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RED10
Documents 1-4.
Department of ChemistryPanel 8. Chemistry and Earth Sciences Research Evaluation for Development of Research 2010
Research Evaluation for Development of Research at the University of Gothenburg 2010
Document 1A. Research Personnel Structure in 2004 and 2009
Department of ChemistryPanel 8. Chemistry and earth sciences
Nr.Full time eq.
Mean age
Women (%)
Perm.(%)
Nr.Full time eq.
Nr. res. Res. (%)Mean age
Women (%)
Perm.(%)
Academic staff
Professor 25 23,57 56 20 22 22 22 58 55 23 95
Adjunct professor or senior lecturer
1 0,2 60 0 3 0,6 3 0 47 0 0
Senior lecturer/ associate professor
13 8,93 54 0 6 6 6 54 46 0 100
Researcher 4 3,55 40 25 13 10,4 13 75 41 46 23
Research fellow/ assistant professor
4 4 36 0 7 7 7 80 35 43 0
Postdoc 3 3 33 33 11 11 11 100 34 36 0
Other 7 6,2 43 29 11 7,3 1 4 34 18 9
Emeritus 1 N/A 1 N/A 0 N/A
Doctoral studentsPhD 65 51,55 32 52 N/A 64 62,9 64 95 32 55 N/A
Affiliated staffNon GU
Abbreviations and DefinitionsAcademic staff and Doctoral students = research personnel employed by the University of Gothenburg according to
Swedish state employment codes "BESTA" AUFP (other teaching and research personnel) and UNDP (teaching personnel)Affiliated staff = not employed by the University of Gothenburg but contributing to research at the departmentProfessor includes also visiting professor (Sw: gästprofessor), short term employment of professor at other universityResearcher includes also visiting (guest) lecturer (Sw: gästlärare)Other staff includes e.g.:
Junior lecturer/university teacher (Sw: universitetsadjunkt), tenured, no PhDResearch engineer (Sw: forskningsingenjör) tenured, no PhDProject leader/coordinator (Sw: projektledare/projektkoordinator)Project employee (Sw: projektanställd)Assistant researcher (Sw: biträdande forskare) – predoctoral or postdoctoral junior researcherAdjunct junior lecturer (Sw: adjungerad universitetsadjunkt)Part time teacher paid by the hour (Sw: timlärare)
Nr. = total number of research personnelFull time eq. = total extent of employment at the University of Gothenburg in categoryNr. res. = total number of research personnel with > 1 % research in their positionRes. = % research in position (mean)Perm. = % permanent positions N/A = not applicableGrey field = data unavailable
Source: University of Gothenburg personnel database (PA datalagret)
September 2004 September 2009
Research Evaluation for Development of Research at the University of Gothenburg 2010
Document 1B. Examination - Licentiate and Doctoral Degrees
Department of ChemistryPanel 8. Chemistry and earth sciences
Registered PhD students
TotalWomen
(%)Total
Women (%)
2009 2 100 76 47
Number of doctoral and licentiate degrees
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009WomenNumber of degrees 8 4 7 6 3 10 3 7 2 3Net study time (yr) 3,56 3,1 4,3 3,57 4,2 4,12 3,09 4,86 4,23 4,2MenNumber of degrees 8 11 12 11 7 8 6 6 1 7Net study time (yr) 4,09 4,5 4,08 4,5 4,2 4,17 4,18 4,31 4,35 4,2
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009WomenNumber of degrees 4 0 0 2 1 1 2 0 1 1Net study time (yr) 2,42 0 0 3,55 3,3 4,65 2,39 0 2,42 4,88MenNumber of degrees 7 1 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 1Net study time (yr) 2,72 4,2 3,41 0 35 0 0 2,85 0 3,75
TotalWomen
(%)Mean/ year
Mean net
study time (yr)
TotalWomen
(%)Mean/ year
Mean net
study time (yr)
a. 2000-2004 77 36 15,4 4,1 19 37 3,8 8,0b. 2005-2009 53 47 10,6 4,2 7 71 1,4 3,3c. 2009 10 30 4,2 2 50 4,3
Source: the national system used for documentation of academic information at higher education institutions in Sweden (Ladok)
1-50 % activity 51-100 % activity
Doctoral degrees
Licentiate degrees
Doctoral degrees Licentiate degrees
Research Evaluation for Development of Research at the University of Gothenburg 2010
Document 1C. Finances
Department of ChemistryPanel 8.Chemistry and earth sciences
2006 2007 2008 2009Profit and loss account (kSEK)Revenue 114 765 122 077 131 117 184 842Costs -108 962 -115 237 -129 490 -184 613
of which depreciations -3 429 -4 234 -4 978 -5 213Transfers -682 -1 000 -754 0Result 5 121 5 840 873 229
IncomeUndergraduate education 27 029 24 194 23 525 33 655Research 87 736 97 884 107 592 115 256
of which (selected)Gov faculty resources 46 618 44 785 47 405 59 048Grants for research 31 299 38 469 52 159 52 334Commissioned research 1 774 2 674 2 919 2 352
External funding (selected)
Income per group of financing (kSEK)Swedish research councils 15 310 17 299 25 476 31 036European Commission 2 796 9 844 12 337 8 060Other important funding 6 575 4 203 10 170 7 499
Number of projects per group of financingSwedish research councils 35 31 38 50European Commission 14 17 19 19Other important funding 7 5 6 7
1 SEK = 0,104 € = 0,127 US$; 1 June 2010
Sources: University of Gothenburg accounting system (EA datalagret) and database of external funding (EKO)
30-jun-2010Bibliometric Services/HC
Document 2a - Publication Lists
Department of Chemistry
Publication data for the department and staff 2004-2009 is reported from the university publication database.
Publication list for the whole department 2004-2009
Publication list for staff 2004-2009 by staff category
Staff marked with an asteriks (*) have personally verified their publication list during 2010. Staff on a grey
background have ended their term at the university during the period.
Professors
Ahlberg, Elisabet Ahlberg, Per Anderson, Leif*
Andreasson, Lars-Erik Billeter, Martin Hall, Per*
Hilmersson, Göran Holmlid, Leif Hulth, Stefan*
Håkansson, Mikael* Karlberg, Ann-Therese* Kjellander, Roland*
Lindqvist, Oliver Ljungström, Evert* Luthman, Kristina*
Neutze, Richard Nordholm, Sture Norrby, Per-Ola*
Nyman, Gunnar* Pettersson, Jan* Rydström, Jan*
Sjölin, Lennart* Turner, David R.* Wedborg, Margareta
Adjunct Professors
Grennfelt, Peringe
Senior Faculty (Swedish Docent)
Amedjkouh, Mohamed Andersson, Patrik U* Bergenholtz, Johan
Boman, Johan* Broo, Kerstin Chierici, Melissa*
Fransson, Agneta* Gräfenstein, Jürgen* Grøtli, Morten*
Hallquist, Mattias* Hansson, Örjan* Hassellöv, Martin*
Lahmann, Martina Nilsson, Åke Svensson, Jan-Erik
Tengberg, Anders* Wall, Staffan
Other Faculty and Postdoctoral Staff
Abbas, Zareen* Bonander, Nicklas Bråred Christensson, Johanna
Börje, Anna* Engman, Cecilia* Erdelyi, Mate
Gustafsson, Magnus* Hagström, Magnus Hedfalk, Kristina
Horsefield, Rob Jonsson, Charlotte Jutterström, Sara
Karlsson, Roger* Katona, Gergely* Matura, Mihaly
Mintrop, Ludger Noda, Jun Olsen, Are
Pedersen, Anders* Poulsen, Jens Aage Saitton, Stina
Sommar, Jonas Törnroth Horsefield, Susanna Westenhoff, Sebastian*
Postdoctoral Fellows
Andersson, Maria Andersson, Stefan* Breitbarth, Eike
Bäcktorp, Carina Dinér, Peter Engelbrektsson, Johan*
Engström, Pia Frankcombe, Terry J Friberg, Annika
Galanis, Athanassios S Janhäll, Sara Jonsson, Åsa M.
Kosinska-Eriksson, Urszula Ljungdahl, Thomas Olsson, Anders
Pemberton, Nils Redeby, Theres Stenfeldt, Anna-Lena
Strömberg, Niklas Södergren, Mikael
Ph.D. Students
Abrahamsson, Erik Ahlström, Bodil Ahmed, Istaq
Alfredsson, Anna Almroth, Elin Andersson, Sofia
Andresen Bergström, Moa Ankner, Tobias Badiei, Shahriar
Baumann, Kajsa Berggren, Kristina Berglund, Carina
Björnström, Joakim Brunnegård, Jenny Bäckman, Ola*
Carlsson, Anna-Carin Casari, Barbara Dahlén, Kristian
Dyrager, Christine Eek, William Ekvall, Mikael
Eurenius, Karinh Farkas, Daniel Filipsson, Caroline
Fischer, Gerhard Fredriksson, Jonas Gardfeldt, Katarina
Granander, Johan Gruvberg, Christer Gustafsson, Torbjörn
Hagvall, Lina Hakonen, Aron Hedström, Anna
Hjalmarsson, Sofia Jansson, Hanna Jeansson, Emil
Johansson, Linda C Johansson, Staffan Johansson, Tove
Johnson, Ann-Catrin J. H. Karle, Ida-Maja Karlsson, Anders
Karlsson, Isabella* Kjellander, Britta Kleimark, Jonatan
Kokoli, Theonitsa* Kovacevik, Borka Larsson, Per-Fredrik
Larsson, Tobias Lehmann, Fredrik Lennartson, Anders
Lindqvist, Stina Lundin, Angelica Lüder, Kai
Malmerberg, Erik Malmodin, Daniel Nayeri, Moheb
Niklasson, Ida Nilsson, Daniel Nilsson, Johanna*
Oberg, Fredrik Olofson, Frans Olsson, Susanne
Romero Lejonthun, Liza* Ryding, Mauritz Johan* Rönnholm, Petra
Saline, Maria Salo, Kent Samuelsson, Kristin
Saxin, Maria* Schantz Zackrisson, Anna Simonsson, Carl
Stolpe, Björn Sundgren, Andreas Suter, Martina
Svane, Maria Svensson, Erik Tranberg, Mattias
Tullberg, Marcus Wagner, Annemarie Wernersson, Erik
Wiktelius, Daniel Wåhlström, Irene* Öjekull, Jenny
Other Research Staff
Carlberg, J Jam, Fariba Shannigrahi, Ardhendu Sekhar
Other Non-Research Staff
Ewing, Andrew G
30-jun-2010Bibliometric Services/HC
Document 2b - Bibliometric Self Evaluation Summary
Department of Chemistry
Number of publications reported to the publication database per year
and document type
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total
Chapter in monograph, book 0 6 1 4 2 4 17
Conference paper - peer reviewed 11 5 10 10 6 12 54
Doctoral thesis 22 20 14 13 7 8 84
Licentiate thesis 0 3 4 0 2 4 13
Monograph, book 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
Report 0 2 2 2 1 2 9
Scientific journal article - peer reviewed 141 111 99 125 136 127 739
Scientific journal article - review article 0 1 1 1 3 2 8
Total 174 148 132 155 157 160 926
of the publications published 2009 have been personally verified of at least one author.47 %
Most frequently used journals
Journal of Chemical Physics 38
Journal of Physical Chemistry Part A: Molecules, Spectroscopy, Kinetics, Environment and General Theory 29
Marine Chemistry 16
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 15
Atmospheric Environment 14
Chemical Research in Toxicology 14
Contact Dermatitis 13
Journal of Physical Chemistry Part B: Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces & Biophysical 13
Acta Crystallographica. Section E: Structure Reports Online 12
American Chemical Society. Journal 12
Deep-Sea Research. Part 2: Topical Studies in Oceanography 12
Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 12
Department of Chemistry - Page 2
Most frequently used publishers
Springer Verlag 29
Blackwell Publishing 25
Chalmers University of Technology 11
Intellecta Docusys 8
American Geophysical Union 7
Blackwell Munksgaard 6
Wiley 6
Nature Publishing Group 5
University of Gothenburg 4
Elsevier 4
Maik Nauka/Interperiodica 4
Swedish Polar Research Secretariat 4
Collaboration
Publications with only one author 15 %
Publications published in collaboration with at least one author outside the department 62 %
Publications published in collaboration with at least one author outside the university 56 %
Department of Chemistry - Page 3
Typical external organisations where collaborators are found:Chalmers 122
Stockholm Univ 30
Uppsala Univ 21
Penn State Univ 19
Lund Univ 15
Univ Bergen 15
Sahlgrens Univ Hosp 13
Univ Copenhagen 12
AstraZeneca R&D 11
Univ Tromso 10(ext org should be regarded as a sample since data from external databases, Web of Science and Swepub, is used)
International collaboration
Refereed journal articles published in collaboration with at least one author outside Sweden 48 %
Typical countries where collaborators are found:USA 85
Germany 52
United Kingdom 49
Norway 43
Denmark 41
France 34
Spain 19
Canada 17
Italy 15
Netherlands 14(countries should be regarded as a sample since data from an external database, Web of Science, is used)
Interdisiplinary collaboration
Interdisiplinary publications published in collaboration with an author outside the department,
but within the school 10 %
Interdisiplinary publications published in collaboration with an author outside the school,
but within the university 4 %
Research Evaluation for Development of Research at the University of Gothenburg 2010
Document 3. Quantitative Summary of Research Activities
Department of ChemistryPanel 8. Chemistry and earth sciences
Total numbers
Number of individuals
3.1. Engagement in the scientific community (total number and number of individuals, involved, 2004-2009)254 4246 1960 22232 4084 2759 2165 2323 1166 30141 38
