News Archive

Congratulations to Dr Quentin Meyer who has just been awarded the Post-doctoral research Runner-up in the Young Electrochemist prizes sponsored by Metrohm
The School of Chemistry congratulates Quentin on his award for his paper on “Air perturbation-induced low-frequency inductive electrochemical impedance arc in proton exchange membrane fuel cells”. The award committee noted that there were a large number of exceptionally high standard submissions this year, and this was reflected by the judging scores being very close. Metrohm plan to run a similar prize in 2021, so they encourage everyone who missed out on this round to apply again.
Congratulations also to the other UNSW winner, in the Higher degree by research section, Agus Poerwoprajit “Understanding the surface structure-electrocatalytic property relationship: from nanocrystals to single atoms”.

The molecule in a novel eye drop designed by Professor Jonathan Morris at the School of Chemistry has commenced clinical trials
Research conducted by UNSW Sydney has paved the way for clinical testing of an eye drop treatment for Diabetic Macular Oedema and wet Age-related Macular Degeneration, the leading causes of blindness in the developed world.
A clinical trial has commenced across Australia for a novel eye drop treatment that could improve the treatment of patients with retinal vascular diseases. Based on initial work carried out at the UNSW School of Chemistry, Professor Jonathan Morris collaborated with Exonate Limited to design the molecule used in the trial.
Please see the UNSW Newsroom item for further information.

Scientia Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow Kris Kilian and NHMRC ECR Dr Iman Roohani have developed an exciting new technique
The School of Chemistry congratulates Kris and Iman on the development of a new technique called COBICS (ceramic omnidirectional bioprinting in cell suspensions) where bone-like structures can be rapidly fabricated, with hierarchical structure, directly into a bath of hydrogels and living cells. The base technology is a ceramic paste-based material that quickly solidifies in water to a structure that mimics native bone tissue.
This means that surgeons, dentists, scientists, etc. of the future may be able to replace damaged bone with this material. In contrast to previous techniques that either require a piece of the patients own bone, or a lab build analogue fabricated at very high temperatures with toxic chemicals, this new technique allows printing in the presence of biology, so that the material can be deposited directly with a patient’s own cells.
This could radically change clinical practice and ultimately reduce suffering and save lives.

Congratulations to our 2020 Chemistry Prize Winners
The School of Chemistry congratulates our prize and medal recipients for their incredible academic results in 2020.

Vale Associate Professor Michael Gallagher
Associate Professor Michael John Gallagher, who died on 3 October 2020, was an admired and well respected member of the School of Chemistry at the University of New South Wales. He was almost 85. Mike was a Queenslander and did his undergraduate degree at the University of Queensland, followed by an MSc, on natural products, under Maurice Sutherland. He then went to England where he completed a PhD under FG Mann in the field of organophosphorus chemistry at Cambridge University in 1962.

Scientia Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow Kris Kilian has been awarded $1.5m grant for the treatment of malignant melanoma
The School of Chemistry congratulates Kris who has just won a prestigious $1.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US. The grant will be used to investigate personalised treatment for malignant melanoma.

Scientia Professor Justin Gooding has been awarded the Jaroslav Heyrovsky Prize for Molecular Electrochemistry
The School of Chemistry congratulates Justin who has just been awarded the Jaroslav Heyrovsky Prize for Molecular Electrochemistry from the International Society of Electrochemistry, which is affiliated with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
The Jaroslav Heyrovsky Prize for Molecular Electrochemistry, is awarded to a scientist who has made an important contribution to the field of molecular electrochemistry in the last 5 years.

Two School of Chemistry students receive the 2020 Dean's Award for Outstanding PhD Theses
The School of Chemistry congratulates Dr’s Daniel Wenholz and Thomas Macdonald, they are two of the 2020 recipients of the Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses, this award recognises high quality PhD theses produced at UNSW.

Head of Chemistry Prof Scott Kable has just had a paper published in the world-renowned Science journal
The School of Chemistry congratulates Professor Scott Kable and members of his UNSW research group Dr Mitchell Quinn and Dr Klaas Nauta, along with co-authors from the University of Sydney, Emory University and Cornell University on this significant achievement.
Professor Kable, an atmospheric scientist, likens the study to lifting the hood on roaming reactions and seeing for the first time how the parts fit together. He says the study will give scientists new tools to understand the machinations of reactions in the atmosphere.
The paper, titled “Rotational resonances in the H2CO roaming reaction are revealed by detailed correlations” is published online by the journal Science and can be accessed here.
You can watch Professor Kable explain the discovery and its significance in this short video.