3 Academics in the Department have been awarded prestigious ERC starting grants with a total value of almost €5 million. Set up in 2007 by the EU, the European Research Council (ERC) is the first pan-European funding organisation for frontier research. It aims to stimulate scientific excellence in Europe by encouraging competition for funding between the very best, creative researchers of any nationality and age.

Dr Adrian Chaplin will develop new synthetic methodology for studying the interaction of alkanes with transition metals.
Dr Matthew Gibson will study mimics of antifreeze (glyco)proteins with the aim of improving cell cryopreservation.
Dr Józef Lewandowski will develop and apply approaches to investigate structural dynamics of large protein complexes by solid- and solution-state NMR.

These awards bring the total number of ERC-funded researches in the Department to 8, a clear testament to the internationally-leading nature of the research environment at Warwick.

prof. Stefan Bon, in collaboration with prof. To Ngai from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has edited a book published by the Royal Society of Chemistry entitled Particle-Stabilized Emulsions and Colloids: Formation and Applications. The book contains the latest scientific developments and key understandings of Pickering stabilization, a phenomenon whereby solid particles adhere to soft deformable interfaces for example emulsion droplets. Applications in areas of polymer chemistry, food, and oil processing are elucidated. A selection of internationally leading scientists have contributed with individual chapters. The book is available to buy now.

The GibsonGroup's recent work on antifreeze-protein mimics has been highlighted on the front cover of RSC Biomaterials Science. http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/bm/c4bm00153b#!divAbstract

The Chevening scholarships support excellent international students for postgraduate study at UK universities.Interested candidates should consult the webpages of our renowned taught masters programmes and contact the course directors as soon as possible.

http://www.chevening.org/

Deadline is 15th November.

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/chemistry/gstudy/postgraduatedegrees/as_mit/

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/chemistry/gstudy/postgraduatedegrees/polymchem/

The Gibson's group Cryopreservation research has been highlighted in an article in Chemical and Engineering News. The group are developing a range of macromolecules which mimic the function of antifreeze proteins, found in Polar fish species, which can slow the rate of ice crystal growth. The group have shown these unique polymers to enhance the cryopreservation of donor tissue/cells, particulary blood. (Image is ice crystals which are inhibited by the polymers)Read the article here (Login required) and also the Chemistry World Feature here(login required).

Read Popular Science (USA) article on this here or BBC TV story here.

See publication list for full details.

Supramolecular guanosine-borate hydrogels have been made and characterised in a collaboration led by Jeff Davis (University of Maryland) with Andrew Marsh (Chemistry) and Steven Brown (Physics). The physiologically compatible gels, published in Journal of the American Chemical Society are featured in a Spotlight article. Lead author Gretchen Peters and Jeff Davis will visit Warwick again, 17-21 November to further explore applications of the materials.

Robert Deller, in the GibsonGroup won the prize for the best poster at the 2014 RAPS Conference

Dr Matthew Gibson has been awarded the life science prize at the Royal Society of Chemistry Emerging Technology technology competition. http://tinyurl.com/kmdw8pq

Caroline Biggs in the GibsonGroup won the prize for best poster presentation at the 13th European Summer Course on Glycosciences. Her winning poster was entitled 'Polymer Functionalised Surfaces for Microarray Applications'.

The GibsonGroup describe glycopolymers that selectively target the Cholera toxin and may provide a non-antibiotic tool to combat infectious diseases

The Gibson Group, in collaboration with the Medical School, have demonstrated a new way to cryopreserve donor blood using a synthetic polymer which mimics Antifreeze Proteins found in Arctic Cod.

Read the paper here

A new family of organic nanotubes was reported in a recent article in Nature Communications. The group of Sébastien Perrier, in collaboration with Professor Kate Jolliffe at the University of Sydney, have designed cyclic peptide / polymer conjugates that can assemble into tubular structures based on the stacking of the cyclic peptides, and provide a tube with a sub-nm internal diameter. Attached to each of the cyclic peptides are two different types of polymers, which tend to de-mix and form a shell for the tube with two faces, and form Janus nanotubes (after the Roman god Janus who is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and the past).