Chemistry International
Vol. 21, No.5, September 1999

1999, Vol. 21
No. 5 (September)
.. President's Report
.. News from IUPAC
.. Highlights from the Web
.. New Projects
.. Provisional Recommendations
.. New Books and Publications
.. Awards and Prizes
.. Conference Announcements
.. Conferences

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Chemistry International
Vol. 21, No. 5
September 1999

Awards

Ronald Breslow and Murray Moo-Young Win American Chemical Society Awards

Researchers Benefit from Chemical Structure Association Trust Awards and Bursaries

CNC/IUPAC Travel Awards Announced

Thieme–IUPAC Prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry

Ronald Breslow and Murray Moo-Young Win American Chemical Society Awards

Professors Ronald Breslow and Murray Moo-Young, both active IUPAC Members, have won prestigious awards from the American Chemical Society this year.

Prof. Breslow, Chemistry and University Professor at Columbia University in New York City and Titular Member of IUPAC's Organic Chemistry Division (III) Committee as well as Member of the Subcommittee on Bioorganic Chemistry, was honored with the Priestley Medal, the highest ACS award, during the society's national meeting last spring in Anaheim, CA, USA. Previously the winner of awards too numerous to cite here, Breslow is noted for his pioneering research in nonbenzenoid aromatic chemistry; enzyme-catalyzed reactions; biomimetic approaches to synthesis of enzymes and complex carbohydrates; and synthesis of simple anticancer compounds consisting of two solvent-like molecules linked together with a carbon chain. Prof. Breslow says he continues to "like to make new molecules that we think will have interesting properties".

Prof. Moo-Young, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and a National Representative for IUPAC's Commission on Biotechnology, was presented with the Marvin J. Johnson Award in Microbial and Biochemical Technology at the spring ACS national meeting. Prof. Moo-Young has been at the forefront of establishing quantitative correlations for mass transfer, mixing, and kinetics in bioreactor systems. He is also noted for the development of process biotechnologies that employ fragile cell cultures in the production of drugs, biopolymers, and foodstuffs. His recent research has focused on elucidating bioremediation enhancement. In that work, he has used physicochemical pretreatment strategies to control and abate environmental pollution.

 

Researchers Benefit from Chemical Structure Association Trust Awards and Bursaries

We thank Dr. Wendy A. Warr (Wendy A. Warr & Associates, 6 Berwick Court, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 7HZ, England, UK; Tel./Fax: +44 1477 533837; E-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.warr.com), Chairman of the IUPAC Committee on Printed and Electronic Publications (CPEP), for arranging for the preparation of the following article by Dr. William G. Town ([email protected]), Chairman of the Chemical Structure Association Trust.

Origin of the Chemical Structure Association (CSA) Trust

Recipients of 1999 CSA Trust Bursaries
(Click for larger photo)

The Chemical Structure Association (CSA) Trust was founded in response to two related problems: universities having trouble funding research, and industry having difficulty recruiting suitably trained personnel. It is a registered charity that aims to promote research and development in the field of storage, processing, and retrieval of information about chemical structures, reactions, and compounds. It was established in 1998 with money from the Chemical Structure Association (although the Trust is a legally separate entity).

Research in the field of chemical structure handling has shown considerable success in recent years, and results have been rapidly reflected in practice. Both similarity and 3D structure searching have been well established for some time, even though much of the research behind them was only carried out in the 1980s. There is still a pressing need for such research in the chemical information arena. Combinatorial chemistry and molecular diversity are just two examples of exciting, ground-breaking fields. The CSA Trust exists to support such development, particularly research, attendance at conferences, etc., which might otherwise have been impossible because of lack of funds.

Annual Awards, Awardees, and Areas of Research

Since its inception, the Trust has supported a very broad range of research by scientists from tremendously diverse backgrounds and geographical locations. The annual awards and bursaries have by no means been limited to the United States and Western Europe; a number of Russian projects have been assisted, for instance. Award winners have ranged from an American undergraduate who has been engaged in a year's research at Moscow State University, to a Chinese predoctoral student working at the University of North Carolina, to a researcher from the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune, India. Specific areas of research have included quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and combinatorial chemistry, chemical literature data extraction, computer-assisted synthesis, genetic algorithms, neural networks, reaction databases, and quantum chemistry.

A CSA Trust Annual Award is USD 3 200/GBP 2 000, which the winner can put toward attending a relevant conference, toward travel (to collaborate with another research group, for instance), or toward hardware or software to assist with a research project. The award is not usually given for hardware and software alone, however. In return, it is simply asked that the winners should supply a report within a year of the award, giving some detail of how the money was spent, in what way the conference was useful, etc.

Application Procedures

Any prospective applicants should not hesitate to get in contact with the Trust; they could find themselves pleasantly surprised at how the Trustees can be of assistance. An application should include the following:

• statement of academic qualifications,

• details of relevant work,

• description of research recently completed by the applicant,

• purpose for which the award is required, and

• letters from two academic referees supporting the application.

