News from the Section of Chemistry

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.