Stratingh Award 2015

The prestigious Stratingh Award for the best colloquium for the year 2014 was awarded on June 15. The award ceremony started with the presentation of Prof. Jan Engberts about the history of the price. After, the selection committee announced who the winners are. The selection committee consisted of 2 staff members and 2 PhD students from various disciplines: Katalin Barta, Martin Witte, Michael Lerch and Ivica Cvrtila. As usually, the task of the committee was really difficult given the large number of really excellent colloquia. The committee therefore adopted 2 sessions. During the first round 5 colloquia from the total 14, were selected based on independent votes from the committee. In the second session the top 3 colloquia were identified. The selection was rigorous, taking into a variety of criteria such as scientific depth and quality, scholarly presentation, writing style, use of figures, tables and of course an inspiring voice. The committee has also decided to place emphasis on an original and critical voice. The third price went to a colloquium which provided a great introduction to rheology for beginners and an enjoyable piece of reading for experts as well. The third place went to Luuk Kortekaas for “Rheology as versatile tool in rational gelator design”. There was big competition for the first place. The second place was awarded to a colloquium that was very scholarly presented and revealed a lot of knowledge in organic chemistry. Rik Oost for “Applications of the [1,2]-Brook rearrangement in tandem carbon-carbon bond formation “ . The first price, the jury felt was given to the colloquium which provided great insight into the field of photocleavabel protectibg groups in general, and was certainly not lacking a balanced, but critical own opinion on the subject. The title of the winning work by Mickel Hansen is: “Wavelenght-selective cleavage of protecting groups.” The event was finished with delicious cakes and coffee, followed by a nice lunch with the members of the Baker foundation, the reading committee and of course the winner! Professor emeritus, Albert van Leusen, the founder of this award (in 1996) also enjoyed lunch together with everyone, nicely concluding the successful selection of the best colloquium for 2014! Congratulations to the winner!