News from the Section of Chemistry

In March 2020, SciLifeLab launched a national covid-19 research program together with the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW). The program is now being extended and expanded, with an additional SEK 50 million from KAW. Prof. Helena Danielson and Prof. Ylva Ivarsson at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, Biochemistry, are among those who have received extended grants.

What did Alfred Nobel actually keep in his glass bottles? Prof. Adolf Gogoll, within the Organic Chemistry research programme at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, has helped the Nobel Prize Museum and the Swedish National Heritage Board to analyze the contents of 43 old chemical bottles that come from Alfred Nobel's laboratories. 

The Chemical Society in Uppsala awards a prize for the best degree project in chemistry, and for 2020, we are happy to learn that the prize goes to the Dutch Erasmus student Evelyn Coenen. Evelyn did her degree project in Prof. Jonas Bergquist's group within the Analytical Chemistry research programme at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University. Her supervisor was Kumari Ubhayasekera. 

Hydrogen for energy use can be extracted in an environmentally friendly way from water and sunlight, using photocatalytic composite polymer nanoparticles developed by Haining Tian's research group within the Physical Chemistry research programme at the Department of Chemistry - Ångström. 

The molecular details of how SARS-CoV-2 enters cells and infects them are still not clear. Prof. Ylva Ivarsson and her group at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, Biochemistry, have tested the bioinformatic predictions made by another research group and have identified receptors that could be important players in the process. 

Christine Dyrager, Assistant Professor in Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, has been elected as one of 12 young researchers for ChemMedChem's Early-Career Advisory Board (ECAB).

Prof. Jan Kihlberg, at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, Organic Chemistry, has been rewarded with the Ulla and Stig Holmquist Science Prize in Organic Chemistry for 2020. Jan is rewarded for his pioneering efforts in the field of carbohydrate chemistry and its applications for biomedical purposes.

The decision regarding the appointment of Vice-Chancellor that we have been waiting for since June, when the recruitment group and the Consistory decided that Prof. Anders Hagfeldt would be appointed Vice-Chancellor, has now been announced: On November 20, the Government decided that Anders Hagfeldt will be the new Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University from 1 January, 2021.

Hydrogen gas and methanol are currently produced mainly from fossil sources, such as oil or natural gas. A more environmentally and climate-friendly alternative is to produce these substances from water and carbon dioxide using sustainable electricity. Prof. Sascha Ott and co-workers at Synthetic Molecular Chemistry have now developed a new material that is needed in the process - by using sunlight as a complement to electricity. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

The alumni Malin Källsten, a previous PhD student in Analytical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry - BMC who defended her dissertation in March this year, has received this year's Phabian award for best doctoral thesis from the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society (Apotekarsocieteten).

The Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala has decided to award the Thuréus Prize in the natural history-medical class to Prof. Lynn Kamerlin at the Department of Chemistry - BMC.

This year's Spring Conferment Ceremony, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be held on the 13th of November – corona-proof. The ceremony will take place in three rounds – all on the same day and all streamed in real time.

Solar cells on trucks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is one of the collaborative projects that Vinnova is focusing on in its Challenge-Driven Innovation initiative. Erik Johansson, Professor at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström, is leading the project.

Every year, Ny Teknik (New Technology) lists the most innovative and promising young technology companies for the year. And this year, THREE companies founded by researchers at the Department of Chemistry - Ångström are included in the list: Peapowl Solar Power and Altris, both new on the list, and Graphmatech who made the list in 2019 as well. 

The European research initiative BATTERY 2030+ is now getting going. The ambition is to make Europe a world-leader in the development and production of the batteries of the future. These batteries need to store more energy, have a longer life, and be safer and more environmentally friendly than today’s batteries in order to facilitate the transition to a more climate-neutral society. The project is led from Uppsala University.

Chao Zhang, assistant professor at the Structural Chemistry program was awarded ERC StG 2020 from European Research Council. His project DeepProton is on the development of new computational techniques for modelling electrified metal oxide nanostructures in electrochemical systems.

Congratulations Chao!

