Congratulations to our Organic Chemistry Poster Symposium 2023 Prize Winners
On 3 December 2023, the 欧美AV’s Burlington House, London, hosted the annual Organic Chemistry Poster Symposium, celebrating the ground-breaking research being undertaken across organic chemistry. Dedicated to posters, the competitive symposium provides a fantastic opportunity for final year organic chemistry PhD students to showcase their research and network with peers and representatives from industry and academia.
Prizes were awarded for first place, industry sponsored, and runner’s up, judged by peer review, alongside a Participants Poster prize, voted for by delegates.
Meet our winners
We spoke to our Prize Winners about their experience at this year's Organic Chemistry Poster Symposium.
First Prize
Congratulations to our First Poster prize winner:
Nicholas Hodson, University of Cambridge
For their poster titled “Enantioselective carbon-nitrogen bond formation directed by a chiral cation”
“This was a fantastic meeting which showcased some of the best organic chemistry research from the UK and Europe. Throughout the day we discussed our research and gathered insightful feedback from fellow students and experienced chemists. I was very grateful to be awarded a prize at the event and I hope the interest in amination and chiral cations continues! I’m looking forward to conducting more research in these exciting fields and sharing our work to new audiences.”
Industry Prize
Congratulations to our industry prize winners, selected by our judging panel:
Henry Caldora, University of Manchester/RWTH Aachen
For their poster “A general strategy for the amination of electron-rich and electron-poor heteroaromatics by desaturative catalysis”
Runner up Prize
Congratulations to our runner up prize winners, selected by our judging panel:
Ivan Ocaña, University of York
For their poster titled “Enhancing triethylborane initiation through mechanistic understanding using a novel radical trapping technique”.
"Attending the symposium was an insightful experience, filled with engaging discussions and clever new science. Winning the poster prize is not only a validation of my work but also an encouragement to continue pursuing excellence. This recognition has fueled my determination to take the next steps in my research, seeking collaborative opportunities and furthering the impact of my findings within the scientific community.”
Daniel Rozsar, University of Oxford
For their poster titled “Development of novel bifunctional organic superbases for enantioselective synthesis”.
"The 2023 欧美AV Organic Chemistry Poster Symposium was a remarkable event that showcased the great breadth of organic chemistry-related research being performed in the UK, while providing a venue for young researchers to share their ideas and get to know each other. I am truly grateful that I was given the opportunity to participate, and equally thrilled that my work on bifunctional iminophosphorane superbases was recognised.
"I regard this to be a massive compliment, especially given the outstanding quality of other researchers’ contributions, and is certainly one that has further reinforced my decision to begin my journey as a postdoc in academia starting in 2024. Thank you very much for the flawless organisation and congratulations to everyone involved!"
Delegates' choice
Congratulations to our participants prize winners, voted for by attendees at the Poster Symposium and sponsored by the journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry:
David Fernandez Aguado, University of Strathclyde
For their poster titled “A novel copper-catalysed c(sp³) -c(sp³) cross-coupling reaction using readily available starting materials”
“Participating in the 欧美AV poster competition was a truly extraordinary experience. The competition provided me with a unique opportunity to showcase and communicate my research to a diverse scientific audience. I’m really grateful to have won one of the participants' poster prizes! It has certainly boosted my confidence and validated the impact of my research within the scientific community.
"This event has opened up new avenues to network, collaborate, and exchange knowledge, learning from a wide range of cutting-edge research in various subfields of chemistry. All of this will be of great help, as I enter the last months of my PhD.”
Cyrille Kiaku, University of Greenwich
For their poster titled “eFluorination of activated alcohols using collidinium tetrafluoroborate”.
"I firstly would like to express my gratitude to the 欧美AV Organic Chemistry Community for allowing me to participate in such an event that also gathered 39 other outstanding posters.
"The Organic Chemistry Poster Symposium was very enjoyable from beginning to end ! The flash presentations were very good, a high level of chemistry was showcased which was truly amazing.
"Science is all about collaboration, and in that spirit, this symposium really gave us a nice opportunity to communicate with peers as well as having an overview of the research done in the country. I personally enjoyed connecting with friends and make new friends ! I also very much enjoyed my discussions with the company representatives (and collecting free items).
"Receiving the Participant’s prize was a surprise and meant a lot for me. Electrochemistry is often considered as a black box and doesn't gain the attention it deserves. Considering the extraordinarily high level and quality of the work displayed at the event, this prize proves that electrochemistry has potential and that it is being noticed. Moreover, it’s a pleasure to share this prize with a very talented chemist who I hold in high esteem.
"The next step of my journey will be to continue unveiling new reactivities with sustainable synthetic processes in order to have a positive impact on people’s daily life. Also, mentorship caught my interest as I would try my best empowering the next generation of chemists from minority ethnic backgrounds, currently underrepresented in the chemical science field."