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First recipients

Applications for the programme are assessed and ranked by the HRSMC Research Committee, advising the HRSMC Board and Scientific Director on awarding the grants. In the first application round in June of this year, all proposals were honoured. The first six HRSMC PhD Mobility grants were awarded to

Tessel Bouwens

Tessel Bouwens

Tessel Bouwens studies dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), in particular the recombination issue that is common to DSSCs due to fast electron–hole recombination at the dye–semiconductor interface. She proposes a supramolecular strategy to arrive at pseudorotaxane-based DSSCs featuring a photoswitchable redox mediator. Understanding the electron transfer kinetics of this novel system is of critical importance. At the lab of Dr Elizabeth A. Gibson she will apply time-resolved infrared spectro-scopy (TR–IR) at nanosecond (ns) and picosecond timescales (ps) with a technique pioneered by Gibson.  

Dario Calvani
Dario Calvani

Dario Calvani

Dario Calvani is studying water oxidation catalysts for use in proton exchange membranes in the context of dye-sensitized photo-electrochemical cells for artificial photosynthesis. During his visit he will develop a novel computational representation of the catalysts cycle at reactive molecular dynamics level, using the ReaxFF reactive force-field approach developed by Prof. Adri van Duin.

Zohre Eskandari Alughare
Zohre Eskandari Alughare

Zohre Eskandari Alughare

Zohre Eskandari Alughare studies the binding of individual small molecules, in particular CO, to the heme of myoglobin, an oxygen storage protein in muscle tissue. The binding kinetics can be measured precisely through the quenching of a fluorescent dye attached to the myoglobin using Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). The focus of her visit will be on optimal dye labeling using two mutation variants of myoglobin, and lifetime measurement to obtain FRET efficiencies and CO rebinding kinetic parameters.

Sander Lemmens
Sander Lemmens

Alexander (Sander) Lemmens

Sander Lemmens studies Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that can be found in the gaseous and dusty regions of the interstellar medium. In the laboratory, he applies laser spectroscopic techniques to acquire high-resolution absorption spectra of these PAHs under the right conditions, i.e. isolated and cold. At the laboratory of Prof. Mattanjah de Vries he will use complementary techniques such as stimulated emission pumping, to obtain insights from a different angle into the photophysical properties of PAHs.

 

 

 

Olga Lushchikova
Olga Lushchikova

Olga Lushchikova

The PhD research of Olga Lushchikova focuses on the spectroscopic characterization of gas phase complexes formed by copper clusters with various small molecules as model systems for catalytic interactions. At the Scheier group in Innsbruck, she will explore a novel technique to study the products resulting from reacting C60+ ions with astrochemically relevant species such as H2, D2, H2O, CH4 and CO2. The technique revolves around helium tagging to arrive at extremely sensitive spectral characterization.

Pascal Vermeeren
Pascal Vermeeren

Pascal Vermeeren

Pascal Vermeeren studies the use of metallylene catalysts for the activation of small molecules. The scope of his visit is to rationally design novel metallylene catalysts for the hydrogenation of a wide range of unsaturated bonds using state-of-the-art computational techniques. For the first time, the combined Activation Strain Model (ASM) of reactivity and the ‘An Automated Reaction Optimizer for New catalysts’ (AARON) approach will be employed.

John van Geuns foundation

The HRSMC PhD Mobility Programme is sponsored by the John van Geuns foundation. This promotes chemistry education at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), as well as UvA chemistry research into the interaction between light and matter. As a result, John van Geuns PhD Mobility Scholarships are available for PhD students studying the interaction between light and matter under supervision of a UvA staff member (or a supervisor connected to the UvA). Both Tessel Bouwens and Sander Lemmens received such a John van Geuns PhD Mobility Scholarship.

About the HRSMC PhD mobility programme

Who can apply?

PhD students who are a member of the HRSMC and who are not yet in their final half year of their PhD contract.

What is funded?

Travel costs will be reimbursed based on the cost of second class rail or tourist class air travel, to a maximum of €500 for destinations within Europe and €1500 for destinations outside Europe. Subsistence costs will be supported through a fixed grant of €1000 per month. When the actual visit is shorter than the proposed visit, the subsistence costs are adjusted proportionately.

Please take note

Applications can be submitted twice a year, before April 1 and October 1. The proposed visit should start within one year after the date of the approval notice. The student has to return before the last half year of his/her PhD contract. In case of equal evaluation, applications in which staff members of two or more different research groups are involved will be given a higher priority.

About HRMSC

The Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry was founded in 1994 and has been re-accredited three times by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). 

The Research School combines research groups working on synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and theoretical and computational description of molecular systems from the University of Amsterdam, VU Amsterdam, Leiden University and Radboud University Nijmegen. Apart from creating the appropriate conditions for further collaboration between the participating groups, the school also provides an internationally highly acclaimed teaching program for talented PhD and MSc students in molecular chemistry and physics.