By using x-ray absorption in studies of nitrogen gas, and starting from an ion rather than from a neutral molecule one may get out much more detailed information. It is possible to make deeper analyses than what the established ESCA-method has made possible. This shows a new study from, among others, Uppsala University published in Physical Review Letters.

Because of the current situation that the world is in, many people work from home and might want to take online courses to increase their competence in certain areas. A course that is sought after by both the public and students is a course on batteries for electric vehicles.

Hundreds of protective face shields, face masks, safety glasses, aprons and bottles of hand sanitiser from Uppsala University were delivered to Uppsala University Hospital on Friday afternoon, in response to the acute shortage of certain items of personal protective equipment at the emergency services centre ahead of the weekend.

As a consequence of the outbreak of the coronavirus and the Swedish Government's recommendations to begin distance education, Uppsala University has switched to online teaching from 18 March. Felix Ho, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström is someone who has worked a lot with online and digital tools for teaching.

Jacinto Sá from Physical Chemistry is one of the researchers involved in finding a less toxic blue dye. The research has quickly gotten worldwide spread and getting articles written in reputable newspapers like the NY Times.

Each year, the Göran Gustafsson Foundation give out several awards, one in particular is called the grand prize.

Farnaz Gahjeri and Mattias Ekelund both have a background from Uppsala University but also in subjects related to chemistry.
IKEM (The Innovation and Chemistry Industries in Sweden) has interviewed Farnaz and Mattias to show examples of what you as a chemistry student can work with after your studies.

Five members of the university’s staff have been awarded the Elder Gustaf Adolf Medal for extraordinarily significant works. Peter Wallenberg, chair of the board of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, has been appointed an honorary member of Uppsala University.

Watch the clip about our battery research, with Kristina Edström, Daniel Brandell and more.

The Center for Swedish Batteries, "Batteries Sweden", is a brand new competence center for battery research that will start on February 6-7. The center is a collaboration between different universities and companies and will be coordinated by Uppsala University with Kristina Edström and Daniel Brandell, at the Ångström Advanced Battery Center, Department of Chemistry - Ångström, as project managers.

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) has decided to extend their funding to SwedNess research school. SwedNess is a graduate school for neutron scattering operated by six Swedish universities, coordinated by Uppsala University. SwedNess has the goal to educate doctoral students to expand Sweden's expertise in neutron scattering to exploit ESS, the European Spallation Source, now under construction in Lund. The financing consists of 100 million SEK until 2025.

We would like to congratulate professor Hammarström for receiving the Presidential Award of the Inter-American Photochemical Society.

Big congratulations!

The paper is a joint effort between several universities with Chemistry - Ångström represented through Marcus Lundberg, Jacinto Sá and Mickaël G. Delcey. It was recently highlighted in EurekAlert!.

Thesis Production and DiVA Helpdesk from Uppsala university library will be on site at campus Ångström. Come by and they will help you with your questions about your thesis and or with DiVA registrations.

Where: Ångström Library, Ångström Visualisation Lab

When: 15 January, 13.00-15.00

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

15 projects run by, or in collaboration with, Uppsala University researchers and students have been acknowledged with the 2019 "Attractive Innovation Project" award. Common to all projects is support från Uppsala University Innovation and success in securing external funding to further enhance development opportunities.

Electric car batteries have a significantly lower impact on the climate than what was previously assumed, a new study shows.

Sina Wrede was awarded Kemiska Sällskapet in Uppsalas grand prize for best Master thesis within Teknat. She received the award during the Nobel letures in the University Main Building last friday.

Big congratulations from all of us at the Section of Chemistry.

The European Commission has approved under EU State aid rules an Important Project of Common European interest (“IPCEI”) jointly notified by Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden to support research and innovation in the common European priority area of batteries.

Over just a few decades certain enzymes have developed the ability to break down organophosphates – toxins found in pesticides and nerve gas. Lynn Kamerlin is using advanced computations to understand this rapid evolution. The aim is to tailor enzymes and help develop new treatments for organophosphate poisoning.

Associate Professor Haining Tian from Physical Chemistry was recently awarded a Wallenberg Academy Fellow for his research on catalysts for the solar fuels of the future.

