PEOPLE & PLACES

Please send details of new appointments, honors, and awards to materialstoday@elsevier.com

MARCH 2009 | VOLUME 12 | NUMBER 342

Scopus awardOver 200 Indian scientists and researchers under the

age of 40 submitted their work for consideration in

eleven disciplines including - Agriculture, Biological

Sciences, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Engineering,

Library and Information Sciences, Mathematics,

Medicine, Pharmacology, Physics and Social Sciences.

Each entry was endorsed from the head of the

applicant’s present institution.

Following are the winners from each category:

Agriculture : Dr R. Raman, International Center for

Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

Biological Sciences : Prof. S. Ganesh, Indian Institute of

Technology, Kanpur

Chemistry – Dr B. V. S. Reddy, Indian Institute of

Chemical Technology, Hyderabad

Earth Sciences – Dr G. Bala, Indian Institute of Science,

Bangalore

Engineering – Prof. S. Chakraborthy, Indian Institute of

Technology, Kharagpur

Mathematics – Dr S. Athreya, Indian Statistical

Institute, Bangalore

Medicine – Dr B. Reddy, National Institute of

Nutrition, Hyderabad

Physics – Dr M. Parikh, Inter University Center for

Astronomy and Astrophysics

and Dr S. Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Finalists were selected by a jury of eight panelists,

one peer from each discipline, based on statistical key

criteria such as number of citations, h-index, number

of publications and patents based on Scopus data.

£82m award to train scientists and engineers for Britain’s future£82m in grants to train Britain’s future scientists and

engineers was announced on February 12th, 2009

by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research

Council. The annual Doctoral Training Grants (DTGs),

awarded this year to over 45 universities and higher

education institutions, will generate more than 1200

PhD students.

Professor David Delpy, chief executive of EPSRC, said:

“People are at the heart of what we do. These grants

mark a significant investment in talented future

PhD students who will help drive forward the UK’s

economy.” Universities have a target of using 10% of

their 2009 DTG funding for industry related training to

broaden the student experience.

The DTGs 2009-10 are part of EPSRC’s broader

commitment to excellence in Britain’s post graduate

research. In December 2008 EPSRC announced a

£250m spend on new style doctoral training centers

- the largest single investment in UK post graduate

science and engineering training and research. It is

estimated that 50% of EPSRC funded PhD students go

on to get jobs outside of academia, in industry and the

wider UK economy.

Strem Chemicals expands Strem Chemicals Inc., a manufacturer of specialty

chemicals for research and development, announced

that it has expanded its US-based nanomaterials

initiative and established a nanochemistry laboratory

in Europe.

The new nanochemistry laboratory is located at the

Institut de Science et d’Ingenierie Supramoleculaires

(ISIS) of the University of Strasbourg, France,

and will be headed by Dr Nina Matoussevitch, an

experienced nanochemist. Dr Matoussevitch’s lab

will work closely with Strem’s US facility and Prof.

Dr Helmut Boennemann, Strem’s nanoconsultant.

The goal of the new facility will be to serve R&D

groups worldwide with custom-made nanostructured

materials. Strem’s product offering now includes

nanoparticles of many transition metals, precious

metals as well as metal oxides, mixed-metal oxides

and magnetic fluids. Nanocatalysts are also available.

Strem has also recently enhanced its web site and

made nanomaterials information more readily

accessible. The site’s technical content has been

enhanced.

Moving smart electricity grids forwardResearchers of the energy research centre of the

Netherlands (ECN) designed the PowerMatcher

technology, a new coordination system which can

match the demand and supply of electricity more

efficiently. This is an important building block for the

smart electricity network of the future. For further

research developments, ECN will be collaborating

with the Flemish research organization, VITO. The

agreement has been signed by the directors of both

companies. This cooperation between ECN and VITO

provokes heavy stimulation of energy research and

further development of smart grids. Furthermore, the

parties cooperate to find technology applications in

the market. The development and application of the

PowerMatcher technology is funded by the European

Union, and the Dutch national energy research fund of

SenterNovem.

NASA research announcement contract NEI Corporation, a leading developer

and manufacturer of nanomaterials,

announced that it has been awarded

a prestigious NASA research contract.

In the initial phase of the contract,

the company will use its proprietary

processes to produce a new generation

of Li-ion battery cathode materials.

NEI will synthesize electrode materials

with high capacity (>200 mAh/g) and

a large working voltage range (3.0-4.8

V) to meet NASA’s ultra high energy

density application requirements. The

company will develop cathode materials

with a unique structure, composition,

and ultrafine particle morphology that

will increase the overall performance of

Li-ion batteries. The focus is on producing

materials at the nanoscale which brings

many advantages, such as long cycle life

and high rate capability. It is expected that

the resulting new materials will also have

broad ranging commercial applications

including consumer electronics, alternative

power storage systems, and plug-in hybrid

electric vehicles.

Tata Steel group endows professorship in metallurgyA major gift from one of the world’s

foremost industrial groups will support

fundamental and far-reaching research

into one of the modern world’s most

sustainable and indispensable materials.

Tata Steel has announced the donation

to endow a professorship of metallurgy

at the University of Cambridge. Based

in the department of materials science

and metallurgy, the first Tata Steel

professor of metallurgy, inaugurated

recently, will be Professor Harry

Bhadeshia, a world renowned expert on

the physical metallurgy of steels.

The endowment recognises the

commitment of the Tata Steel group

and the University to world-leading

research in the field, particularly in

steels, as well as Professor Bhadeshia’s

distinguished work in the subject.

The department of materials science

and metallurgy in the University

of Cambridge has a track record of

contributing significantly to industrial

materials technology and to academic

leadership of the field at an international

level. The department carries out world

leading research on a wide range of

materials, improving existing materials

and creating new ones.

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