The clarity and relevance of the statement of the purpose for which the award is to be used is especially important, as this is crucial in deciding between applicants.

Travel Bursaries

Besides the CSA Trust Annual Award, there are other bursaries available, too, for attendance at certain designated conferences and, indeed, at any conference relevant to the aims of the Trust. These bursaries are mainly offered to those who wish to submit a paper or poster and who cannot meet their own conference expenses. Applications for a bursary should contain the following:

• brief biography,

• details of the applicant's current research,

• details of the conference and its relevance to that research,

• title of any paper or poster the applicant may wish to present, and

• letter of recommendation from a supervisor or colleague.

Financial Supporters of the Trust

A number of organizations with an interest in chemical information have supported the Trust financially, including the American Chemical Society, the BASIC Group, Chemical Abstracts Service, the Chemical Notation Association, Derwent, FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN, GlaxoWellcome, Hoffman-La Roche, Pfizer, Unilever, Wendy Warr & Associates, and Zeneca. The Trust is also always eager to supplement this group and to bring on board new organizations to support the cause financially or to help with the running of the Trust. Support for the Trust is not simply a question of donating money, though, of course, that is always encouraged and welcomed; introducing others to the Trust, sponsoring an event, or even mailing publicity material can all help greatly to raise awareness and assist those who could make good use of an award. The Trust is run by an international board of Trustees from industry and academia, including well-known names from such organizations as Chapman & Hall, ChemWeb, Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN, GlaxoWellcome, Hampden Data Services, Questel.Orbit, Rohm and Haas, and UMI.

Comments from Trust Award and Bursary Winners

Some comments from award and bursary winners' reports:

"This award has been a great help for assisting my research and made it possible for me, a predoctoral student, to attend these scientific conferences."—Weifan Zheng, University of North Carolina, USA.

"[The conference] offered a good coverage of the trends in the field, and there were plenty of opportunities for stimulating discussions on existing problems and available solutions…It was a great opportunity for me to present some of our recent work in computational chemistry and to exchange ideas and opinions with other scientists."—Horst Bögel, University of Halle, Merseburg, Germany.

"The session on Molecular Modeling and Managing Three-Dimensional Structures was probably my personal favorite, with some excellent speakers and informative talks…I found the conference interesting, enjoyable, and definitely thought-provoking, with a wide range of computational topics on the leading edge of chemical reseach….If given the opportunity, I would definitely attend the Fifth Conference [on Chemical Structures] and would like to thank the CSA Trust for enabling me to attend this year."—Jon Baber, University of Leeds, UK.

"I had never previously presented a poster, so this was an excellent opportunity to learn how to create a readable poster, and how to lure people over to look at it…[The conference] also gave me a chance to see presentations of exciting work in the broad area of chemical structures, which may influence my choice of specialist discipline for graduate school and beyond."—Kevin Jernigan, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.

Contacting the Trust

All those with any interest in applying for an award or bursary or in supporting the CSA Trust are welcome to contact the Secretary (Mrs. J. E. Ash, The Roundel, Frittenden, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 2EP, England, UK; E-mail: [email protected]; Tel./Fax: +44 1580 852270) or visit the CSA Trust web site (http://www.chemistry.de/CSA-TRUST/).

 

CNC/IUPAC Travel Awards Announced

This article is paraphrased from the May 1999 issue of Canadian Chemical News (Volume 51, No. 5, pp. 44-45).

The Canadian National Committee for IUPAC (CNC/IUPAC) established a program of Travel Awards in 1982. These awards are financed by the Gendron Fund (administered by the Canadian Society for Chemistry, CSC), supplemented by funds donated by CNC/IUPAC's Company Associates. The purpose of the awards is to help young Canadian chemists and chemical engineers (within 10 years of gaining their Ph.Ds) present a paper at an IUPAC-sponsored conference outside continental North America. Typically, six or seven awards of CD 1 000-1 500 are made each year.

Applications are now invited for the 2000 Travel Awards competition. They should include a curriculum vitae, the name of the conference and its importance to the applicant, plus any other pertinent information or supporting documents. Five copies of the application should be sent to the chair of the travel awards committee: Verdene H. Smith, Jr., Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada. The deadline for receipt of applications is 15 October 1999.

A list of eligible conferences may be found on the IUPAC web site (http://www.iupac.org/symposia/2000.html) or at the back of this issue. Awards are made to attend the conference identified in the application, and no changes are allowed.

Winners of the 1999 CNC/IUPAC Travel Awards are John Brennan, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON (Analytical Science into the Next Millennium, SAC99, 25_30 July 1999, Dublin, Ireland); R. Stephen Brown, Queen's University, Kingston, ON; François Caron, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River, ON (SAC99); Cathleen Crudden, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB; Andrew MacMillan, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; Michael Wolf, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC (1st IUPAC Workshop on Advanced Materials, WAM1: Nanostructured Systems, 14-18 July 1999, Hong Kong, China); and Mark Workentin, University of Western Ontario, London, ON.

 

 

 

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