News – Wilkinson Foundation

February 20, 2023

Catalyzing Organic Synthesis, the Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Annual Lecture 2022

Professor John Hartwig delivering the inaugural Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Annual Lecture at Imperial College.

The Wilkinson Foundation is pleased to sponsor a new series of lectures: The inaugural Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Annual Lecture was presented by Join Professor John Hartwig (Henry Rapoport Chair in Organic Chemistry, University of California Berkeley) on 9th December 2022 at Imperial College London.

The lecture covered aspects of the development and use of catalysts in organic synthesis, from acetic acid to complex organic molecules like Vancomycin and Taxol.

For more details and the opportunity to view the lecture on YouTube , please visit the link below:

Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Lecture 2022

October 26, 2022October 26, 2022

Royal Society of Chemistry Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Dalton Poster Symposium 2022

The 2022 Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Dalton Poster Symposium was held in Burlington House on September 7th. This event, organised by our Dalton Community and supported by the Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Foundation brought together 60 PhD and Postdoc researchers from across the UK to present their work to senior representatives from industry and academia. This year’s event was particularly special as it was the first time that the event was held in-person since 2019. The day was closed by presentations from two of the RSC Dalton Community Prize winners, Dr Ruth Webster and Professor James Wilton-Ely, who gave talks about their award winning research.

From left: Viliyana G. Lewis Runner-up of the PhD prize and Rosa Arrigo (chair of the scientific organizing committee, RSC)

Yara van Ingen Runner-up of the PhD prize. — From left: Viliyana G. Lewis Runner-up of the PhD prize and Rosa Arrigo (chair of the scientific organizing committee, RSC)

The poster symposium, which has been running since 2015, provides an opportunity for talented young inorganic chemists undertaking a PhD or postdoc to present their work to the wider community, practice their presentation skills, raise their visibility and make research connections for future collaborations. Posters are assessed by a panel of expert judges, and the winners receive bursaries to attend an international conference.

PhD Category

Winner: Niko Jenek
Runner-up: Viliyana G. Lewis
Runner-up: Yara van Ingen

PostDoc Category

Winner: Oliver Townrow
Runner-up: Darren Ould

February 14, 2022

Chemistry Rediscovered

Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson EYCN Video Competition

The Trustees offer warmest congratulations to the winners and runners up in the video competition, Chemistry Rediscovered. Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson EYCN Video Competition run by the European Young Chemists’ Network.

There were 2 competitions; one for school pupils and the other for university students, the topic being Safety in Chemistry.

All of the videos were of a very high standard (see the link at the foot of the page to judge them yourself!), with the outstanding winners being:

Pupils:

Screenshots from the prize winning videos in the schools category.

1^st Place: Hiskia Barthel, Jette Götz and Sophia Müller – Topic: The Story of a Glowing Destiny (YouTube)

2^nd Place: Annalena Wallner, Paula Walz and Sophia Lieby – Topic: Safety in an Entertaining Way (YouTube)

3^rd Place: Woolyn Cho – Topic: White Phosphorous (YouTube)

Students:

Screenshots from the video competitiion winners in the Higher Education category.

1^st Place: Sophia Marie Castillo, Aira Dacasin, Jeff Howell Hernandez and Danielle May Lozanes – Topic: General Laboratory Safety (YouTube)

2^nd Place: Wouter Van Hoey, Sander Bossier and Radu-George Ciocarlan – Topic: General Lab Safety Rules (YouTube)

3^rd Place: Romel Paul B. Hilario, Alyssa Reina P. Moneda, Joanna C. Rivero and Joseph Michael G. Sioson – Topic: Often Overlooked Safety Aspects (YouTube)

All the videos can be watched at www.eycn.eu/cr2021-videos (EYCN Communications YouTube channel).

December 14, 2021

Filip Aniés: Geoffrey Wilkinson Prize Student 2018

Filip Aniés was awarded a Geoffrey Wilkinson Prize Studentship in 2018; to study silver nanoparticles and carborane compounds at Imperial College, London. He has written about his experiences as a PhD student, and working during the pandemic…

You can read more on the Imperial Natural Sciences blog:

Reflections on life as a PhD student and a Geoffrey Wilkinson Prize Scholar

See also: Synthetic processes for plasmonic materials (on this website).

December 14, 2021December 15, 2021

Royal Society of Chemistry Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Dalton Poster Symposium 2021

Between 29 June to 1 July 2021, the Royal Society of Chemistry Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Dalton Poster Competition took place online as part of the Dalton Joint Interest Group meeting. Whilst this event was on hold in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were delighted that the competition was able to resume, albeit in a virtual format.
The posters were distributed across four themes: Coordination and Organometallic Chemistry; Main Group Chemistry; Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms; Inorganic Biochemistry.

