Congratulations and farewell to group member Dr. Jan Gorges, who accepts a research position at BASF in Ludwigshafen. Jan was a postdoc in the group for only 10 months, but managed to submit his first publication before leaving ahead of schedule for a sweet industrial position. He is the third lab member to obtain a permanent position at BASF. For a farewell, Jan prepared homemade kebabs for a group dinner. Best of luck in the new career and come visit often!
Group News
Funding from Volkswagen Foundation
Joseph has received funding from the Volkswagen Foundation for a project called “Forming catalysts: A basic principle of deep chemistry, life chemistry and life”, which will be carried out in collaboration with Prof. William F. Martin (Düsseldorf) and Dr. Harun Tüysüz (MPI Mülheim/Ruhr). Each lab will roughly equally share the 1.5 M€ in funding. See the press release in English here and in German here. We are looking forward to officially getting the project started!
Sreejith wins the FRC Thesis Prize
Congratulations to Dr. Sreejith Varma, who won the FRC Thesis Prize for his PhD thesis on the chemical origins of metabolic pathways. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Charité Hospital in Berlin. Below, Sreejith and Vuk pose with their proud mothers after the graduation ceremony.
Dr. Ankita Malik joins the group
A warm welcome to new postdoctoral fellow Ankita Malik, who comes to us from the group of Daniel Varón Silva and Peter Seeberger at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, where she worked on complex polysaccharide synthesis. Welcome, Ankita!
Dr. Vuk Vuković
Congrats to Vuk Vuković on successfully defending his thesis! He is the fourth PhD student to graduate from the group. After throwing a big party with friends from all over Europe, he will return to the lab for three months before heading off to his next adventure. Special thanks to jury members Prof. Vincent Gandon, Prof. Sébastien Thibaudeau and Dr. Joanna Wencel-Delord.
Jing returns as a PhD student
Jing Yi has joined the group as a PhD student, funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council. She is the lone member of the group’s fifth incoming class of PhD students. Welcome back, Jing!
Dr. Jan Gorges joins the group
A warm welcome to new postdoctoral fellow Jan Gorges, who comes to from Uli Kazmaier’s group at Saarland University, where he worked on the total synthesis of natural products. Welcome, Jan!
Kamila wins best talk award at the Polonium Foundation meeting in Berlin
Congrats to Dr. Kamila Muchowska for winning the People’s Choice award for Best Talk at the Polonium Foundation meeting “Science: Polish Perspectives 2018” in Berlin! Her talk described her recent advances in understanding the origins of biological metabolism. This is Kamila’s second “best talk” award in the part three months.
Dr. Sreejith Varma
Congrats to Sreejith Varma on successfully defending his thesis! He is the third PhD student to graduate from the group. After a trip back to India, he will return to the lab for two months before heading off to a postdoc position at Charité Hospital in Berlin. Special thanks to jury members Prof. Marie-Christine Maurel, Dr. Cornelia Meinert and Prof. Peter Faller.
Who Will Win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2018)?
Joseph was a panelist in an ACS webinar organized by C&EN to predict the winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Great fun with co-panelists Neil Garg (UCLA), Nicole Gaudelli (Beam), Lauren Wolf and Carmen Drahl (C&EN). Watch here and check back October 3 to find out whether any of the panelists got it right!
The Moran Research Group 