3.2. International cooperation 2004-2009
9 6120 4211 791 240 0
3.3. Recruitments 2004-2009
men 6women 1men 0women 1men 5women 3men 4women 0
3.4. Interaction with society (number of)12 54 4
21 1039 163 3
3.5. Prizes, awards etc.
41 20
Source: data submitted by the individual researchers
In all contexts of this evaluation the expression “scientific” includes research and development activities at the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts
a. Invited speakers at international conferencesb. Plenary or key note lectures (subset of a.)c. Invitations to organize and chair sessions at international conferencesd. Invited scientific seminars at other departments or universitiese. Work for research councils and foundations etcf. Evaluators for research positionsg. Opponent at dissertationsh. Editorship (editor or member of board)i. Academy membership – selected fellowships in professional associationsj. Other scientific activities of significance (conference organisation etc)
a. Research visits abroad (more than 3 months)b. Research visits abroad (1 week to 3 months)c. Guest researchers (visiting Gothenburg more than 3 months)d. Guest researcher (visiting Gothenburg 1 week to 3 months)e. Regular guest programsf. Number of departments the reporting department has joint publications with (this entry is excluded from document 3. See document 2B.)
a. Number of newly employed staff with a PhD-degree from other universities
d. Popular science articles and bookse. Text books (aimed for schools or general public)
a. Prizes, awards etc.
b. Number of newly employed staff with a PhD-degree from the University of Gothenburg, except own departmentc. Number of newly employed staff with a PhD-degree from the own department (at the University of Gothenburg)
d. Adjunct professors
a. Government and other clear-cut social commissionsb. Spin-off companiesc. Patents
RED 10 E
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RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
2
Table of Contents:
4.1 General description of the Department and research activities. 3
4.1.1 Organisation and administration of unit. 3
Table of Faculty including citation summary. 5
4.1.2 Special resources. 6
4.1.3 General description of the total research profile. 8
4.1.4 Multi- & interdisciplinary activities. 11
4.1.5 Interactions with other departments at GU. 13
4.1.6 Interactions within the department. 14
4.1.7 Relationship between research and teaching. 15
4.1.8 Standing of the department in a national / international context. 16
4.2 SWOT analysis with regard to the research of the Department. 17
4.3 Description of successful research areas with a strong national or international impact. 18
4.3.1 Medicinal Chemistry. 19
4.3.2 Analytical chemistry methods for single cell analysis. 21
4.3.3 Membrane protein structure and dynamics. 23
4.3.4 Marine polar research. 25
4.3.5 Selective and sustainable catalysis. 27
4.3.6 Colloidal gels: attraction driven glasses. 29
4.3.7 Actions needed to ensure successful development. 31
4.4 Description of most promising research areas or research directions in the Department. 33
4.4.1 Vision. 33
4.4.2 Strategic planning. 33
4.4.3 Recruitment & renewal. 34
4.4.4 Promising research. 35
4.4.5 Future planning. 37
4.4.6 General remarks. 38
4.5 Description of Departmental strategy for societal influence and interaction. 39
4.6 List of most important publications. 41
4.7 List of publications which best represent innovative research activities. 43
4.8 Publications and documentation showing considerable influence on social life. 44
4.9 Publications from 2010 of special importance. 46
4.10 Other achievements of innovative significance. 48
4.11 Prizes and awards. 50
4.12 Links to additional relevant information. 52
RED 10 E
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RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
4
Important changes compared to the previous
organisational structure include the
establishment of the Research Council, the
Innovation Council and the composition of the
executive committee, which now achieves a
balance covering all aspects of the
Department’s activities. The Innovation
Council handles our outreach efforts, which
are more fully described in Section 4.5. The
Education Council handles issues related to
both undergraduate and graduate studies where
the chair, the deputy HoD, has overall
responsibility. The deputy HoD is assisted by
three directors of studies, one of who is
assigned to graduate education. The Research
Council handles issues relating not only to
research but also strategies concerning the
recruitment of new faculty.
Day-to-day activities are formally led by the
HoD. In practice, much is handled within
almost a dozen constellations of research
groups (Table 1). These constellations consist
of one or a few professors and their groups
who have considerable freedom in managing
their research, although the HoD has overall
economic responsibility for the Department.
There are in total approximately 160
employees in the Department of Chemistry
(approximately 130 full time equivalents). Of
these 34 are tenured faculty (Table 1), 4 are
adjunct professors, 5 scientifically active
emeritus professors, approximately 25 are
research associates (assistant professors,
“forskarassistent”), postdocs or persons on
non-tenured research positions, and there are
approximately 80 PhD students. We also have
12 people employed in vital support functions,
including administrative, technical and
laboratory support.
Table 1 presents the faculty members of the
Department and where they belong within the
different research constellations. Some
constellations share equipment, while some
share with similar research constellations at
Chalmers University of Technology.
Geographically, most of the Department is
located at the Johanneberg Campus, sharing
facilities with Chalmers University of
Technology. The exception is the sections for
Biochemistry and Biophysics, which are
located at Medicinarberget (“Medical Hill”),
sharing the Lundberg Laboratory building with
the Department for Cell and Molecular
Biology, placed adjacent to the Swedish NMR
Centre.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
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Table 1: Overview of Faculty employed and main research activities at the Department of Chemistry (Professor, P; Senior Lecturer, L; and Researcher, R).
Faculty and research areas
Year of PhD H-index
# of papers
Citations Citations /paper
Bio-molecular chemistry Analytical Chemistry Andrew Ewing (P) 1983 53 213 9299 44
Biochemistry Kristina Hedfalk (R) 2002 10 23 338 14 Gergely Katona (R) 2004 10 20 366 18 Richard Neutze (P) 1995 19 57 1825 31 Jan Rydström (P) 1972 27 186 2773 16 Susanna Horsefield-Törnroth (R) 2002 9 16 855 53 Biophysics Martin Billeter (P) 1985 45 111 14846 134 Örjan Hansson (L) 1986 23 63 2103 33 Dermatochemistry Anna Börje (R) 1997 13 31 566 18 Ann-Therese Karlberg (P) 1988 23 129 1731 13 Inorganic Chemistry Lennart Sjölin (P) 1979 22 60 2208 22 Medicinal Chemistry Morten Grötli (L) 1997 17 51 825 16 Kristina Luthman (P) 1986 25 111 2718 24 Environmental Chemistry Atmospheric Science Johan Boman (L) 1990 10 35 249 7 Mattias Hallquist (L) 1998 13 32 498 16 Evert Ljungström (P) 1979 20 82 1326 16 Jan Pettersson (P) 1990 23 105 1408 13 Marine Chemistry Katarina Abrahamsson (P) 1990 14 38 731 19 Leif Anderson (P) 1981 26 78 2310 30 Melissa Chierici (R) 1998 9 21 200 10 Per Hall (P) 1984 24 56 2227 40 Stefan Hulth (P) 1995 19 40 920 23 David Turner (P) 1977 24 67 2042 30 Margareta Wedborg (P) 1972 14 32 564 18 Nanochemistry Martin Hassellöv (L) 1999 10 22 359 16 Fundamental Chemistry Electrochemistry Zareen Abbas (R) 2002 6 14 96 7 Elisabet Ahlberg (P) 1980 17 103 1106 11 Organic Chemistry Göran Hilmersson (P) 1996 24 58 1510 26 Mikael Håkansson (P) 1990 19 93 1103 12 Per-Ola Norrby (P) 1992 35 122 3148 26 Physical Chemistry Johan Bergenholtz (L) 1996 19 35 1392 40 Roland Kjellander (P) 1975 31 75 3619 48 Sture Nordholm (P) 1972 27 190 3372 18 Gunnar Nyman (P) 1987 24 100 1804 18
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
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4.1.2 Special resources
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
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RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
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4.1.3 General description of total research profile
Research of the Department is characterized by
a balance between “fundamental research”,
here taken to mean emphasis on developing
new methods, theories or instruments, and
“applied research”, here taken to mean the
application of existing methods, theories or
instruments. The Department has groups
working in the traditional areas of inorganic
chemistry, organic chemistry, physical
chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics and
analytical chemistry. These areas of research
originate from the first establishment of
chemistry within the University of
Gothenburg. Today there are six additional
research areas covered: environmental
nanochemistry, marine chemistry, atmospheric
science, medicinal chemistry, electrochemistry
and dermatochemistry (Table 1).
Due to the scientific foresight of our first
professor of analytical chemistry, David
Dyrssen, tools of inorganic chemistry were
applied to issues concerning our marine
environment. These early initiatives have since
led to the establishment of a highly successful
research constellation in marine chemistry.
This group is very well known for its polar
research where they are a significant global
player (Section 4.3.4).
To broaden the scope of analytical chemistry, a
new professor was recruited in 2007 and he is
now building a strong group with focus at
single cell analysis (Section 4.3.2 and 4.4).
AstraZeneca is a major pharmaceutical
research oriented company, located less than
10 km from the Department. We thus
recognised the opportunity to establish
research in this area that would simultaneously
strengthen our interests in traditional organic
chemistry and applied science. Through a
successful strategic application for a Knut and
Alice Wallenberg grant, the medicinal
chemistry group was established at the
Department in 2001. Kristina Luthman was
appointed Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
and she has built a strong constellation
working in this field (see 4.3.1).
With a division of Medicinal chemistry
established within the Department, this opened
the door to recruit a group working in the
scientifically related field of dermatochemistry
at the National Institute of Occupational Health
in Stockholm where, at that time, research
units were being reorganized. Professor Ann-
Therese Karlberg moved her research group to
the Department in 2002 and, since then, has
successfully established the unique field of
dermatochemistry (Section 4.4).
In 2003 the Department formed a constellation
for atmospheric science by joining researchers
in physical chemistry and inorganic chemistry
with environmental physicists, who were then
relocated to chemistry. Our atmospheric
science constellation is unique in Sweden in
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
9
that it takes a molecular approach to transport
and reaction processes in the atmosphere. A
unifying research theme is the study of
aerosols, and the activities range from
fundamental studies of chemical reactions on
the molecular level, to applied work including
field studies of atmospheric processes. In
addition to the fundamental interest, these
studies are of key importance to current
climate and air quality research and contribute
to developments in the fields of colloidal
chemistry, nanotechnology and medicine. The
success in this area will be further underlined
by the recruitment of a new professor (Section
4.4).
Most recently a group in environmental
nanochemistry has also been established. This
activity is rapidly growing and building
interfaculty collaborations, for which it has
been awarded a major research grant aimed at
the creation and development of a strong
research environment (Section 4.4).
