ERC grant awarded to Dr Wesley R. Browne

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a Starting Grant to Dr Wesley R. Browne of the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry and an associate member of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials. Dr Browne will receive EUR 1.5 million over the course of five years, which will enable him to appoint four PhD students.

This brings the total number of ERC grants awarded to University of Groningen researchers this year to eight.

Environmental impact, energy efficiency and resource sustainability places catalysis at centre stage in both fine and bulk chemistry. In the research program funded by the ERC the focus will be on sustainable oxidation chemistry – that is oxidation catalysis for fine and bulk chemical synthesis based on electrochemical oxidation, the use of H₂O₂ and O₂ and environmentally benign, low cost first row transition metals. Dr Browne’s research into sustainable catalyst systems combines synthetic and physical organic chemistry with spectroscopy and electrochemistry in the search for new reactivity and for new insight into reaction mechanisms.

More information: Dr Wesley R. Browne