latest news from the school - 2012
Also see our Achievements page.
11 May 2012 Dr Siggi Schmid receives Outstanding Teaching awardCongratulations to Dr Siegbert Schmid who was recognised for Outstanding Teaching in this year’s Vice Chancellor’s Awards. The selection panel commented on the very high standard of the applications and strong competition in the category. Engaged enquiry was a feature of the winning applications. Siggi’s enthusiasm about his teaching is reflected in a comment from the Head of the School of Chemistry, stating that he is a "distinguished chemical education researcher who applies his research to introducing new and original teaching developments". The Selection Panel was impressed by evidence of his respect for students and his influence on the teaching of Chemistry beyond the university. Read more here. |
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2 May 2012 Breakthrough in solar cell efficiencyLow cost solar cells suitable for rooftop panels could reach a record-breaking 40 percent efficiency following an early stage breakthrough by a University of Sydney researcher and his German partners. Associate Professor Tim Schmidt and Professor Max Crossley, together with the Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy, have developed a "turbo for solar cells", called photochemical upconversion that allows energy, normally lost in solar cells, to be turned into electricity. Tim said "We are able to boost efficiency by forcing two energy-poor red photons in the cell to join and make one energy-rich yellow photon that can be captured, which is then turned into electricity." Findings have been published in the Energy & Environmental Science journal. Read full article here. |
(L-R) Associate Professor Tim Schmidt and his research partner Dr Klaus Lips at the Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy have made a breakthrough in solar cell technology. [Image: HZB/Philipp Dera]
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17 April 2012 Postgraduate Teaching Fellowships announcedCongratulations to Mr Tom Whittle, Mr Alex Diwa, Mr Sam Liu, Mr Steve Ogilvie, Mr Gajan Santhakumar, Mr Manuel Ghezzi, Ms Josie Auckett, Mr Jacob Fenton and Mr Jim Ge. All nine PhD candidates have been awarded a Postgraduate Teaching Fellowship position. |
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17 April 2012 Mr Derrick Roberts wins Gates ScholarshipCongratulations to Mr Derrick Roberts, who has recently been awarded a Gates Scholarship to complete his PhD at Cambridge, starting in 2013. Derrick graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science (Hons 1 & Medal) majoring in physical and organic chemistry, and he plans to continue his fascination of synthetic chemistry under the supervision of Dr Jonathan Nitschke at the University of Cambridge. |
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9 March 2012 Open Source Drug Discovery for MalariaImagine if drug research could happen with inputs from thousands of scientists around the world sharing data in real time, with the process not slowed down by patents and commercial interests. To explore the issues around this new approach to drug discovery, Dr Mat Todd, from the School of Chemistry, led a meeting on Open Source Drug Discovery for Malaria on 24 February. Held on campus at the University of Sydney, as well as streamed live, the 'unconference' was opened by Professor Mary O'Kane, Chief Scientist and Engineer of NSW. Professor O'Kane said, "This is something that I've been passionate about for a long time. The application of an open source approach to developing drugs for malaria is significant, as the malarial problem is a major one. It's an area that will have great impact in terms of people's lives, but also economic impact, because if you can deal with these long term chronic diseases, you can change the economies of the poorest nations in the world." To read the full article, please visit Faculty of Science News. |
Dr Mat Todd, from the School of Chemistry, and Professor Mary O'Kane, Chief Scientist and Engineer of NSW |
6 March 2012 Dr Deanna D'Aleassandro receives Lectureship AwardCongratulations to Dr Deanna D'Alessandro, who recently received the Distinguished Lectureship Award from the Chemical Society of Japan. The award will include presenting a series of lectures at Osaka University and the Annual Meeting of the Chemical Society of Japan in Tokyo in late March 2012. |
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6 March 2012 Prof. John Canning elected SPIE FellowProf. John Canning was recently elected to SPIE, The International Society for Optics and Photonics, for his contribution in photonic materials, devices and technologies. SPIE is the worlds largest cross-disciplinary photonics society. For further information, please visit the SPIE website. |
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7 February 2012 Prof. Thomas Maschmeyer recieves RACI awardCongratulations to Prof. Thomas Maschmeyer, recipient of the 2011 Applied Research Medal by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI). This medal is awarded annually to an RACI member who has contributed significantly towards applied research or industrial fields. Maschmeyer receives the award for his work on catalysis and sustainable processes. He has developed hydrothermal methods to generate either advanced lignocellulosic “drop-in” biofuels, or VGO-type oils (vacuum gas oil) and low-mineral black coal slurries as heavy fuel oil substitutes from brown coal. Both processes are in the commercial demonstration phase. For further information, please read the full article in Chemistry Views. |
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12 January 2012 Congratulations to Sydney Bridging Support recipientsUniversity of Sydney Bridging Support Grants are awarded to staff when ARC Discovery and NHMRC Project grant applications are ranked highly but not funded. These grants enable continued research momentum and provide academics with the opportunity to strenghten subsequent external funding applications. Congratulations to the following staff members who were each awarded $40k Bridging Support: To view all University recipients, please visit the 2012 Bridging Support page. |
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12 January 2012
A/Prof. Louis Rendina and Prof. Michael Kassiou secure funding for breast cancer researchA/Prof. Louis Rendina and Prof. Michael Kassiou have been awarded a Novel Concept Grant by the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia. The research project will investigate carboranes as new pharmacophores in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Total funding is worth $200,000 for this two year project. |
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11 January 2012 Dr Richard Payne to further research into HIV inhibitorsDr Richard Payne, in collaboration with Associate Professor Paul Gorry from the Burnet Institute, has been successful in securing funding from the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research Centre. The research project, titled Development and preclinical testing of novel HIV inhibitors with specific activity against viruses with CCR5-antagonist resistance, aims to develop new inhibitors of HIV viral entry into human cells that are active against drug resistant strains of the virus. Total funding is worth $111,000 for this 12 month project. |
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15 December 2011 Sebastien Perrier promoted to ProfessorCongratulations to Sebastien Perrier who was recently promoted to Professor of Chemistry. The announcement was made by the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal and will take effect 1 January 2012. |
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9 December 2011 Chris Ling promoted to Associate ProfessorCongratulations to Chris Ling who was recently promoted to Associate Professor. The announcement was made by the Office of the Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor and will take effect 1 January 2012. |
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9 December 2011 Professor Max Crossley awarded the 2012 David Craig MedalProfessor Max Crossley was awarded the 2012 David Craig Medal by the Australian Academy of Science in recognition of his outstanding research contributions in chemistry. Award recipients will recieve their medals at the Academy's annual conference in May 2012. |
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