Returning to the traditional areas of chemistry,
the inorganic chemistry constellation has
several interests including bioinorganic
chemistry, particularly of small blue copper
proteins and their role in electron transfer
chains in photosynthesis and in
nitrification/denitrification processeses by
bacteria. Closely related is the constellation
focussing on electrochemistry, where a strong
reputation is being built. This electrochemical
research spans different areas such as
fundamental theoretical studies of ion-ion
interaction, surface charging of nanoparticles,
reaction mechanisms for electrocatalysis and
electron transfer of transition metal complexes.
Theoretical studies are strongly coupled to
experimental activities such as oxygen
reduction, epoxidation of alkenes,
electrochemical properties of surface bound
transition metal complexes, electrochemical
induced deposition of oxides and hydroxides,
surface complexation and solid state
conduction.
The organic and organometallic chemistry
constellation is well known for its work on
reaction mechanisms, asymmetric synthesis
(Section 4.10), structure and bonding, and
advanced applications of NMR spectroscopy
(Section 4.4) and computational chemistry
combined with experiments on homogeneous
catalysis (Section 4.3.5). Particularly
appreciated is their work on new methods in
organic synthesis, especially samarium
(Section 4.10) and lithium chemistry.
The physical chemistry constellation works
broadly and has earned an international
reputation for its theoretical research,
particularly in statistical mechanics with focus
on liquid state theory. This includes the proper
and self-consistent treatment of electrolyte
systems. Another focus is quantum dynamics
and its interface to classical dynamics (Section
4.4) and recent applications to astro-chemistry.
A further area of focus for the physical
chemistry constellation is colloid and interface
RED 10 E
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RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
11
4.1.4 Special multi- & interdisciplinary activities
A large fraction of the work performed in the
Department is highly collaborative and
interdisciplinary. Most research groups
perform science, on a day-to-day basis, that
involves chemistry and other disciplines like
mathematics, physics, biology, pharmacy, or
medicine. Moreover, the researchers at the
Department collaborate extensively within
inter-disciplinary research projects often
performed through collaboration with a
research groups outside chemistry.
To illustrate the point, Table 4 presents a
summary of the European Union funded, and
primarily interdisciplinary, collaborations that
researchers within the department participated
in during the review period. Although this
table falls well short of summarising all the
multi-disciplinary work ongoing within the
department, it does contain collaborative work
which has passed a stringent process of
external review and been judged to be ahead of
the competition.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
12
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
13
4.1.5 Relationship to and interactions with other departments within GU
Within the Faculty of Science we have several
scientific interactions with the departments for
Earth Science, Physics, Mathematics, and the
four biology departments, particularly with
Cell and Molecular Biology with which our
groups in Biochemistry and Biophysics share a
building. We also share some administrative
personnel with the Department for Cell and
Molecular Biology and access equipment
belonging to each other. We also have
scientific interactions with departments outside
of science and medicine. One noteworthy
interaction is with social sciences, in a new
research collaboration on risk assessment of
nano-particles.
Our relationships with most of the other
departments within GU are, in general, not as
developed. Our strongest interactions are with
other departments in the Faculty of Science
and a few departments in the Faculty for
Medicine (Pharmacology, Biomedicine,
Dermatology).
The Department interacts not only with other
departments within GU, but also with
departments at our sister university, Chalmers
University of Technology, and in particular
with their Chemistry Department with which
we share many facilities. Our relations are
excellent, bringing many advantages to both
parties. We share the cost of joint facilities
(several research and course instruments and
some administrative support) and are able to
access facilities belonging to each other.
Moreover, a lack of strength in one area of
chemistry at GU is often compensated by a
specific strength at Chalmers, and vice versa.
This provides a strong, thriving research
environment and creates a win-win situation.
We also have substantial interactions with the
departments for Physics and Mathematics at
Chalmers. A concern with these collaborations
is that on the Johanneberg campus, staff from
GU (about 230 people) is completely
outnumbered by staff at Chalmers (about 2300
people). This creates a serious problem of
visibility for the Department.
The Swedish NMR Centre is not a department
but a separate administrative unit, with which
the Department of Chemistry has research
collaborations and administrative connections.
In particular, PhD students of the Swedish
NMR Centre are formally enrolled with us.
During the last few years the Faculty of
Science has encouraged inter-departmental
research collaborations, called “platforms”, by
setting aside substantial internal funding for
this specific purpose. Based on mid-term
evaluations, the Department of Chemistry
coordinates one of the most successful of these (Skin Research Centre in Gothenburg), and
participates actively in four of the other (out 10
funded in total).
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
14
4.1.6 Interactions within the Department
Organised interactions occur in several ways
within the Department. The board of the
Department, the executive committee, the
Research Council, the Education Council and
the Innovation Council all meet regularly. We
intend to prioritise between future activities in
joint strategic planning meetings between the
three councils twice a year, with the first one to
be held in the fall of 2010.
We hold monthly Departmental meetings for
all personnel, where part of the time is also set
aside to discuss issues that involve education.
There are less frequent, but regular, meetings
between the HoD and the council for the
doctoral students, with all doctoral students
and with the technical and administrative staff.
The three directors of undergraduate and
graduate studies meet weekly with the deputy
HoD. Doctoral students also organise their
own regular meetings, as do the technical and
administrative staff.
Social interactions for the whole Department
are arranged at least once a year. Social
interactions within the research constellations
are in many cases frequent. Every Friday
afternoon the Department organises joint
coffee for the whole Department. On particular
occasions, e.g. 50-year birthdays, departmental
celebrations are organised. We also plan to
introduce monthly faculty lunches.
With respect to specific research projects, most
research constellations hold weekly meetings
with a scientific content, maybe as an informal
(group) seminar, but also discussing
organisational and safety issues relevant to the
group. There are numerous research
collaborations between individual researchers
and between constellations of researchers
within the Department, including jointly
financed PhD students.
Since the Department of Chemistry was
reorganised into one Department in 2003 the
number of collaborations and interactions
within the Department has grown. There is, for
example, a weekly Departmental seminar
series organized jointly with Chalmers, and an
international guest often gives this lecture.
Overall, we believe that increasing the social
interactions further is beneficial.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
15
4.1.7 Relationship between research and teaching
The Department has a policy that each faculty
member should teach a minimum of 10% of
their time. It would also be desirable to keep
teaching assignments below 25% to give each
faculty member ample time for research, but at
present we do not manage this. The policy that
all faculty both teach and perform research is
in line with the University policy of complete
academic environments with links between
strong research and teaching.
In all courses, from first year, every teacher is
expected to somewhere in the course connect
the lecturing to current research. In problem-
based learning this is done by taking examples
based on research problems. In second year
courses, students are frequently given
opportunities to meet the researchers in the
area and also enjoy short research
presentations.
Upper level courses are only given in areas
where the Department has special competence,
and here the research connection is obviously
strong. Our education programmes emphasise
the importance of laboratory work for
chemistry students, and for upper level courses
laboratory exercises are normally performed in
research laboratories. For the first degree
(B.Sc.), all students perform a 10-week project
that has a direct link to research. At the
advanced (Masters) level, most students pursue
a research project of half a year to one year in
length within the Department. In addition,
several students perform their research projects
elsewhere, for example at AstraZeneca,
AstraTech and EKA Chemicals. The close
coupling between research and teaching is
exemplified in that e.g. Master projects
frequently contribute to publications in peer-
reviewed journals. Graduate courses are, of
course, directly related to research activities
within the Department.
In addition to extensive lecture notes by
several members of the faculty, two published
textbooks derive to a substantial extent from
experiences in our research activities:
S. Nordholm, W. Eek, G. Nyman and G.
Backskay, “Kvantmekanik för kemister. På
spaning efter atomers egenskaper och
molekylers bindningar” (“Quantum Mechanics
for Chemists; In search for properties of atoms
and molecular bonds.”) Book, Studentlitteratur
Förlag, Lund, 2009
R. Kjellander "Vad är drivkraften i
molekylernas värld? En molekylär introduktion
till termodynamik." ("What is the Driving
Force in the World of the Molecules? A
Molecular Introduction to Thermodynamics.")
Book, Studentlitteratur Förlag, Lund, 2002.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
16
4.1.8 Standing of the department in a national & international context
Research:
Table 1 presents bibliometric data for all
members of faculty at the Department. Section
4.3 describes six research environments that
we judge to be nationally leading in their
respective fields, and in some cases at the very
cutting edge of international developments.
Grants from the Swedish Research Council
(VR) are frequently taken to provide stamp of
quality in Swedish academic research. Figure 2
shows the growth in funding from VR
experienced since 2004. Moreover, 19 of 34
members of faculty (54 %) have ongoing
grants with VR. Another important indication
is the large number of EU supported grants that
the Department participates in.
Finally, two members of faculty (Leif
Anderson and Sture Nordholm) are elected
fellows of the Swedish Royal Academy of
Sciences (KVA), which is the highest honour
given in Swedish Academia.
Altogether, we feel that the Department has a
positively developing trend gaining a strong
and respected research standing nationally and
internationally.
Teaching:
The Department attracts 40% of the nation’s
university students in chemistry (chemical
engineering not counted). We plan to increase
our attention to international recruitment of
students to our master degree programmes.
90% of our students receive qualified
employment within three months of their
graduation. We constantly review the
pedagogical approach implemented in
undergraduate and graduate teaching. The
recently introduced clicker activities provide
an example of interactive tools for student
learning that has been well received by the
students. One of our teachers (Roland
Kjellander) has received the University
teaching award. We rank our Department as
one of the leading in the nation with regard to
teaching.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
17
4.2 SWOT analysis with regard to the research of the Department
Strengths
• Well-balanced age structure among the faculty.
• Good publication rate in high-quality journals.
• Balance between basic and applied research where the latter may develop from the former.
• Close connection between research and undergraduate courses.
• The fairly large Department stabilizes the economy.
• Sharing building with the Chemistry Department at Chalmers provides good infrastructure and a strong creative research and teaching environment.
Weaknesses
• There is no natural location for day-to-day contacts for the whole Department.
• Some in the faculty are without external grants, resulting in heavy teaching assignments and/or other duties.
• Comparably few large-scale external grants.
• Low mobility after tenure, rather few postdocs, few guest programs and no right to sabbatical, limits influx of ideas.
Opportunities
• Growing networks, cooperation with Chalmers, Faculty of Medicine and industry.
• A recent recruitment in analytical chemistry is on the verge to establish a world-leading research group.
• A recent recruitment in biochemistry is attracting excellent collaborators who with proper support will be part in making this group world-leading.
• Recent establishment of strong research environment in risk assessment of nanoparticles.
• Strategic collaboration with Lund leads to new professorship in chemical modeling of the atmosphere.
• There are several promising young researchers in the Department.
• Adding adjunct professors
Threats
• Few chemistry students (which is a national problem).
• Rigid employment rules.
• Young promising researchers are on short-term positions and there is not a tenure track system.
• Internal recruitment.
• There is essentially no free money or capital for strategic hires etc at Departmental level.
• PhD-students are extensively externally funded.
• Swiftly changing funding principles from the Faculty of Science
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
18
4.3 Description of the most successful research areas with a strong national or international impact
As discussed in Section 4.1.1, the breadth of
research activities and the balanced mix
between applied and fundamental research
constitute important strengths of the
Department. In the following section we have
selected six strong research areas from the
three major divisions of research within the
Department (Table 1). These highlighted
activities are within the areas of: Medical
Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry,
Biochemistry, Marine Chemistry, Organic
Chemistry and Physical Chemistry. These
diverse projects illustrate both the breadth of
the research environment of the Department
and the relevance to important concerns of the
society. In addition to these selected projects
there are also other research activities in the
department that are highly successful.
RED 10 E
4.3.1 Med
Faculty: K
Backgrou
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RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
20
Wallén et al., Org. Lett. 9:389 (2007) and
Fridén-Saxin et al., J. Org. Chem. 74:2755
(2009)]. Also the fluorescent properties of 3-
hydroxychromones have been explored in
more detail, whereby we successfully used two
analogues for studies in living human cells
[Dyrager et al., Chem. Eur. J. 15:9417 (2009)].
