Page 2 - PERIODIC Magazine Issue 6

F rom the Head

of Department

Professor Mark Brouard

Welcome to the sixth former Heads of Department, Graham Richards and Tim
edition of Periodic Softley, became Fellows of the Royal Society and in July,
magazine. This Dame Carol Robinson began her Presidency of the Royal
issue brings news of Society of Chemistry.
developments in the
Department over the The past year has been a bumper one for Chemistry
past academic year, spinout companies. Established ones like OxSyBio,
of which there have OxStem and Oxford Nanopore continue to thrive and
been a great many! grow. Nanopore has raised an unprecedented £100M
from investment that will be ploughed back into further
I am delighted to research, new premises and new jobs that will benefit the
report that our new whole economy and enable the most advanced research.
teaching labs are The MinION has already been used to sequence the
now up and running, and our undergraduates began human genome and been taken into space on a NASA/
Michaelmas Term in a splendid new building where they SpaceX mission to the International Space Station; it is
will follow a new, integrated practical course designed hoped that the ability to sequence DNA in space will allow
to give them all the skills they will need for chemistry in monitoring of changes in microbes in the environment or
st
the 21 century. I am immensely grateful to all those who humans in response to spaceflight, and possibly aid in the
made this possible, particularly to Prof. Tim Softley, who detection of DNA-based life elsewhere in the universe.
initiated the project, Kim Nixon, our ever-resourceful
Head of Facilities, the University Estates Team, Prof. Several new spinouts, a few of which are featured in the
Claire Vallance, Chair of the Chemistry Practical Course following pages, also offer exciting new possibilities.
Committee, and Dr Malcolm Stewart, recently-appointed Oxford Sustainable Fuels is enabling the transformation
Director of Teaching Laboratories. I would also like to of plastic waste into useful fuels, and SugaROx shows
thank our many alumni and friends who so generously promise for a chemical solution to increase crop yields.
contributed funds towards the cost of kitting out the labs Arago Biosciences recently launched with an amazing new
with state-of-the-art equipment – helping our students to instrument that uses an optimised form of light microscopy
make the best possible start to their studies and enabling to detect and weigh single molecules. One of the great
us to offer a truly innovative undergraduate course. privileges of working in Oxford Chemistry is that it is at the
heart of so many diverse advances and developments that
Our teaching staff team has been strengthened by the for me are tremendously exciting. Some of the details and
appointment of four new teaching fellows, and a Deputy impacts of my colleagues’ recent work are described in the
Director of Studies, Dr Martin Galpin, who is developing following pages, which I hope you will enjoy reading.
our graduate study programmes. I am also pleased to
report that the outstanding work of my colleagues William As this issue went to press I was very sorry to hear of the
Barford, Steve Fletcher and Angie Russell has been death of Professor Sir John Rowlinson FRS. As many
recognised by the award of the title of full professor, and readers will know, Sir John made a great many outstanding
I am delighted to welcome Fernanda Gonzalez Duarte contributions to physical and theoretical chemistry, as
to the Department as Associate Professor in Theoretical well as to the history of science. Even many years after his
Organic Chemistry. retirement as Dr Lee’s Professor of Physical Chemistry, Sir
John maintained a strong connection to the Department
2018 has been an outstanding year of awards for current and was a regular visitor to the PTCL. He will be much
and former members of the Department – in May we were missed by everyone in the Department and by very many
delighted that two of our most distinguished chemists and in the wider scientific community.

On the Cover
360° panorama of the new undergraduate teaching labs by Dr Karl Harrison

2
Periodic The Magazine of the Department of Chemistry