News

Thank you to all 100 of our attendees at our recent alumni reunion on February 17th! We had a great time listening to the two talks by our award winners, Dr. Peter Caravan (2020 Alumni Award of Distinction) and Dr. Rodney Smith (2020 Young Alumnus Award). We're so glad to have played a part in their career journey. Although meeting virtually is quite different from being able to meet in person, we're thankful that alumni could join us from around the world for this event. Stay posted for...

Congratulations to Sabrina Fried for the 2020 Science Excellence in Service Award. This award recognizes the exceptional service contributions of Science’s staff, students and faculty. The winners will be honoured at the upcoming Faculty of Science meeting in early March. Congratulations once again to Sabrina's outstanding contributions to the Faculty of Science!

Dr. Hongbin Li has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. AAAS Fellows are elected each year by their peers on the organization's governing body. The title recognizes important contributions to STEM disciplines, including pioneering research, leadership within a given field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations, and advancing public understanding of science. Hongbin will be inducted as Fellow in a virtual ceremony to be held in...

Dr. David C. Walker, Professor Emeritus, passed away on October 9th, 2020. He was 86 years old.

I feel privileged to write an obituary for David C. Walker, particularly because his pre-UBC years were remarkably similar to mine, and our 55 years in Vancouver overlapped significantly in ‘sports’. I thank Elliot Burnell and Don Fleming for their help in putting together this obituary from chemistry faculty friends, who all send their sincerest condolences to Gale and family...

Dr. David Perrin has been funded by the CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) for his research into the development of non-toxic, drug-like products that can intercept the COVID virus. 

The Government of Canada is providing the funding for this research through CIHR and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), in partnership with Alberta Innovates (AI), Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR), Research Manitoba (RM), Research Nova Scotia (RNS),...

Rebecca Sherbo, a PhD graduate in the Berlinguette Group, has been selected as the doctoral recipient for the Governor General's Gold Medal within the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Gold medals are awarded to one masters and one doctoral student who has achieved the most outstanding academic record. 

Congratulations Rebecca!

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The Berlinguette and Hein Groups at UBC, in collaboration with the Aspuru-Guzik Group at the University of Toronto, have developed a self-driving laboratory to accelerate the R&D cycle for thin-film materials. The manuscript published today in Science Advances details their first demonstration of this self-driving laboratory, called “Ada”, for the development of materials used in advanced solar cells. 

This work is part of a multi-million dollar program funded by Natural Resources...

“I’m definitely itching to get back to the lab,” says Don Mayder (PhD candidate). Like other departments on campus, the physical spaces in the chemistry department are now closed. Classes moved online Friday, March 13th, and staff were asked to work from home on Tuesday, March 16th until further notice. Labs were asked to end experiments and close by the end of that same week. 

As students, faculty, and staff have since transitioned to working from home, they have had to make...

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Eva Nichols as an Assistant Professor in the area of Inorganic Chemistry. She will join the department in August 2020.

Dr. Nichols completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkley, where she examined the role of second coordination sphere groups in promoting electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction and developed hybrid bio-materials platforms for artificial photosynthesis. She went on to a...