Currently, we are exploring chromone and
chromanone derivatives as peptide secondary
structure mimetics.
A similar strategy has been used to develop
series of compounds comprising a
diketopiperazine scaffold. Efficient synthetic
methods have been developed [Tullberg et al.,
Tetrahedron 62:7484 (2006), Tullberg et al., J.
Comb. Chem. 8:915 (2006), Jam et al.,
Tetrahedron 63:9881 (2007), Tullberg et al., J.
Org. Chem. 72:195 (2007)] and interesting
derivatives useful as peptide secondary
structure mimetics are presently being studied.
In a third project the first potent and
efficacious non-peptidic agonists at the human
urotensin II receptor were developed
[Lehmann et al. J. Med. Chem. 49:2232
(2006), Lehmann et al. Eur. J. Med. Chem.
42:276 (2007), Lehmann et al. Bioorg. Med.
Chem. 13:3057 (2005), 17:4657 (2009) & in
press 2010]. In this context a series of
compounds have been synthesized and used to
establish structure-activity relationships,
recently involving an in vivo study around
several compounds. Three patent applications
have resulted to date from this project.
We are also developing kinase inhibitors useful
both in the treatment of cancer [Dinér et al.,
New J. Chem. 33:1010 (2009)] and tropical
diseases [Klein et al., Org. Biomol. Chem.
7:3421 (2009)] and as novel tools for detailed
studies of cellular signaling processes.
Recently also projects aimed at the
development of protease inhibitors aimed as
novel antibacterial agents [Berggren et al.,
Bioorg. Med. Chem. 17:3463 (2009)], and
histone-deacetylase inhibitors useful in
different age-related diseases such as cancer
were initiated. Currently, we are exploring
chromone and chromanone derivatives as
potent and selective kinase inhibitors and as
potent and selective SIRT2 inhibitors.
National and international standing:
The Medical Chemistry Group was established
in 2001 with support from the Wallenberg
Foundation. Since then we have attracted
external funding from the European
commission, the Swedish Research Council,
and from pharmaceutical industry. We are
active in several national and international
research networks, in two research platforms
within the Faculty of Science, and two research
Centres at GU. In Sweden only Uppsala
University and the University of Gothenburg
have divisions in medicinal chemistry. At the
completion of the current recruitment of a
Senior Lecturer in computational chemistry we
will have all necessary competence and the
critical mass that is representative for
nationally strong and internationally
competitive research in medicinal chemistry.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
21
4.3.2 Analytical chemistry: methods for single cell analysis
Faculty: Andrew Ewing.
Background.
As the population gets older and diseases of
aging becomes more prevalent, understanding
the science of the brain will increasingly
contribute to major issues in health-care.
Developing new technologies in chemical
analysis will be a critical aspect of any strategy
to meet the needs of the twenty-first century.
One frontier area regarding health care and
biology is the development of analytical
methods to investigate the chemistry of brain
cells.
Project Description:
The Ewing analytical chemistry group
develops chemical techniques to measure
neurotransmitters, metabolites, and structural
molecules like membrane lipids both
dynamically and statically at single cells.
Three different analytical methods are
developed and used - capillary electrophoresis,
electrochemistry, and mass spectrometry
imaging. Specific goals include understanding
exocytosis and disease, analysis methods to
develop an artificial model of Parkinson’s
disease, development of high-throughput
methods to analyze the content of nanometer
transmitter vesicles, and analysis of lipid
domains in cells and their function.
Achievements:
Ewing has pioneered small-volume chemical
analysis and measurements at single cells.
Methods have been developed to carry out
electrochemistry in single cells, single cell
analysis by capillary electrophoresis,
amperometric measurements of exocytosis at
Pheochomocytoma (PC12) cells; and the first
zeptomole analysis in this area. In the last
decade, methods from this group have been
used to make the startling discovery that
transmitter vesicles increase and decrease in
volume to maintain concentration homeostasis
[Colliver et al., J. Neurosci. 20:5276(2000)];
develop an artificial cell system using
liposomes and lipid nanotubes to mimic
exocytosis [Cans et al., PNAS 100:400 (2003)]
and an artificial synapse [Cans et al., Analyt.
Chem. 75:4168 (2003)]; and pioneer the use of
small-volume analytical methods for analysis
of molecules in the brain of the fruit fly,
Drosophila melanogaster [Ream et al., Analyt.
Chem. 75:3972 (2003), Powell et al., Analyt.
Chem. 77:6902 (2005), Makos et al., Analyt
Chem. 81:1848 (2009), ACS Chem. Neuro.
1:74 (2010)]. Novel analytical approaches have
been developed for electrochemical imaging of
single cells [Zhang et al., Analyt, Chem.
80:1394 (2008)] as well as new strategies to
separate individual nanometer vesicles from
cells and quantify their contents [Omiatek et
al., Analyt, Chem. 81:2294 (2009), ACS
Chem Neuro. 1:234 (2010)]. In another area,
chemical imaging with nanometer spatial
resolution mass spectrometry imaging at the
submicrometer level has been used to
understand domains in cell membranes
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
22
[Ostrowski et al., Science 305:71 (2004),
Kurczy et al., PNAS 107:2751 (2010)].
International Standing:
Ewing has received a great deal of recognition
for his work on single cells. One publication in
Science on mass spectrometry imaging in 2004
has already been cited 113 times. Ewing’s
work has been cited 9336 times, 26 papers
have been cited over 100 times, Ewing’s H-
index is 53 of 215 published papers. In the last
decade Ewing has been invited to present his
work at 120 international meetings and
universities. During 2010 Ewing will present
three major lectures at International Meetings:
a Plenary Lecture at the International
Conference on Electroanalysis (ESEAC) in
Gijon, Spain; the International Society for
Electrochemistry meeting in Nice, France; and
a Keynote Lecture at the In Vivo Methods of
Analysis meeting in Brussels, Belgium. He has
won several high profile awards including in
2006 the Eastern Analytical Symposium
Award for Advances in the Fields of
Analytical Chemistry, and the Analytical
Division of the ACS Award for Chemical
Instrumentation
Figure 4: Analytical methods under development include small electrochemical probes of neurotransmitter
molecules, capillary electrophoretic separations of samples from transmitters in fly brains to vesicles, imaging
transmitter release with optical methods, and mass spectrometry imaging with secondary ion mass spectrometry
for use in work ranging from fundamental neuroscience to molecular mechanisms of disease.
RED 10 E
4.3.3 Medynamic
Faculty:
Richard N
Backgrou
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RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
25
4.3.4 Marine Polar Research
Faculty: Katarina Abrahamsson, Leif
Anderson, Melissa Chierici, Per Hall, Stefan
Hulth, David Turner.
Background
Climate change is one of the largest challenges
for society that we have to consider for future
progress. Actions taken today have to be based
upon the best possible projections, which in
turn must consider the fully coupled climate
system. The region where climate change is
first manifested is at high latitudes, notably the
Arctic, with its high potential impact on
biogeochemical processes and feedbacks to the
global climate system.
Ever since the 1980 expedition on the Swedish
icebreaker Ymer (YMER-80) to the arctic
waters surrounding Svalbard, scientists at the
Department of Chemistry have been actively
involved in marine polar research. Research
has focused mainly on the Arctic Ocean, but
has also included expeditions to the Southern
Ocean. A wide range of topics have been
addressed, for example the carbon cycle in
water column and benthic environments,
speciation and concentrations of trace metals,
tracer oceanography, and volatile organo-
halogens (VOH).
Project description
Our research aims to assess feedbacks between
environmental change and key biogeochemical
processes in the ocean, with particular focus on
the exchange of radiative gases across the air-
sea boundary. Important aspects include how
the change in summer sea ice coverage will
affect the air-sea flux of CO2 and VOHs. This
couples to the physical mixing and biological
activity in the ice-free surface water.
Furthermore, with less summer sea ice
coverage more sea ice will be produced during
the winter season. Formation of sea ice during
winter is a key variable for brine production,
promoting ocean ventilation, and processes
within the sea ice, such as frost flower
production. These latter topics both relate to
the exchange of CO2 and VOHs with the
atmosphere.
Other aspects of our research focus on the
coupling between the thawing of permafrost,
both on land and in the sea floor, and organic
matter degradation. Thawing of permafrost
exposes more organic matter, thus promoting
organic matter degradation that result in
increased seawater pCO2. Thawing of the sea
floor permafrost can also lead to a significant
mobilization of gas-hydrates, including
methane.
Achievements
For 30 years we have used state-of-the-art
instrumentation, often developed at the
Department, to study the biogeochemical
characteristics of the Arctic Ocean. These
investigations require knowledge of the
physical conditions of the surface water that
interacts with the sea ice and the atmosphere
[Rudels et al., J. Geophys. Res., 101:8807
(1996)].
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
26
We were the first to make a carbon budget of
the Arctic Ocean, quantifying in and out fluxes
with surrounding seas, input by river runoff
and uptake from the atmosphere [Anderson et
al., Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 12:455
(1998]. Through studies in Storfjorden, we
showed how sea ice production promotes air-
sea exchange, exemplified by an enhanced
uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide
[Anderson et al., J. Geophys. Res. 109:C01016
(2004)]. We were also the first to report how
terrestrial organic matter added to the shelf
seas gives rise to out-gassing of CO2 to the
atmosphere, even in the summer when marine
primary production is active [Anderson et al.,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 36:L20601 (2009)].
Figure 7: Map of the Arctic Ocean north of Russia
illustrating the partial pressure of CO2 in the surface
water in August 2008. Atmospheric partial pressure
of pCO2 was about 290 µatm, showing that most
parts west of 160oE promoted a flux from the ocean
to the atmosphere.
In the early 1980s we demonstrated the natural
production of VOHs in the Svalbard area,
suggesting that these ozone depleting
substances are produced, to a large extent, by
organisms in marine environments [Dyrssen
and Fogelqvist, Oceanol. Acta 4:313 (1981)].
Studies during recent years have allowed us to
quantify VOHs production in sea ice and snow,
and have shown the importance of these
environments for the natural production of
brominated and iodinated compounds
[Abrahamsson et al., manuscript].
National and international standing:
Our marine polar research has, for many years,
provided a leading platform in Swedish polar
research. A leading role is substantiated by the
publication and grant records (including EU
projects ESOP, TRACTOR, CarboOcean,
Damocles, EPOCA, Table 4), as well as the
assignments as chief scientists on research
cruises to the Arctic (Anderson 1991, and
2002) and Southern Oceans (Anderson
1988/89, Turner 1997/98, and Abrahamsson
2008/09). These cruises have been performed
jointly within international collaborations, for
example as multi-ship expeditions together
with German and US research vessels, or by
collaborated studies on a single ship. A high
national standing is also reflected in the fact
that Anderson is an elected fellow of the
Swedish Royal Academy of Science (KVA).
A high standing on the international arena is
supported by frequent invitations to participate
in joint collaborations on ships from other
countries, to give plenary presentations at
international meetings and conferences, and to
participate in the scientific advisory boards of
world leading research institutes (Anderson
AWI and Turner IFM-GEOMAR)
Russia
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
27
4.3.5 Selective and sustainable catalysis
Faculty: Per-Ola Norrby
Background
One of the most challenging tasks facing
humanity is to create a sustainable society. We
must be able to create required products
without depleting natural resources or
damaging the environment. Catalysis can play
a very important part in this process as
catalysts can facilitate and direct chemical
reactions without being consumed. It is
therefore necessary to constantly develop new
catalytic systems that can utilize renewable
resources and produce only a minimum of
waste. We do not yet have the ability to create
a new catalytic system from scratch but, by
coupling catalyst development to detailed
mechanistic studies, we can increase our
knowledge of catalyst behaviour, influencing
future design and improving existing catalysts.
