I am humbled to receive this year’s Institute of Physics BRSG Founder’s Prize for the presentation of my methodology, coupling MD and ssNMR, to rationalise dynamics in solids.
The prize is in memory of the late Professor E R Andrew, founder of British Radiofrequency Spectroscopy Group. Prof Andrew was a pioneer of magic angle spinning and other methods in magnetic resonance.
This week I had a fantastic opportunity to participate in the Interdisciplinary Origin of Life meeting organised by Institute of Molecular Evolution and hosted in the beautiful Schloß Mickeln, Düsseldorf.
The meeting brought together researches from disciplines as diverse as geochemistry, bioinformatics, astrophysics and philosophy, all sharing the passion for the study of Origin of Life.
Throughout the meeting, we held roundtable discussions to debate our ideas and views, discuss the unknowns in the field, and talk about the future direction of this research.
I was honoured to chair “From Geochemistry to Biochemistry – a Tough Transition” roundtable, full of passionate and engaging discussions on the emergence of very first molecules and the formation of very first polymeric systems starting life as we know it today.
I am confident that this Interdisciplinary Origin of Life meeting will generate new ideas and lead to many fruitful collaborations in future!
So excited to be talking and chairing discussions at the upcoming Interdisciplinary Origin of Life Meeting organised by Institute of Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine Universität, Düsseldorf.
Workshop timetable and details via www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
It was honoured to be invited to the Annual BRSG meeting: “Advances in experimental and simulation methods for NMR and EPR“ and to deliver a talk about my very recent work linking solid-state NMR and molecular dynamics simulations.
The annual meeting was dedicated to celebrating 50 years in NMR of Prof. Jim Emsley and Prof. Geoffrey Luckhurst. It was a pleasure to meet Jim and Geoffrey and to hear about their adventures in the work of magnetic resonance.
In a presentation, entitled “Computational Chemistry as a Time-Traveller’s Tool”, Valentina discusses how her molecular modeling techniques allow studying phenomena that occurred millions of years ago, that lead to the transition from geo- to biochemistry. She then demonstrates how the same methods, used to address fundamental questions, can also be applied to today’s problems of industrial interest, such as enhanced oil recovery and synthesis of high surface materials. All these processes are driven by interactions between organic molecules and layered materials under conditions difficult to reproduce through experiment alone.
Palatinate (noun; British; origin mid-19th century) – a light purple or lavender colour, as used in certain ceremonial robes of the University and City of Durham, and later also in sporting outfits (Oxford English Dictionary)
RGB: 126, 49, 123
Hex: 7E317B
Please note, as of February 2019, Durham University has undergone rebranding, leading to a change of the palatinate colour for a darker purple (RGB: 104, 36, 109, Hex: 68246D). We do not identify this colour as palatinate.
Durham University Computational Chemistry Community has started a Palatinate Challenge – “Scientific articles to feature palatinate both as colour and a word”.
Recent articles to satisfy the Challenge:
Our article, in collaboration with a group of Dermot O’Hare in Oxford and funded by SCG, Thailand appears on the cover of Chemical Communications
Our article is Referee recommended, making it to the HOT ChemComm article list:
Our recent article in collaboration with O’Hare group in Oxford and sponsored by SCG on Aqueous Immiscible Layered Double Hydroxide appears in ChemComm
Find the full article at pubs.rsc.org
Our work on Prebiotic Protein Formation has been featured in by RT.com
Full article is available at Nature.com
