Department of Chemistry News

Dr. Kate Kirkham (nee Thompson) has just been awarded the inaugural Macro Group prize for the best PhD thesis in the field of polymer science in the UK.

Her thesis was entitled "Covalently Cross-linked Colloidosomes" and her PhD supervisor was Prof. Steve Armes, the Director of the Polymer Centre. Kate's PhD degree was part-sponsored by P & G (Newcastle), who provided a CASE award to match her EPSRC studentship. Her research studies involved the synthesis of novel well-defined hydrophilic macromonomers via ATRP, the evaluation of these macromonomers for the preparation of model sterically-stabilised latexes, the use of these latexes to prepare low polydusperisty Pickering emulsions and the covalent stabilisation of such emulsions to produce colloidosome microcapsules. Her results have been widely published in Macromolecules, Langmuir and Chemical Communications and some of her research samples have been further examined by scientists working at the University of Hull (UK), at McMaster University (Canada) and also at Newcastle University (Australia). These informal collaborations have produced three further joint papers in Langmuir, with a fourth manuscript currently in preparation.

After her PhD degree, Kate was awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship and she continues to work within the Department of Chemistry at the University of Sheffield. She is currently evaluating whether block copolymer vesicles can be used as Pickering emulifiers. She will present an invited lecture discussing her PhD studies at a major international polymer chemistry conference to be held in July 2012 at the University of Warwick.

The University of Sheffield comes top of Russell Group in latest Times Survey

The University of Sheffield has been named top of the Russell Group and top of the Yorkshire and Humberside region by the Times Higher Education Student Survey. Its Students' Union was top in the country for the third year running.

Further details may be found here

RAPRA Limited and the University of Sheffield join forces in polymer research'

See here for information

Dr Beining Chen is leading a national Prion Chemical Biology Network

Beining Chen is leading a national Prion Chemical Biology Network (www.pcbnet.group.shef.ac.uk) funded by the EPSRC, BBSRC and MRC. The network is one of 8 chemical biology networks funded by these research councils, the networks will collaborate on a range of activities to enable knowledge-sharing and innovative discipline-hopping http://www.chemicalbiology.co.uk/about.html.

Chemistry department opens joint degree programme with Nanjing University of Technology

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Sheffield has initiated a new joint teaching venture with a partner in China.
Nanjing University of Technology (NJUT) will recruit outstanding students from China and south-east Asia onto a new chemistry degree programme in which the students spend three years at NJUT learning chemistry, which will include several courses taught in English by visiting academic staff from Sheffield. The students then come to the UK for their final year and join the final year of the Sheffield BSc degree programme.

The formal inauguration of this new joint venture in a ceremony at NJUT in October was attended by Prof. Tony Ryan, representing the Faculty of Science, and Prof. Mike Ward, Dr. Mark Winter and Dr. Beining Chen who will manage the joint degree programme. Prof. Ward took the opportunity to deliver the first set of introductory lectures to the NJUT students - four lectures on 'The Chemistry of Explosives'. The first cohort contains 29 students but this will be
increased in future years to a maximum of 60 students.

Department performs well in latest National Student Survey

The Department has done well in the latest National Student Survey, due out later this year. Within the Russell Group of Universities we are:

• (joint) top ranked for "the teaching on my course"

• top ranked for "personal development"

• (joint) third ranked for "overall satisfaction"

Compared to other Russell Group Universities, we secured top-five finishes in all categories bar one (where we were joint sixth).