Project description
The catalysis group utilizes a unique
combination of experimental and theoretical
methods to elucidate reaction mechanisms and
improve catalyst performance. The basis for
each investigation is experimental studies of
reaction selectivity and kinetics, from
competition studies and monitoring using
standard chromatographic and spectroscopic
techniques. These types of measurements are
both performed within the group and through
collaboration. Hypotheses based on the
experimental observations are tested using
state of the art computational methods, mostly
DFT with continuum and/or explicit
representation of the solvent, sometimes
augmented by highly correlated ab initio
studies on model systems. There is a strong
and continuous cross-validation between the
two disciplines. Theoretical conclusions are
rapidly tested in the lab, and experimental data
is used both to validate the theoretical methods
and suggest new avenues for modelling. The
combined experimental and computational
expertise in the group allows for an unusually
close interaction between the two fairly diverse
disciplines.
Figure 8: Conformational searching on (η3-allyl)Pd
complexes with the standard Trost Modular Ligand
identified a hydrogen bond donor that can bind to
incoming nucleophiles and thereby rationalize the
observed excellent selectivity in asymmetric
alkylation. [Butts et al., J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 131:9945 (2009)]
Achievements
Norrby has made significant contributions in
several areas, including improvement and
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
28
development of catalytic systems, revision of
mechanistic understanding, and models for
prediction of catalytic selectivity. Our
investigations of iron-catalyzed C–N couplings
(in collaboration with the Bolm group in
Aachen) revealed that the real catalyst is a
hyperactive copper species, orders of
magnitude more efficient than previously
reported of similar system [Larsson et al.,
Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 48:5691 (2009)]. The
corresponding C–C coupling is catalyzed by
iron, but in a rare +I oxidation state [Kleimark
et al., ChemCatChem 1:152 (2009)]. For the
well-established Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation
using the Trost modular ligand, our recent
investigations have overturned the established
belief and identified a new selectivity model
[Butts et al., JACS 131:9945 (2009)].
Norrby is also very active in developing rapid
and accurate force field models for prediction
of stereo-selectivity in asymmetric catalysis.
For a decade, the in-house Q2MM program has
been the most accurate method known for this
task, as demonstrated by numerous
applications to stereo-selective reactions. The
predictive power has recently been taken to
new levels in collaboration with the Wiest and
Helquist groups at Notre Dame University
[Donoghue et al., JACS 2009, 131, 410
(2009)]. The current model, implemented for
the industrially important asymmetric
hydrogenation, is accurate and rapid enough to
challenge high throughput screening methods
for selection and design of catalysts.
International standing
Norrby is well recognized internationally, with
approximately 350 citations yearly. He is a
frequently requested lecturer, who also
receives many offers of collaboration. The
latter is evidenced by the fact that he has
published with more than 220 co-authors.
Norrby has a rare background mixing
experience of both organic synthesis and
theoretical chemistry, and is a leading
authority on application of quantum chemical
methods to reactions in solution. He is also
internationally recognized as one of the leaders
in development and application of force field
technology for accurate yet rapid calculations
on metal systems.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
29
4.3.6 Colloidal gels: attraction-driven glasses
Faculty: Johan Bergenholtz
Background:
Amorphous solid structures, such as gels, are
often encountered in colloidal and other soft
matter systems. A cursory survey of the
literature on colloids, a field that bridges
chemistry, biology and physics, rapidly
establishes not only the ubiquity of such
structures, but also the apparent lack of
knowledge concerning how to, control, induce
and manipulate them rationally. A decade ago
we discovered that colloidal particle gels may
be described as a new kind of colloidal glass,
which has fuelled optimism towards reaching
new levels in tuning the properties of
disordered materials and in reaching a deeper
understanding of glass and gel transitions.
Project description:
Work on simple, well-characterized model
systems points towards colloidal gels being
driven by short-range attractions among
particles. For sufficiently strong attractions,
effective 'bonds' among particles are created,
which may cause long-range particle motion to
arrest at a gel transition in a similar manner as
at a glass transition, despite being significantly
reversible individually. As this scenario goes
to the root cause of colloidal gelation, it has
created a new avenue of research now pursued
by numerous groups internationally.
Recognizing colloidal gels as attraction-driven
glasses has potential for impact in a wide range
of technologically important fields, including
ceramics and sol-gel processing, colloidal
crystal array fabrication, globular protein
crystallization methodology, and dispersion
rheology. The challenge lies in broaching these
areas.
Figure 9: Phase diagram of hard-sphere particles
with non-adsorbing polymer from Pham et al.,
Science 296:104 (2002). The cage structures of a
repulsion-dominated glass (glass I) are disrupted by
weak attractions, as regulated by added polymer,
liberating particles and allowing for equilibration
into a colloidal crystal. Somewhat stronger
attractions arrest the dynamics through long-lived
‘bonds’ at a reentrant glass transition (glass II).
A stepping-stone in this enterprise is
demonstrating the universal nature of the
phenomenon and bringing our understanding
of colloidal gelation a significant step closer to
encompassing systems of greater complexity.
To this end, the gelling behaviour of a range of
systems such as polymer-grafted spheres and
water glass, colloidal silica dispersions, and
solutions of block copolymers, is currently
under study within the project.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
30
Achievements:
The milestones marking the development of
this project include: i) producing a microscopic
theory of colloidal gel transitions that
potentially gathers a number of seemingly
disparate phenomena, such as aggregation, gel
and glass formation, within the same
interpretative framework; ii) demonstrating
through experiment and computer simulation
that a new, second glass transition triggered by
attractions appears in concentrated sphere
dispersions in agreement with predictions of
the theory; and iii) showing that aqueous
dispersions of polymer-grafted particles are
suitable model systems for studies of glass and
gel transitions.
National and international standing:
The progress of this project has been reported
on in three invited keynote lectures at large
international conferences and in seminars at
well-known academic institutions, such as
Harvard University. The top five, most-cited
papers of the project have collectively received
in excess of 700 citations [Pham et al., Science
296:104 (2002); Bergenholtz & Fuchs, Phys.
Rev. E59:5706 (1999); Bergenholtz et al.,
Langmuir 19:4493 (2003); Bergenholtz et al. J.
Phys. Condens. Matter 12:6575 (2000);
Bergenholtz & Fuchs, J. Phys. Condens.
Matter 11:10171 (1999)].
On the national arena, Bergenholtz received a
prestigious 5-year research fellowship with
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(KVA) in 2003. He has served four years on
review panels of the Swedish Research
Council, has been co-opted on two occasions
to the Liquids Board of the European Physical
Society, and was one of the key organizers of
the 7th Liquid Matter Conference. He was
awarded a share of the Akzo-Nobel Nordic
Surface Chemistry Prize in 2000. Bergenholtz
is currently detached to AstraZeneca R&D
(16% of a full-time position) as an adjunct
scientist, illustrating how his expertise is also
recognized within industry.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
31
4.3.7 Actions needed to ensure successful development
Although all activities across the Department
would benefit from additional resources, the
resources available to the Department are
limited. To handle issues of strategic
appointments and the use of limited resources,
the Department has formed the Research
Council (Section 4.1.1). Further discussion on
strategic planning and vision of the
Department is described in section 4.4.
The six projects selected to illustrate strong
research activities at the department are at
different stages of development. This in part
determines the mode and characteristics of
actions required to ensure a successful future
development of the Department.
Medicinal Chemistry. The major action taken
to ensure the successful development of this
activity is the recent advertisement of an
Associate Professorship in computational
chemistry associated with the Medicinal
Chemistry group, which should be filled in
2010. This will simultaneously cure the too
large teaching obligation presently experienced
in the group. The Department has planned for
renewal of old equipment (NMR), which is
essential for medicinal chemistry research. The
group attracts external funding from research
agencies (VR, the Wenner-Gren Foundation)
and pharmaceutical industry (AstraZeneca) and
no additional action is immediately required.
Analytical chemistry: methods for single cell
analysis. The actions required are described in
section 4.4
Membrane protein structure and dynamics.
Within Biochemistry, two new faculty (Katona
and Törnroth-Horsefield) have, in effect, been
appointed when the Department accepted that
their Senior Research positions (VR
Rådsforskare), funded by the Swedish
Research Council for six years from 2010, be
placed with us (per year there are less than ten
such positions to share between all fields of
science in all of Sweden). The Faculty of
Science provided extra funding on the
appointment of Neutze in 2006, which soon
runs out. Further, Neutze has a Senior
Research position from the Swedish Research
council (rådsforskare), which runs out next
year. The Department will compensate part of
this, and considering that the biochemistry
group attracts substantial external funding we
expect that the transition will be smooth. Soon
expensive maintenance of equipment will have
to be discussed, but at present no particular
action is needed to ensure the successful
development in this line of research.
Polar marine chemistry is a mature and well
established research direction with a high
degree of national and international
recognition. The scientists have good access to
and experience high success to attract external
funding. The marine environment (Havsmiljö)
is one of eight prioritized areas by the
University, whereby support for infrastructure
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
32
is facilitated, e.g. by the Sven Lovén Centre for
marine infrastructure. The continued success in
polar marine chemistry is supported by, but not
dependent on, the availability to perform
research cruises on the Swedish icebreaker
Oden. Further, there is coupling between
marine chemistry and atmospheric chemistry
under the umbrella of reaction and transport
modelling. We have initiated recruitment of a
new professor with focus on chemical
modelling of atmospheric processes, which
will further strengthen the cooperation between
these research directions and thereby also
support a successful development for polar
research in a broader sense. We see no
immediate need for action in the polar marine
chemistry research area.
Selective and sustainable catalysis. In this area
action may be required. Norrby runs an active
group but his start-up funding soon runs out
and other funding must be found. Funding
provided by the Swedish Research Council is
not enough to maintain a research group. For
this line of research, EU-funding is the best
complement and Norrby is just now beginning
to receive such grants. At present we believe
such funding will secure his financial setting.
The Department will this year also review its
overall teaching load and its distribution
among staff as presently there is a risk of too
large assignments, particularly for our teachers
with an organic chemistry profile. Several
researchers within the Department, and Norrby
in particular (related to many external
collaborations and a large teaching
assignment), would be helped by a secretary of
research with expertise in grant applications.
The University has recently advertised such
positions and we expect that this will provide
the help required in this respect. Otherwise the
Department will make its own arrangement for
this purpose. No action is required at present,
but the Department follows the development
and is prepared to act.
Colloidal gels: attraction driven glasses. In
this area some precaution is required. The
unique success of combining state-of-the-art
experimental and theoretical work is attributed
to Bergenholtz himself. The experimental
setting is excellent. Bergenholtz has his own
unique custom-built instruments and he also
shares equipment with other groups in the
Department and at Chalmers. The theoretical
side also provides a rich statistical mechanics
environment. Here the Department needs to
plan for the future as two retirements in this
area are coming up. Further, recruitment of
experimentally inclined doctoral students is
highly competitive. Bergenholtz has so far
been well supported financially both by
platform and other strategic funding from the
Faculty of Science, national research schools
and the Swedish Research Council. Except for
the latter, these ways of funding now cease and
other avenues must be explored, where
European Union networks appear to be a
plausible road. Further, continued and
increased internal collaboration with Ahlberg
and Hassellöv are also ways to pool resources.
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
33
4.4 Description of most promising research areas, research directions and Centres
4.4.1 Vision
Chemistry clearly has an important role to play
in addressing several major issues in the world
today including the environment, health care,
energy, materials and food supply. The
Department of Chemistry has two main
products: the students educated to be the new
leaders in the scientific community, and the
new scientific knowledge produced through
research and discovery. Our reputation within
the scientific community and the broader
public is our greatest assets, which we must
constantly strive to strengthen.
Our vision is to raise the profile and esteem of
our research within academia, industry and
society. We feel that it is critically important
that top-notch new scientists and high-quality
new fundamental science are produced in
chemistry to meet the issues of society today
and in the future. To fulfil our vision we need
to use limited resources optimally and this
relies upon three key strategic pillars:
• The single most important aspect is
recruitment and creating conditions such that
newly recruited faculty are given the best
possible conditions for success. We believe
that a leading national position that creates
high international esteem for the Department
can largely be obtained by housing half a
dozen (or more) top researchers. The
Department is certainly heading in this
direction and it may be noted that our three
most recent strategic recruitments (Ewing,
Neutze, Norrby) have all quickly established
successful research groups (Section 4.3).
