A select group of high-achieving young scientists is looking forward to a Euro windfall after winning the European young investigators (Euryi) awards.
A select group of high-achieving young scientists is looking forward to a Euro windfall after winning the European young investigators (Euryi) awards. The chemical sciences are well represented among the 25 winners, who will each receive around €1.2 million over five years to set up their own research teams in Europe.
The award, organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), is designed to draw promising scientists into Europe at the earliest stage of their careers. The youngest winner is just 30 years old.
Frank Keppler, 39, of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, impressed the award selection committee. His recent observation that plants produce the greenhouse gas methane has unveiled new issues for climate change research.
’Our project’s focus is on organic trace gases and compounds emitted by the biosphere, which have not yet been given proper consideration in the study of climate change,’ said Keppler. ’We have also discovered that plants release more methane when there is increased CO2 in the atmosphere. This is clearly of great interest for the future.’
The list of awardees’ projects range across many scientific fields. Ove Christiansen, 36, from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, is a quantum chemist who aims to develop new theories for molecular dynamics that will allow the behaviour of large complex systems, and chemical reactions, to be accurately simulated. He told Chemistry World that this award would allow him to work on his project with a dedicated focus that is often not possible with the pressures and responsibilities of working in a university environment.
The awards will be formally presented at a ceremony in Prague, Czech Republic, on 13 October.
Victoria Gill
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