A new deal has been agreed with the scientific publisher Elsevier. The new deal means that researchers and students at Uppsala University will regain access the over 2000 journals included in the Elsevier package starting in the next few days. From the start of next year you will also be able to publish Open Access in Elsevier journals free of charge.

Based on the recommendations from several colleagues, institutions and the opinion of the assessment committee "Qilu Friendship Award", the Shandong region's provincial government has decided to award the "Qilu Friendship Award 2019" to Professor Dr Jonas Bergquist at the Department of Chemistry - BMC, Uppsala University.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

The European Commission (EC) has unveiled a new initiative, in partnership with the industry association Hydrogen Europe, to promote production of green hydrogen across the European Union. The aim is to generate hydrogen via renewable-energy-powered water electrolysis for use as a carbon-free fuel and chemical raw material.

Per-Ola Norrby, Principal Scientist at AstraZeneca Gothenburg and Professor at Göteborgs universitet and University of Notre Dame, USA, have been elected to receive the Uppsala universitet Ulla and Stig Holmquist's scientific awards in organic chemistry.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

Just recently, this years recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was revealed.

On 23 September partners and supporting organisations of the BATTERY 2030+ initiative met for a workshop at Virje University in Bruxelles. The aim was to discuss the draft of the roadmap that will be delivered to the European Commission in February 2020.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

Last year Uppsala University joined forces with several other universities to start a new research project within quasicrystals. This was possible with the support of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

Starting 15 July, researchers at Uppsala University can publish articles without a publication fee in 576 fully open access journals from Springer Nature.

Text: Christina Svala

Uppsala University Prize for successful knowledge transfer, "Hjärnäpplet", is awarded to Helena Danielson, Professor of Biochemistry and Head of Chemistry - BMC.

Eight new world-class research environments to be funded is the headline for the press release written by Vinnova, and one of these new world-class research environments will be led by professor Kristina Edström.

Wallenberg Academy Fellow Erik Berg at Structural Chemistry is researching lithium-ion batteries, mainly how to extend their lifespan. The Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation has written a long article about his research so far.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

The conferment ceremony is a graduation party for those that have taken their PhD graduation during recent years. Everyone in Uppsala will notice because of the castle cannons saluting during the morning and ceremony.

Tim Nordh graduated and received his PhD from Structural Chemistry in 2017, he then went on to create Altris. Tim and Altris recently received an award for being one of the ten most innovative entrepreneurs of 2019. It was given by ÅForsk and Swedish Incubators & Science Parks (SISP) during Sveriges Innovationsriksdag in Karlskrona.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

Each year the King Carl XVI Gustafs 50 year foundation welcomes researchers within science, technology and environment to the Royal Palace. While there they will receive a grant from King Carl XVI Gustaf, the reception takes place on the 8th of May.

Sustainable, ultra-thin and transparent. A unique combination of characteristics when it comes to solar cells. A technology that could potentially revolutionize the way we power our smart devices, displays and windows. Meet Jacinto Sá, co-founder of Peafowl Solar Power and Associate Professor in Physical Chemistry at Chemistry - Ångström.

Abstract
Electron transfer (ET) reactions slow down when they become thermodynamically very favorable, a counterintuitive interplay of kinetics and thermodynamics termed the inverted region in Marcus theory.

We are proud to announce that Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) has funded the establishment of a third ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center, here at Uppsala University.

Innovation and Chemical Industries in Sweden (IKEM) work with giving exposure to exciting jobs within Chemistry. This is done by interviewing young former chemistry students that now work within the industry.

SoFiA receives funding from the FET OPEN 2018 call within the Horizon 2020 program. Coordinated by Prof. Leif Hammarström from Uppsala University, the interdisciplinary project features 8 partner institutions from 6 different countries.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

Kristina Edström has become one of 22 chosen to be the 2019 Wallenberg Scholars. This means that she will receive a personal grant of 18 million SEK to be able to do research over 5 years without worrying about finances.

Innovation and Chemical Industries in Sweden (IKEM) work with giving exposure to exciting jobs within Chemistry. This is done by interviewing young former chemistry students that now work within the industry.