• Building a respected international reputation
will create a positive spiral, inspiring others in
the Department and helping attract younger
researchers. This requires that experienced and
well-recognized scientists are willing to serve
as role models and mentors. Such mentorship
builds confidence and creates a stimulating
research environment where mutual trust and
social interactions are characteristics.
• Professional leadership is essential for the
department to thrive. In addition to the tools
put in place to achieve leadership across the
Department (Figure 1, Section 4.1.1) it is
crucial for the environment that a culture of
respect and teamwork is pervasive.
Internationally respected researchers cannot be
creative if they are overwhelmed with tasks
outside of research. We recognise that
everybody’s contribution is essential for the
success of the Department, and numerous less
visible roles must be performed with
enthusiasm for the Department to function. We
will constantly review our practices to
maximize time available for research and
teaching to all academic staff, while
minimising other tasks.
4.4.2 Strategic planning
The most important tools available to the
Department are new recruitments, mentoring
of younger scientists, and thoughtful
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
34
distribution of duties. In deciding future
research areas we must balance the need to
create new research areas not covered within
the Department by external recruitment,
against the benefits of using resources to
promote existing areas that are particularly
promising or of fundamental importance.
This balance is not always easy to achieve and
the task is not simplified when the principles
employed by the Faculty of Science to
distribute funds to Departments change. For
example, just a few years ago this caused
havoc within the Department of Chemistry and
placed 8 professors in negotiations to leave in
order to cut costs. New policy changes decided
last year again drastically alter the funding
situation, encouraging increasing the number
of tenured academic faculty rather than
improving conditions for faculty already
employed. To counteract negative
consequences of swift changes in faculty
funding models we have sought to maintain a
positive capital of at least 10% of the annual
turn-over.
4.4.3 Recruitment & renewal
In order to establish a new research area the
Department must attract major external
support, which takes time and planning. It is a
goal of our recently established Research
Council to identify such areas. New areas must
be chosen with care so as to strengthen already
existing areas by partial overlap and
collaboration. It is our belief that we may be
able to establish one such new area of research
approximately every five years. A further task
of the Research Council will be to consider
which action to take when professors retire:
whether to renew that field of research or strike
out in a new direction. Professors retire from
the Department roughly once a year, reflecting
that we do have a balanced age structure in the
Department.
Strategic planning is particularly important
given that, in Sweden, mobility after tenure is
low. Thus, to ensure vitality and renewal of
ideas within the Department, we look to recruit
people with an external background like a PhD
degree from other universities already at
research associate level. The Swedish Research
Council funds a number of research associate
positions each year based upon scientific
excellence. Attracting young researchers with
such funding is thus a good basis for recruiting
excellent scientists. A possible drawback is
that, to some extent, this limits the control that
the Department has regarding directions that
the research takes.
Of immediate concern is to make the most of
the potential areas for success that we already
harbour within the Department. We have
several young researchers who could develop
real strength given the right circumstances. We
have a policy to support each assistant
professor (forskarassistent) with a doctoral
student as a start-up grant.
Recruitments and other actions taken by us
influence the department of Chemistry at
Chalmers, and vice versa. In a meeting on May
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3, 2010, between representatives for our own
Department and the Department of Chemistry
at Chalmers, the vice-rector at Chalmers and
our Dean at the Faculty of Science, it was
decided to investigate the possibilities of
forming a joint entity between the two
chemistry departments. In the mean time we
plan to coordinate upcoming recruitments and
jointly plan for renewal of infrastructure. With
coordinated recruitment we can optimize the
situation to get the best result for both parties,
for instance by recruiting complementary
research expertise. In effect this is a way to
pool our resources to the benefit of both
departments.
4.4.4 Promising research
In the following section, four particularly
promising areas of research are highlighted:
dermatochemistry and our newly formed Skin
Research Centre; analytical chemistry,
biochemistry and environmental chemistry.
Dermatochemistry
The Dermatochemistry group is the base for
the Skin Research Centre in Gothenburg,
which was established in December 2009. This
research centre links research at the
Department of Chemistry, Physics, the Faculty
of Medicine and Chalmers University of
Technology. This unique interdisciplinary
setting that we have now established sets an
example and the background to how it was
achieved is worth briefly highlighting.
The story begins with the recruitment of a
professor in medicinal chemistry (Luthman)
with expertise in organic synthesis. This
attracted Professor Ann-Therese Karlberg, who
had training in pharmacy and analytic
chemistry but saw a need for organic synthesis
expertise in her research, to move from
Stockholm to Gothenburg. In 2002 Karlberg
joined the research environment at the
Department of Chemistry. Once she had
established a research group in our Department
her background and earlier position at
Karolinska Institutet meant that it was
relatively easy for her to make connections to
the faculty of medicine in Gothenburg
(Sahlgrenska Akademien). A true collaboration
ensued and was supported by strategic funding
from the Faculty of Science in the form of a
so-called platform, Göteborg Science Centre
for Molecular Skin Research, which started in
2006. In 2008 an international evaluation of
the newly started platform wrote: “Their
achievements are a credit to their country, as
well as the entire world.” This centre is today
one of the major centres in Europe for research
on the interaction between skin and
xenobiotics on a molecular level.
The field of dermatochemistry is new and
internationally unique. The scientific
achievements obtained in this field are world
leading with high impact on research, clinical
diagnosis, and preventive work within industry
and society. It should also be pointed out that
the research performed within the
dermatochemistry group with regard to basic
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
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chemistry is of highest international class
being world leading in the field of radical
chemistry with focus on reactivity,
identification, and decomposition of terpene
hydroperoxides. Dermatochemistry is therefore
an area that the Department wishes to see
expand. In addition, strength in this field is
vital for the molecular understanding of skin
allergy and the work in the Skin Research
Centre in Gothenburg. Here we, however,
have a number of obstacles to tackle and
strategic planning is vital as Professor Karlberg
retires within the next two to four years. It is
thus essential to replace her and the work to do
this has been initiated.
As part of Karlberg´s move to Gothenburg, the
government arranged for a yearly transfer, for
indefinite time, of a major sum of money to the
Faculty of Science at the University of
Gothenburg. This money has been funnelled to
the Department of Chemistry, where it has
been set aside for Karlberg´s research activities
in dermatochemistry. Late last year the Faculty
of Science, however, decided to phase out this
funding completely over a period of three
years and we need to replace those funds. To
maintain the strong research environment, the
Dean of the Faculty of Science recently agreed
to invest strategic money in recruiting a
replacement for Karlberg.
Analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry with focus on single cell
analyses is a field that we expect to see grow in
the Department. We have just recruited an
internationally highly esteemed professor
(Andrew Ewing) in this area (see 4.3.2). He
has been with us as a prestigious Marie Curie
Chair guest professor (EU supported with 7
MSEK) and will soon become a regular faculty
member. This new line of research brings us
not only to the forefront nationally, but brings
also international recognition at the highest
level.
To set up a new research direction of this kind
requires substantial investment in
infrastructure and personnel. The Department
does not have all the necessary funds directly
available and primarily attempts to solve this
by supporting our new professor in finding the
ways through the funding systems within the
University, nationally and on the European
level. Through applications to the Wallenberg
foundation, European Research Council and
strategic support from the Faculty of Science,
we expect that within a year, excellent
conditions for the research in bioanalytical
chemistry will be established.
Our planning for this field’s development in
Gothenburg also involves monitoring the
situation with regard to young promising
researchers in the area and to be prepared to
expand in this direction. Further, a position in
analytical chemistry is advertised at Chalmers,
which can increase opportunities for
collaborations in research and instrumentation.
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, with focus on structure and
function of membrane proteins, is another
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example where we expect that the Department
will contribute substantially and gain a rapidly
growing reputation (see 4.3.3). This research is
represented by a steadily growing group of
young researchers attracted to us through a
recently recruited professor of biochemistry
(Richard Neutze, appointed 2006). As
mentioned in 4.3.3 and 4.3.7, two young
researchers have just received Senior Research
positions from the Swedish Research Council
(rådsforskare) and another one just obtained a
position as assistant professor
(forskarassistent), again from the Swedish
Research Council. These developments lay
solid foundations for an even stronger research
environment long into the future, winning new
respect and recognition not only for the
Department of Chemistry, but also for the
Faculty of Science and the University of
Gothenburg. At present we see no obstacles.
Environmental chemistry
Environmental chemistry is a most promising
area where we expect to see a fast
development. The Environmental nanoscience
group has just received a major grant (25
MSEK) specifically due to, but also aimed at,
the creation of a strong research environment
with collaboration within and between
faculties. This combined with intense internal
collaborations (Hassellöv, Ahlberg,
Bergenholtz, Abbas, Nordholm) is highly
promising.
The environmental nanoscience group has its
roots in marine chemistry and by increasing
their ties to the atmospheric science group we
can build a very strong environmental
chemistry constellation. With this in mind a
professor will be recruited with focus on
secondary aerosol or chemical transport
modelling, which will strengthen both marine
and atmospheric chemistry. This initiative is
supported by governmental strategic money
obtained by the Department through MERGE
(ModElling the Regional and Global Earth
system) and additional funding from the vice-
chancellor.
4.4.5 Future planning
It is a clear policy of the Department to favour
external recruitment and to pick areas
overlapping with those where we currently
have strength. Recruitments will only be
completed if we are convinced that the right
person has been found, otherwise the
recruitment will be aborted and reconsidered.
One task of the Research Council (Figure 1) is
to identify future areas of research and good
candidates when recruiting. A recent
proposition by the government opens the way
for more flexibility in the academic
recruitment process. If this happens the
Departmental motto will be “we never have
empty positions, but always look for good
people”, meaning that we are prepared to
recruit when good opportunities arise in the
right areas. Two examples follow.
Classical mechanics is well developed and fast
on computers, but it is inadequate in the
quantum regime. Harsh restrictions regarding
RED 10 Evaluation Department of Chemistry
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what quantum dynamics can achieve arise due
to computational complexity, restricting
progress in this area. The way forward may be
found in the interface between these areas.
Within this area there are excellent non-
tenured young scientists within the
Department. The Department has therefore
acted to establish a Senior Research position
(rådsforskare) at the Swedish Research
Council covering this area. In addition a Senior
lectureship will shortly be advertised in
Physical Chemistry, which would invite both
experimentally and theoretically inclined
applicants although the details are to be
decided.
Another example of how we work to ensure
that our best young researchers can remain and
develop in Gothenburg concerns the research
area halogen bonding in solution. This field
bridges our already established research in
organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry. In
this area we have a non-tenured young
scientist, Mate Erdelyi, on a research associate
position from the Swedish Research Council,
who has applied for a highly prestigious ERC
grant, which the Department supports
economically to enhance the chances for great
dividends. Considering that the applicant has
made the short-list, the Department intends to
act further if required to promote the future of
Mate Erdelyi within the Department.
Similarly we will consider other areas where
we can expect excellent applicants and
proactively work to establish externally funded
positions in such areas and select the persons
on scientific excellence. If external funding is
not obtained, the Department intends to
consider if it sometimes would be possible and
worthwhile to establish similar conditions as
for rådsforskare but with internal money.
4.4.6 General remarks
It is obvious that if we are to successfully carry
out our strategies, we depend on obtaining
substantial external support. However, this can
often be facilitated with a small amount of seed
money. Therefore, an economy in balance is a
prerequisite. An economy out of balance is a
weakness to any Department as it often means
missed opportunities and unnecessarily harsh
measures to cure the problem.
As mentioned above, it is a policy of the
Department to have a balanced capital
corresponding to 10% of the yearly turnover.
We would in fact like to have the possibility to
temporarily build up substantially larger
capital to allow us to act quickly when there
are opportunities to grasp and counteract
fluctuations in external funding, or if swift
changes in funding from the Faculty of Science
or external grants occur. As part of our
strategic planning we there act to confer these
ideas to higher levels within the University and
to move more of the resources out to
Department level, which should be of a size
that strategic decisions can be made at
Departmental level and thus not have to be
slowed down by the need to act through the
higher levels within the University.
