Organic chemistry students take centre stage
On 1 December, 37 final-year organic chemistry PhD students battled it out to win £500 at the Organic Division Poster Symposium at Burlington House, London, looking to impress with enthusiastic presentations about their research. The event, which was headline sponsored by F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., puts poster presentations centre stage, allowing students to discuss their outstanding work with peers, leading academics, and industrial chemists from across Europe.
This year’s participants presented work spanning the breadth of organic chemistry from synthetic methodology and natural products to designing molecular scaffolds for drug discovery.
Professor Sue Gibson of Imperial College London, who has been chair of the organising committee for the past three years and one of the judges on the day, describes what makes the event unique: “Every single poster presenter deserves congratulations. The standard of chemistry presented was breath-taking, and it was a pleasure to see participants fully engaged in discussions from start to finish.”
Nanomachines take first prize
Along with Professor Julian Blagg, Institute of Cancer Research, and Professor Jonathan Clayden, University of Manchester, she had the difficult task of choosing our winners. The first prize went to Sonja Kuschel from the University of Manchester for her work on nanomachines for sequential peptide synthesis, with runners-up Antony Burton, University of Bristol, and Sarah Walker, Heriot-Watt University, winning £250 each.
An additional prize, chosen by the students, went to Owen Davis from Imperial College London. As well as showcasing excellent research and providing invaluable networking opportunities the symposium aims to inspire delegates to think about possible applications for their research. Antoine Maruani from University College London received a second £500 prize for his research on selective dual modification of proteins, which was deemed by the delegates from industry to have the greatest potential for industrial application.
The next poster symposium will open to applications next summer. In the meantime if you are a final year inorganic chemistry PhD student, why not apply for the Dalton Division’s poster symposium.
