers from secondary school on upwards. The event, marked the successful start of the initiative to implement a new SCS Division of Chemical Education.
The four lectures and the four parallel workshops provided new ideas, new scientific topics as well as best practice in theoretical, practical and experimental chemical education.
Contact: Dr. Markus Müller, Kantonsschule Frauenfeld
More information about the event on http://scg.ch/chemedu/2016
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Photos: Simeon Lüthi
David Spichiger, SCS
30.09.2016
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