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4.5 Description of Departmental strategy for societal influence and interaction
The most obvious strategy of the Department
for societal influence and interaction is the
formation of our Innovation Council (IC) in
January 2010. Particular objectives of the IC
are to initiate and coordinate our efforts for
societal influence and interaction. To secure
that these objectives develop in the desired
direction, in appropriate collaboration with
stakeholders, so that feedback is given and
explored, the chairs of the Research, Education
and Innovation councils meet weekly. The IC
has ten members who together represent the
Department of Chemistry
(teachers/researchers, PhD students and
undergraduates), Upper secondary school
(senior high school), industry and also
Universeum, which is the prime hands-on
science “museum” in Gothenburg.
To reach its objectives, tasks for the IC include
visualizing and popularizing the Department,
provision of further education for
schoolteachers and coordinating contacts with
industry, which in the end also should improve
recruitment of students to our courses. Within
the IC, or tightly connected to it, there are
special representatives for the contacts with
school and with alumni (as well as for
internationalization issues). The IC is our
contact point for the International Year of
Chemistry, IYC 2011
(http://www.chemistry2011.org/), the
interaction between teachers and industry in
MATENA (http://www.matena.se/), the
Gothenburg Science festival and interactions
with students at senior high school. The IC
organized and hosted the 2010 European
Union Science Olympiad. Many of the
activities mentioned have been going on
successfully for a long time already, often as
spontaneous and random initiatives from
individual enthusiastic teachers. The IC brings
structure, visibility and increased effectiveness
to these efforts.
The Department encourages collaboration with
industry in research fields of interest for both
parts. Researchers from the Department
collaborate with industry by 5 joint industrial
PhD projects (Astra Zeneca, Astra Tech and
EKA Chemicals), and by working part time in
the industry (Astra Zeneca and Astra Tech).
The latter activity reciprocates the important
participation of industrial researchers, as
adjunct professors, in teaching and research in
the Department.
The number of adjunct professors at the
Department is presently four and it is our
intention to increase this number. Their
participation in PhD supervision and in
undergraduate teaching provides close contact
with presumptive employers.
The contribution of industry to the Department
activities has long been acknowledged by
having two research-based industries
represented on the board. In this way we get
feedback on many issues, like what qualities
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industry hopes to find in our graduates and
PhD students.
Other important out-reach activities aim to
visualize the Department and to increase
participation on the web and interaction with
media. Examples include the Arctis blogg,
which is maintained by our researchers who
presently are in the Arctic, and reporting on the
Departments participation in the
Environmental meeting in Copenhagen 2009.
For the long-term sustainability of Chemistry
as a subject it is essential that children have
good experience of science in school. A major
grant (12 MSEK) from the Wallenberg
Foundation allows Professor Nordholm to
enhance the interaction between university and
senior high school teachers in chemistry
(Kemilektorslänken, “The Chemistry lecturer
link”) under the auspices of the Royal
Academy of Sciences through the National
committee for chemistry. The main idea is to
allow lecturers at senior high school to use half
of their time for interaction with university and
industry.
A final strategy is to encourage faculty
members to enroll in particularly important
assignments that have large impact on society.
As an example, xenobiotics causing skin
allergy affects 20% of the European
population. The dermatochemistry group are
world leading in this research area and they are
enrolled scientific experts in the EU legislative
work. Professor Karlberg regularly interacts
with clinicians, industry researchers, people
involved in regulatory work, and patient
organisations. Another example is Martin
Hassellövs expert opinions to several
government reports on Nanotechnology and
risk.
One problem that the Department experiences
with its out-reach activities concerns the close
relation to Chalmers. Most of the Department
is physically located at campus Johanneberg,
which is mainly inhabited by Chalmers. This
means that visitors by mistake often credit our
activities and their effects to Chalmers.
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4.6 List of most important publications
Publications are listed according to year of
publication. Department employee in bold.
1. Larsson P.-F., Correa A., Carril M.,
Norrby P-O, and Bolm C. (2009) Copper-
Catalyzed Cross-Couplings with Part-per-
Million Catalyst Loadings. Angew. Chem. Int.
Ed., 48: 5691-5693. Times cited: 11.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.200902236
Motivation: A recent example of a
collaborative mechanistic elucidation and
reaction development, with identification of a
hyper-active catalyst for the classical Ullman
reaction.
2. Lennartson, S. Olsson, J. Sundberg, M.
Håkansson (2009) A Different Approach to
Enantioselective Organic Synthesis: Absolute
Asymmetric Synthesis of Organometallic
Reagents. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 48: 3137.
Times cited: 7.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.200806222
Motivation: This article describes proof-of-
concept for a new approach to asymmetric
synthesis. Highlighted in Synfacts 7 (2009)
761.
3. Törnroth-Horsefield S., Wang Y., Hedfalk
K., Johansson U., Karlsson M., Tajkhorshid E.,
Neutze R., Kjellbom P. (2006) Structural
mechanism of plant aquaporin gating, Nature
439: 688-94. Times cited: 126.
DOI: 10.1038/nature04316.
Motivation: This presented the X-ray structure
of both the open and closed conformation of a
plant plasma-membrane aquaporin. This was
important because it revealed the mechanism
of water regulation in plants, which underlies
plant physiology.
4. Ostrowski, S.G., VanBell, C.T., Winograd
N., Ewing A.G. (2004) Mass Spectrometric
Imaging of Highly Curved Membranes During
Tetrahymena Mating, Science, 305: 71-73.
Times cited: 110.
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/305/5680/71.
pdf.
Motivation: This was the first use of mass
spectrometry imaging at the cellular level to go
beyond proof of principle and show new
chemical information, an important structure-
function relationship in the lipid membrane.
Moreover it gave credibility to the idea that
lipid domains are important in cell function.
5. Vabeno J, Lejon T, Nielsen CU, Steffansen
B, Chen WQ, Hui OY, Borchardt RT,
Luthman K. (2004) Phe-Gly
dipeptidomimetics designed for the di-
/tripeptide transporters PEPT1 and PEPT2:
Synthesis and biological investigations.
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 47: 1060-
1069. Times Cited: 29.
DOI: 10.1021/jm031022+
Motivation: This is the first paper in a series
describing how dipeptidomimetics can be used
to target important transport proteins in the
intestinal epithelium. These mimetics have
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later been shown to be useful as carriers of
model drugs.
6. Poulsen J. A., Nyman G. and Rossky P. Y.
(2003) Practical evaluation of condensed phase
quantum correlation functions: A Feynman-
Kleinert variational linearized path integral
method, J. Chem. Phys. 119: 12179. Times
cited: 84.
DOI: 10.1063/1.1626631
Motivation: The problem of how to handle
nuclear quantum effects when modeling
liquids, by Monte Carlo (MC) or MD, is an
ever-occurring problem which computer
simulators are faced with. The paper both
motivates, derives (in the simplest way) and
implements an approximate Wigner phase-
space method which is able to include nuclear
quantum effects in MD/MC. This step forward
is important and the paper is expected to be
cited in future texts/books on computer
simulation of liquids.
7. Bergenholtz J & Fuchs M. (1999)
Nonergodicity transitions in colloidal
suspensions with attractive interactions Phys.
Rev. 59: 5706-5715. Times cited: 227.
ISSN: 1063-651X
Motivation: A low-temperature extension of
the glass transition is proposed as the cause of
gel transitions in colloidal sphere suspensions,
providing a new unifying scenario for gel
formation. The suggestion is backed up by
mode coupling theory, which is shown to agree
qualitatively with experiments.
8. Rudels, B., L.G. Anderson, and E.P. Jones
(1996) Formation and evolution of the surface
mixed layer and halocline of the Arctic Ocean,
J. Geophys. Res. 101: 8807-8821. Times cited:
97.
http://www.agu.org/journals/jc/
Motivation: This contribution was one of the
first to describe formation and evolution of the
upper waters of the Arctic Ocean. This
knowledge is fundamental to the general
understanding of the ocean’s role for the
acceleration of the Arctic Ocean sea ice
coverage loss during later years.
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4.7 List of publications which best represent innovative research activities
Publications are listed according to year of
publication. Department employee in bold.
1. Zhang B., Adams K., Luber S., Heien M.,
Ewing A. G. (2008) Spatially and Temporally
Resolved Single-Cell Exocytosis with
Individually-Addressable Carbon
Microelectrode-Arrays, Anal. Chem. 80: 1394-
1400. Times cited: 12.
pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ac702409s.
Motivation: First example of imaging dynamic
events across a cell surface with
electrochemistry. Completely new format for
imaging micrometer dynamics at single cells.
This line of research constitutes a significant
renewal of research in the Department.
2. Dahlen A., Hilmersson G. (2002)
Instantaneous SmI2-H2O-mediated reduction of
dialkyl ketones induced by amines in THF.
Tetrahedron Lett. 43: 7197-7200. Times cited:
28.
ISSN: 0040-4039
Motivation: This is the first publication
revealing a rate enhancement of more than 100
000 times for the SmI2 mediated reduction of
ketones in the presence of water and an amine.
This new reagent has appeared in a number of
publications.
3. Orekhov VY, Ibraghimov IV, Billeter M.
(2001) MUNIN: a new approach to multi-
dimensional NMR spectra interpretation. J.
Biomol. NMR. 20: 49-60. Times cited: 64.
ISSN: 0925-2738.
Motivation: The publication introduced a novel
approach, ‘multi-way decomposition’, for the
analysis of a wide variety of NMR
experiments, covering e.g. non-uniform
sampling data, experiments for 3D structure
and drug discovery applications. Although this
article concerns a narrow field (and audience),
it has been cited a total of 64 times of which 11
citations are from 2009.
4. Hassellöv M., Lyvén B., Haraldsson C.
and Sirinawin W. (1999) Determination of
Continuous Size and Trace Element
Distribution of Colloidal Material in Natural
Water by On-line Coupling of Flow Field-
Flow Fractionation with ICP-MS. Anal. Chem.
71: 3497-3502. Times cited: 66.
ISSN: 0003-2700.
Motivation: This study represents development
of a novel analytical method to analyse the
chemical composition of colloids. This work
led to the development of the Department’s
nanochemistry group and its following work
allowed 4 PhD theses to be written in our
Department (and at least 10 internationally) on
various aspects of this method and
applications. Today we are optimizing this
method for studies on manufactured
nanoparticles in the environment.
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4.8 Publications and/or other important documentation showing considerable influence on social life (Government white-papers etc)
Publications are listed according to year of
publication. Department employee in bold.
1. Tiede K, Hassellöv M, Breitbarth E,
Chaudhry Q, Boxall ABA. (2009)
Considerations for environmental fate and
ecotoxicity testing to support environmental
risk assessments for engineered nanoparticles.
J. Chromatography 1216: 503-509. Times
cited: 8.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2008.09.008
Motivation: This paper critically discusses and
gives recommendations on both theoretical and
experimental aspects of environmental risk
assessment of manufactured nanomaterials. It
was cited with a resume in Science for
Environment Policy, the European
Commission's environmental news service for
10,000 policy makers. Therefore, this paper
has potentially influenced the development of
EU environmental legislation and
management.
2. Anderson LG, Jutterström S,
Hjalmarsson S, Wåhlström I, Semiletov IP.
(2009). Out-gassing of CO2 from Siberian
Shelf Seas by terrestrial organic matter
decomposition, Geophys. Res. Lett. 36:
L20601. Times cited: 0.
DOI:10.1029/2009GL040046
Motivation: In this publication we show for the
first time how terrestrial organic matter decays
in the marine environment and results in a
significant out-gassing of CO2 to the
atmosphere. This contribution adds new and
valuable information on climate change
feedback that is one of society’s greatest
challenges for the future.
3. Hak CS, Hallquist M, Ljungström E,
Svane M, Pettersson JBC (2009) A new
approach to in-situ determination of roadside
particle emission factors of individual vehicles
under conventional driving conditions.
Atmospheric Environment: 43: 2481-2488.
Times cited: 0.
DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.01.041
Motivation: The methodology described in this
paper opens an entirely new door to
measurement of individual, size resolved
emission factors of nano-particles for single
vehicle particle emission. This information is
necessary for successful numerical modelling
of vehicle emissions. It has a potential to be
used to monitor and identify vehicles that need
maintenance to reduce nano-particle emissions.