A judging committee reviewed the posters and selected winners across the four themes, as well as an overall winner up in the PhD and postdoc categories. The winners were announced by the Dalton Division President, Professor Robert Mulvey, during the conferences closing remarks and the winners all received a PDF certificate and bursary. 354 people attended the online event this year, with 61 posters being presented at the Symposium.

The following chemists won prizes this year:

PhD Category

Winner: Natalia Baranska,University of York
Runner-up: Leah Webster, Imperial College London

PostDoc Category

Winner: Debanjana Biswal, University of Calcutta
Runner-up: Laurence Doyle, University of York

Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms

Winner: Patrick Morgan, University of Nottingham

Coordination and Organometallic Chemistry

Winner: Rebecca Salthouse, Durham University

Inorganic Biochemistry

Winner: Silvia Schoch, University of Pisa

Main Group Chemistry

Winner: Alexander Beaton Garcia, University of Edinburgh

July 14, 2021July 14, 2021

Wednesday 14th July, 2021. 100th anniversary of the birth of Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson

Geoffrey Wilkinson was born on 14^th July, 1921. The Trustees of the foundation honour him with great affection.

As a result of his generosity and highly successful life, especially in terms of publishing ( Advanced Inorganic Chemistry and Basic Inorganic Chemistry written with F. A. Cotton and later others) contact with industry (especially with Johnson Matthey through rhodium phosphine catalysed hydroformylation), the Foundation is able to fund a variety of ongoing and one off projects as well as make charitable donations.

Amongst the current ongoing projects are, a studentship in inorganic chemistry at Imperial College, currently held by Filip Aniés, the Sir Christopher Dobson PhD studentship in Protein Folding, and a PhD studentship in the History of Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The last two studentships are expected to start in late 2021. In addition, the Foundation funds the annual Sor Geoffrey Wilkinson Dalton Poster Competition in collaboration with the Dalton Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the European Network of Young Chemists’ biennial Chemistry Rediscovered. The Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson EYCN Video Competition.

We shall be thinking especially of Sir Geoffrey (Geoff) today with great gratitude and affection.

June 10, 2021

Barry Lock†

It is with deep regret that we announce that one of the Foundation’s longest serving Trustees has recently died. Barry Lock was Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson’s personal solicitor and was involved in setting up the Foundation. He retained a deep interest in the workings of the Foundation in both managing the finances and approving projects until his peaceful death in April, 2021. He has had a major influence on the Foundation and will be sorely missed.

March 18, 2021March 18, 2021

Chemistry Rediscovered – The Sir Geoffrey Wikinson EYCN Video Competition

Promotional image for the Wilkinson EYCN Video Competition, 2021

Following the great success of the European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) Video competition in 2019 Chemistry Rediscovered – In your Element, which the foundation sponsored. The Wilkinson Charitable Foundation has agreed to become the permanent sponsor of the video competition, now to be called: Chemistry Rediscovered – The Sir Geoffrey Wikinson EYCN Video Competition.

This year the subject will be Safety in Chemistry. For all information and a submission form please visit:

EuChemS EYCN Contests – EuChemS

Videos submitted to the 2019 competition can be found on YouTube at: ‘Chemistry Rediscovered 2019 – In Your Element’

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021

Professor Sir Christopher Dobson PhD Scholarship in Protein Misfolding

Sir Christopher Dobson, former Master of St John’s College, Cambridge, was and a Trustee of the Wilkinson Charitable Foundation and an outstanding researcher in the area of protein folding. This work is leading to new approaches to the treatment of diseases of ageing such as Alzheimer’s disease. In order to help ensure that this important work continues, the Foundation has endowed a PhD studentship at St John’s College in memory of Sir Christopher. It is anticipated that the first student to be funded through this studentship should start work later in 2021.

Full details are available at the St John’s website:

St John’s Cambridge: Scholarship in Protein Misfolding

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021

Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Prizes; Global Inorganic Discussion Weekend

During the Covid-19 pandemic, face to face conferences have not been possible. However, on-line conferences and poster competitions have been flourishing. The Foundation funded prizes for the Global Inorganic discussion weekend on-line poster competition.

The event was a major success attracting 165 participants from 20 countries, and 50 judges from around the world. The tweets accrued 7600+ likes, 1000s of retweets, offered a social reach of 18,000+ people, and trended 4th in Canada on the morning of July 9th!

The winners of the Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Prizes are pictured below. Many congratulations to all of them and to the organisers led by Marcus Drover, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

The Sir Geofrey Wilkinson Prize Winners 2020.