As we mentioned in a previous article, last weekend the 2019 SciFest took place at Fyrishov here in Uppsala. We were there and took some pictures of the booths from the Section of Chemistry.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

A world moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy will rely more and more on energy storage and in particular on batteries. Better batteries can reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector, stabilise the power grid, and much more. The Battery 2030+ large-scale research initiative will gather leading scientists in Europe, as well as the industry, to achieve a leap forward in battery science and technology.

The SUNRISE project for a coordination and support action (CSA) has been successfully selected by the European Commission as one of the six candidates for a European large-scale research initiative.

Leif Hammarström, professor in Physical Chemistry, will coordinate Uppsala University's part in the project.

Swedish Opening Ceremony - International Year of The Periodic Table 2019.

This week, delegates from five Swedish higher education institutions are travelling to the US to hold, jointly with the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC, a one-day conference on Swedish research and higher education for interested Americans.

This year it's 150 years ago that Dmítriy Ivánovich Mendeléyev first published the Periodic Law that would later become the periodic table. Unesco has decided to celebrate this by calling 2019 "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements" (IYPT).

On Thursday 7 February, it will again be time for the Celsius-Linnaeus lectures and following symposium. Two of the world’s top researchers will be coming to the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University to tell us about the link between their research and topical questions about our lives and our times. This year's lecturers are geologist Martin Blunt and microbiologist and toxicologist Linda S. Birnbaum.

Today the Uppsala castle cannons fired in salute to celebrate the PhDs that has graduated from Uppsala University. Henrik Stegeby and Rabia Ayub from Chemistry - Ångström received their diploma, ring and laurel wreath. Sravani Musunuri from Analytical Chemistry at BMC was also present.

A research group led by Peter Lindblad and Gustav Berggren has created a new artificial enzyme which can affect and function together with a living cells metabolism. The idea is that these artificial enzymes will be able to use the cells energy production and thereby produce hydrogen from solar energy.

We get some grants, big and small, every month from different foundations and similar. These are the grants received for December 2018.

How can proteins be influenced so that they point in a single direction? And what role do proteins’ interactions play in biology? The biochemist Erik Marklund uses computer calculations to reveal the dynamics between vital molecules.

The Future of Batteries workshop aimed to engage the research community and industry in preparing a Flagship initiative on future battery technologies. It presented the state of play in the preparation of this initiative and encouraged stakeholders into a dialogue on the technological priorities that it should address.

In a new article published in Nature an international research team presents high-resolution images of photosystem II, the protein complex that splits water into hydrogen ions and oxygen during photosynthesis. The images will help researchers better understand this complex mechanism, possibly opening up the door to developing cheap and efficient solar fuel devices.

Uppsala University and GE Healthcare Life Sciences have signed a long-term collaboration agreement that gives university researchers the opportunity to test biological processes on a large scale and students important experience with industrial processes in the newly opened Testa Center in Uppsala.

Cesar Pay Gómez was a fellow application to a project that recently got a 28.100.000 SEK grant over five years from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter. 

Frances H. Arnold is the fifth female Nobel laureate in Chemistry.

This day (20th October) event focuses on vitally important chemistry. The exhibition Aspiring to Precision highlights the beginnings of chemistry at Uppsala University during the 19th century. Come to Gustavianum and hear more about the Swedish elements, discoveries and exciting experiments.

In a ceremony on 14 June, the inauguration of a collaboration with the Chinese company USUN Biotechnology and Jiangyin Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was held at the Biomedical Centre at Uppsala University.

The Royal Society of Sciences had a ceremony today at Museum Gustavianum in Uppsala. During which they announced that Professor Daniel Brandell will receive the Bergstedt award.

The Chemistry professor and world-leading battery researcher is getting the Royal Institute of Technology grand prize 2018. Through her research, the world has come closer to a solution in terms of energy storage. She also has a great commitment to inspire and guide young and promising researchers.

Access to sustainable energy is necessary to match the energy requirements of the future. The world must find a way to replace fossil fuels. Fuel that we can produce directly from the energy of the sun, through natural or artificial photosynthesis. The goal is a fossil free energy system.