4. Matura M, Skold M, Borje A, Andersen
KE, Bruze M, Frosch P, Goossens A, Johansen
JD, Svedman C, White IR, Karlberg A.-T.
(2005) Selected oxidized fragrance terpenes
are common contact allergens. Contact
Dermatitis. 52: 320-328. Times cited: 39.
ISSN: 0105-1873
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Motivation: This paper confirms the clinical
relevance of our experimental findings
regarding increased allergenic effect from
common consumer products due to
autoxidation. REACH regulation is based on
our experimental results. Work is in progress
to include the data in the proposal from the
Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety to
the DG Enterprise in Brussels (2009) with
regard to regulation of the labelling of
consumer products.
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4.9 Publications from 2010 or formally accepted for publication, of special importance
Publications are listed according to
alphabetical order of the first author.
Department employee in bold.
1. Johansson SGH, Emilsson K, Grotli M,
Borje A. (2010). Structural Influence on
Radical Formation and Sensitizing Capacity of
Alkylic Limonene Hydroperoxide Analogues
in Allergic Contact Dermatitis. Chemical
research in toxicology. 23: 677–688.
DOI: 10.1021/tx900433n
Motivation: This article provides a unique in
depth study showing that the structure of
hydroperoxides strongly effects the
mechanisms of the formation of immunogenic
complexes with skin proteins but has little
effect on the overall sensitizing potency of the
hydroperoxides.
2. Kurzcy M. E., Piehowski P. D., Van Bell C.
T., Heien M. L., Winograd N., Ewing A. G.
(2010) Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Mating
Tetrahymena: Changes in Cell Morphology
Regulate Lipid Domain Formation. Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. USA, 107: 2751-2756.
DOI:10.1072/pnas.0908101107.
Motivation: This paper provides definitive
evidence that lipid membrane structure is
defined by function and not predetermined. It
also combines mass spectrometry imaging with
specific biological protocols for single cell
organisms.
3. Thomas R.D., Zhaunerchyk V., Hellberg F.,
Ehlerding A., Geppert W.D., Bahati E.,
Bannister M.E., Fogle M.R., Vane C.R.,
Petrignani A., Andersson P.U., Öjekull J.,
Pettersson J.B.C., van der Zande W. J.,
Larsson M. (2010) Hot water from cold. The
dissociative recombination of water cluster
ions. J. Phys. Chem. A
DOI: 10.1021/jp9095979. Web page:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp9095979.
Motivation: Shows that excited molecules are
efficiently produced in the dissociative
recombination of the Zundel cation;
implications for plasmas and energy transport
in biomolecules. Cooperation with Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Stockholm University,
and FOM Instituut AMOLF.
4. Wöhri A.B., Katona G., Johansson L.C.,
Fritz E., Malmerberg E., Andersson M.,
Vincent J., Eklund M., Cammarata M., Wulff
M., Davidsson J., Groenhof G., Neutze R.
(2010) Laue diffraction snapshots reveal light
induced structural changes in a photosynthetic
reaction center. Science, 328: 630-633.
Motivation: This was the first example of the
method of time-resolved Laue diffraction
being successfully applied to study
conformational changes occurring at room
temperature in real-time within an integral
membrane protein complex. We observed a
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reproducible movement of a conserved
tyrosine residue which was interpreted, using
molecular dynamics simulations, as arising
from a change in protonation state of this
residue.
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4.10 Other achievements of innovative significance (introduction of new fields etc.)
The successive introduction to the Department
of new research directions (e.g. Atmospheric
science, Dermatochemistry, Environmental
Nanochemistry, Marine Chemistry and
Medicinal chemistry) or research fields within
existing research directions (colloidal gels in
Physical chemistry and single cell analysis in
Analytical Chemistry) has been described in
sections 4.1, 4.3. and 4.4.
In addition to these developments we here
highlight samarium mediated organic
synthesis, absolute asymmetric synthesis, the
use of autonomous benthic landers for in situ
seafloor studies and three patents.
Samarium mediated organic synthesis
Hilmersson and his group have made ground-
breaking studies in the area of samarium
mediated organic synthesis. The main
discovery is that additions of water and an
amine to samarium diiodide result in a unique
and very powerful reducing agent that
mediates instantaneous reduction of various
functional groups. These findings have
received significant attention in the organic
chemical community, where several articles
have been highlighted for their usefulness and
innovative character (two recent examples: T.
Ankner, G. Hilmersson, Tetrahedron, 2009,
65, 10856; T. Ankner, G. Hilmersson, Org
Lett, 2009, 11, 503).
Absolute asymmetric synthesis
Reactions that create enantiomerically enriched
products from solely achiral or racemic
precursors constitute examples of absolute
asymmetric synthesis (AAS). A new approach
developed by Håkansson and his group uses
AAS of generic organometallic reagents
yielding enantiopure crystal batches (M.
Vestergren, B. Gustafsson, Ö. Davidsson, M.
Håkansson, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2000, 39,
3435; M. Vestergren, J. Eriksson, M.
Håkansson, Chem. Eur. J., 2003, 9, 4678; A.
Lennartson, S. Olsson, J. Sundberg, M.
Håkansson, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2009, 48,
3137; A. Lennartson, M. Håkansson, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed., 2009, 48, 5869), which can be
used in inter-crystal reactions with many
different substrates to give a wide range of
organic products with potentially 100% ee
(enantiomeric excess) and yield. This AAS
approach has several advantages over
traditional methods for asymmetric synthesis:
(i) equal access to both enantiomers; (ii)
solvent-free reactions with new selectivity
attainable; (iii) easy work- and scale-up; (iv)
no need for noble metals or enantiopure
ligands; (v) good atom economy.
Autonomous benthic landers for seafloor
studies in situ
Benthic landers are observational platforms
that can be deployed on the seabed or benthic
zone to record physical, chemical or biological
activity. The landers are autonomous and have
deployment durations from a few days to
several weeks. Landers are custom-made and
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have been produced in a variety of shapes and
sizes depending upon the instrumentation they
carry, and are typically capable of working at
any ocean depth. At the Department, Professor
Hall and his group have in close collaboration
with specialized technicians, designed and
constructed two autonomous benthic landers
for in-situ multi-disciplinary investigations on
the sea-floor (A. Tengberg, H. Ståhl, V.
Muller, U. Arning, H. Andersson, POJ Hall;
Progress in Oceanography 60, 1 (2004)). One
of them is designed for full ocean depth (6000
m). The Department is the only one in Sweden,
and one of the premier ones in Europe,
operating benthic landers.
Patent applications (2004-2009):
Several discoveries of particular innovative
characteristics are covered by existing and
pending patents. Three examples are:
1. Amines and Related Compounds as UII-
modulating Compounds and Their
Preparation, Pharmaceutical Compositions,
Structure-activity Relationship and Use in the
Treatment of Diseases. K. Luthman and F.
Lehmann PCT Int. Appl. (2006), 103 pp, WO
2006135694
2. UII-modulating compounds and their use.
K. Luthman and F. Lehmann PCT Int. Appl.
(2008), 104 pp, WO 2008057543
These two patents concern the synthesis and
use of a large number of novel non-peptidic
urotensin II receptor agonists with applications
in treatment of many different disorders, e.g.
cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and kidney
diseases. Both patents include some very
active compounds (EC50-values in the low
nanomolar range) and interesting
stereochemical differences are also revealed.
3. New pyrazolopyrimidine inhibitors for
kinases, synthesis and characterization, M.
Klein, M. Morillas, A. Vendrell, P. Dinér, L.
Brive, F. Posas, and M. Grøtli Application
number: 09382085.0-2117
This patent application concerns development
of a new class of kinase inhibitors useful for
studying signal transduction in model systems
and relies on genetics to specify the target of a
small molecule, ensuring that only the intended
protein is targeted by the small molecule we
synthesize.
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4.11 Prizes and awards
Elected fellowships in societies such as the
Royal Swedish Academy of Science (Leif
Andersson, Sture Nordholm), Royal Society of
Chemistry in Britain (FRSC, Andrew Ewing),
the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (Andrew Ewing),
Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in
Gothenburg (Elisabet Ahlberg, Leif
Andersson, Kristina Luthman, Sture
Nordholm) are listed elsewhere.
Some other fellowships are deemed to be the
same as an award and listed.
1. A-T Karlberg (1997). Swedish Medical
Association's Elis och Ivar Janzon prize for
in-depth and clinically important studies on
skin sensitizing compounds in colophony and
the relationship between the allergenicity of
chemicals with relation to their molecular
structure. This prize is awarded to an
outstanding researcher in the field of
experimental dermatology once a year by a
selection procedure performed by the Swedish
Medical Association. You can not apply
yourself. The prize was handed out by the
Minister of Education, Margot Wallström in a
special ceremony. The prize is tax free and
personal to be used without obligations. Prize
sum: 87 000 SEK.
2. K. Luthman (1997). The Ebert Prize from
The American Pharmaceutical Association.
Established in 1873, the Ebert Prize is the
oldest pharmacy award in the United States.
The award, administered by the APhA
Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and
Science, consists of a silver medallion bearing
the likeness of Albert Ethelbert Ebert, former
APhA president. (APhA = The American
Pharmacists Association).
3. A. Ewing (1999). The John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Fellowship. This is a fellowship that pays full
salary and costs to travel to another laboratory
for up to a year to learn/carry out new projects.
These are American grants that have been
awarded annually since 1925 by the John
Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to
those "who have demonstrated exceptional
capacity for productive scholarship or
exceptional creative ability in the arts”. The
Foundation receives between 3,500 and 4,000
applications each year and approximately 220
Fellowships are awarded each year.
4. J. Bergenholtz (2000). Akzo-Nobel Nordic
Surface Chemistry Prize for successful
research in the area of fundamental studies of
colloidal suspensions (shared with H. Edlund).
The Akzo-Nobel Nordic Surface Chemistry
Prize is awarded annually (since 1984) for
successful research by a young researcher in
the area of Surface and Colloidal Chemistry in
the Nordic countries. It includes a check for
SEK 25 000 (it was shared, otherwise it is
twice that).
5. L. Anderson (2000). King Carl Gustaf´s
Environmental Grant for the study of the
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Carbon Cycle in Polar Seas. This grant is given
as a stipend, at that time 75 000 SEK, based on
nomination and not on application by the
recipient.
6. J. Bergenholtz (2003). Research Fellowship
from the The Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences (KVA). This prestigious fellowship
covers the cost of salary for 5 years of research
and was awarded in strong national
competition at a pivotal point in the careers of
promising younger researchers. This was the
first time the fellowship was placed at GU.
7. M. Grøtli (2004). The AstraZeneca Science
Ladder Award to support a promising
scientist in Sweden at the beginning of his/her
career. Cash prize of 140 000 SEK.
8. R. Neutze (2005). Research Fellowship
from the The Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences (KVA). This prestigious fellowship
covers the cost of salary for 5 years of research
and was awarded in strong national
competition at a pivotal point in the careers of
promising younger researchers.
9. A. Dahlén (2005). Prize for best doctoral
thesis in Natural Science in Sweden.
Supervisor: Göran Hilmersson. Title of thesis:
A Novel and Powerful Lanthaninde(II)
reagents – Synthetic Advances and
Mechanistic Considerations
10. A. Ewing (2006). American Chemical
Society Analytical Division Award for
Chemical Instrumentation. This award is for
achievements in advancing the field of
chemical instrumentation and is arguably the
largest award given by the Analytical Division
of the ACS each year. The award comes with a
USD 4,000 cash prize.
11. R. Kjellander (2007) The Norblad-
Ekstrand medal awarded by the Swedish
Chemical Society. The medal was awarded for
Kjellander´s fundamental contributions to the
theoretical description of inhomogeneous
electrolyte solutions
(http://www2.chem.gu.se/~rkj/chemsoc/medalj
er_2007.htm).
12. R. Neutze (2010). Faculty of Science
Research Award 2010. Cash prize of 250 000
SEK awarded by the Faculty of Science to the
best research performance for younger faculty
within the Faculty of Science.
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4.12 Links to additional relevant information
Additional information, which links to both the
homepages and researcherid.com-pages of
each faculty member, has been provided at:
http://www.chem.gu.se/RED10