The IUPAC-Zhejiang NHU International Award for Advancements in Green Chemistry seeks to recognize the contributions of one experienced chemist and three early career chemists for their work in advancing the field of green chemistry. This year the experienced chemist award goes to Professor Javier Pérez-Ramírez of the Catalysis and Chemical and Bioengineering Department at the ETH Zurich, and the three early career winners are Jianbin Li from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Philip Stanley from the Technical University of Munich, and Sahel Fajal from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India. The awards ceremony for the recipients will be held at the 50th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress (50WCC) 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 14-19th, 2025.
Source: IUPAC News Message (https://iupac.org)
Over the course of Professor Javier Pérez-Ramírez’s career he made significant contributions to green chemistry transforming the landscape of sustainable chemical and energy production. His work on catalytic processes included his breakthrough In2O3 catalysts for green methanol synthesis and highlighted the potential of reducible oxides. This technology is now being piloted in industry. He made revolutionary strides in electrocatalysis for renewable energy conversions including work on nickel electrocatalysts for CO2 conversion to long-chain hydrocarbons and fundamental contributions to the oxygen evolution reaction and N2 electroreduction for decentralized ammonia production. In chemical plastic recycling he advanced new catalyst design for converting large-volume polyolefin waste streams into valuable chemicals and highlighted the importance of transport phenomena for ensuring high catalyst effectiveness. He is pioneering data science tools such as AI and machine learning to accelerate catalyst discovery and optimization. His approach is distinguished by the integration of sustainability metrics into chemical process design and incorporation of lifecycle analysis and planetary boundaries to guide catalysis research, ensuring innovation aligns with environmental responsibility. Professor Pérez-Ramírez has over 500 journal publications and 25 filed patents. His many accolades, coupled with leadership roles in journals and research programs underscore his holistic vision and profound impact on the field of green and sustainable chemistry. Follow his work at https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5805-7355.
The IUPAC-Zhejiang NHU International Award for Advancements in Green Chemistry seeks to recognize the contributions of one experienced chemist and three early career chemists for their work in advancing the field of green chemistry. These awards, started in 2019, are presented every two years and include monetary recognition of their accomplishments of $10,000 for the experienced chemist and $2,000 per early career chemist. In addition, $1,000 traveling expense is provided for each winner to attend the award ceremony.
The awards for 2027 will be announced in 2026. For further information about the IUPAC-Zhejiang NHU International Award, see https://iupac.org/what-we-do/awards/.
David Spichiger, SCCS / https://iupac.org
19.02.2025