The conference will be held from the 25th to the 28th June at The Swedish Agricultural University, Ultuna in Uppsala, Sweden.

Large science publisher Elsevier does not meet the requirements of Swedish universities and research institutes.

Inspired by nature, researchers have developed a new method to produce hydrogen from bacteria. They use biological ‘hydrogen factories’ that are modified in the lab.

The material graphene has many incredible properties, but to date it has been difficult to use on a large scale in industry, because it loses its unique properties and goes back to its origin graphite. Researcher Mamoun Taher has developed a new form of graphene that can solve the problem.

His passion for chemistry once took Felix Ho to Europe from the other side of the world. But today, he is as strongly motivated by higher education issues as by research. “If I can bridge the gap between disciplinary research and discipline-based education research, I would be very happy.”

On October 31, the Swedish Research Council (VR) published its decisions regarding awarded research grants within science and technology for 2017. 7 of the total 325 awarded projects are found at the Section of Chemistry at Uppsala University. 

The newspaper "NyTeknik" writes about "an ongoing intensive race to create better solar cells, where about 50 researchers at Uppsala University work to beat two different world records in efficiency."

Leif Hammarström, Haining Tian and Henrik Ottosson, Physical Chemistry vs Molecular Biomimetics, Molecular Inorganic Chemistry, at the Department of Chemistry - Ångström, constitute 3 of the 16 researchers whose research has been granted funding from the Swedish Energy Agency as "renewing projects for a sustainable energy system".

Anna Blasi, a student within the Master Programme in Chemistry - Bio and Nano Materials, was one of the students in the Uppsala team who won the award for the "most creative design" in the international biosensor competition SensUs, which took place during September 8-9 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Haining Tian, at the Department of Chemistry - Ångström, works with C. Moyses Araujo, Department of Physics - Ångström, on a cost-effective and environmentally friendly nanomaterial for hydrogen production from water using solar energy and cheap photocatalytic materials.

Anders Hagfeldt, solar cell researcher and guest professor at the Department of Chemistry, is awarded the Björkén prize of 2016 together with Auli Niemi, Professor of Groundwater Modelling at the Department of Earth Sciences.

The Department of Energy and Enviroment has announced a PhD spot in cooperation with Chemistry, Ångström.

Next Faculty College is arranged February 14th 2017 at hrs. 13:15.

Location: Hambergsalen,Geocentrum

An  economic, efficient, and environmentally-friendly  technique for hydrogenation of graphene using visible light is developed by a team of researchers at  Uppsala University and AstraZeneca Gothenburg, Sweden. The findings are published in “Nature Communications”.

An environmentally friendly, efficient and low-cost method for hydrogenation of graphene with visible light has been developed by researchers at Uppsala University and AstraZeneca Gothenburg, Sweden.

The prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant was awarded to Sascha. Congratulations!

Professor Jerker Porath - one of Sweden's most well-known and internationally qualified biochemists - has passed away. He lived in Lund and was 94 years old.

Bodymarkers provides people around the world with the ability to self test and measure their biomarkers. To be able to check levels of vitamin D, minerals and hormones directly in the cell phone provides great opportunities for the individual to prevent health problems, but also places high demands on the test laboratory tests and processes. 

Drug development in cooperation between countries and between academia and industry - this is the goal of the EU project AEGIS, where Uppsala University is one of 11 partners. The focus is on rare diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. 

On January 6, Jan-Christer Janson, professor emeritus of biochemistry, received a prestigious award in science and technology at a ceremony in Beijing, where both the Chinese President and Deputy Prime Minister present were present. 

Better batteries will make clean electricity on a large scale possible. One of the most promising technologies are developed in Uppsala.

Battery research is constantly looking for the next big step forward, the technology that will bring electric vehicles and portable electronics to the next level. One of the world's leading battery research lab, is located at Uppsala University, who claims that the progress is not very far away.

- Our ambition is that we will play a major role in the development of future batteries. We try to work and learn as much as possible, and try to be on the whole playing field, says Kristina Edström, professor of inorganic chemistry at Uppsala University.