News

21

November

2022

Dream Chemistry Award 2022 is coming

Nothing is better than dreaming about progress, innovation, and the future. All scientists have a dream, but not everyone dares to dream loudly, crossing schematic boundaries and jumping into the deep water. There are many grants supporting research and awards appreciating curious minds; however, there is only one unique award worldwide for visionary research projects in chemistry or a chemistry-related discipline. It is the Dream Chemistry Award.

Global challenges in many fields, from environmental pollution to energy saving and health issues, desperately need to be solved as soon as possible. The curiosity of intriguing minds combined with passion and fresh ideas enhances the process, which is what we need - scientific dreamers ready to change the world and make their dreams come true.

No matter how far-fetched the idea is, this award recognizes inspiring young scientists with bold, fresh ideas. This prize is for researchers worldwide who dare to imagine new directions for research. It is for visioners of the world that societies want to create and those ready to solve challenging research problems. In other words, for those who are ready to change the world.

The Dream Chemistry Award was established in 2013 by Robert Hołyst from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IChF), Warsaw, Poland. A few years ago, IChF joined forces with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague), Prague, Czech Republic. The current competition is in Warsaw on December 5-6, where the finalists will present the most remarkable projects to the experts' panel.

Who are the finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2022 competition? They are extraordinary, talented minds dreaming of solving the fundamental problem and shaping modern areas of chemistry-based fields toward changing the world. Their dreams touch upon four crucial challenges for humanity: climate change, energy storage, artificial life, and brain-machine interfaces.

"Nomination to this award boosts the trust in new ideas, research, and even more. It makes the dreamers stronger than ever before," remarks Claudia Contini pursuing the field of Potential of Artificial Cells in Biohybrid Robotics.

Ahmed Badran, who is particularly interested in Chemical Reprogramming of Biological CO2 Capture to Reverse Climate Change, says, "The Dream Chemistry Award is an exciting opportunity to push the frontiers of science, and a unique venue to share our creative vision and passion with global scientific leaders".

"This competition is supportive of pushing forward in research. It assures me to follow the particular field and never give up," says Liang Feng, who is focused on Active Artificial Molecular Factories.

Carl Brozek working on Capturing Energy with Controllable Chaos, adds, "This award shapes my science towards a better future. With this positive feedback, it gives me the confidence to believe in scientific dreams".

Ghislaine Vantomme dreaming about Supramolecular Materials for the Next Computing Paradigm, claims, "We should take time to dream, and the nomination to this award assures me that I took a good direction I should follow. This award appreciates the creativity making dreams come true".

The Dream Chemistry Award starts with a free imagination and gives recognition by the scientific committee, making it possible to step closer to the realization of the ideas presented in the contest, a statuette, and a financial reward of 10,000 EUR.

The Honorary Committee of the Dream Chemistry Award Contest brings together outstanding scientists around the world, including a Nobel Prize Winner, Prof. Richard Schrock from MIT, Prof. Josef Michl from the University of Colorado Boulder, Prof. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski from Carnegie Mellon University, and Prof. Bartosz Grzybowski from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology working on chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, and materials engineering. The Award's Scientific Committee brings together top researchers from Poland and Czech Republic.

This extraordinary competition will strengthen finalists to pursue their scientific dreams. Who will be the winner of the 2022 competition? Let us see.

Archive

5

December

2023

Prague

This year's winner of the Dream Chemistry Award competition is organic chemist Mark Levin with his vision for revolutionizing the synthesis of functional molecules

The Dream Chemistry Award, a unique competition that does not count scientific articles in prestigious journals or affiliations with renowned universities, knows its winner for this year. Its contestants are young scientists within seven years of having received their doctorate. To be true to its name, it rewards ideas so novel that their realization is akin to fulfilling a bold human dream. The 2023 award has been given to Mark Levin from the University of Chicago, whose aim is to simplify the design of pharmaceutically active substances.

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10

October

2023

Prague

Finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2023 selected

The DCA Scientific Committee selected top projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists are invited to present their projects in person during the contest’s final, which will be held at IOCB Prague on 4–5 December 2023.

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23

March

2023

Prague

Call for Dream Chemistry Award 2023 nominations

We accept nominations for the Dream Chemistry Award 2023. Nominators must hold a PhD and have at least ten years of experience since the publication of their first scientific paper. The nominations are open until June 30.

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6

December

2022

Warsaw

From capturing energy to capturing the Dream Chemistry Award 2022

Today is a big day for science. Young minds were awarded in the contest like no other. The scientists, visionaries, and dreamers, not hesitating to ask "What if?" achieved the prizes in the Dream Chemistry Award competition in Warsaw, Poland. This award is not about scientific achievements but about vision. This unique international contest promotes young researchers who want to step forward with innovative dreams. The Dream Chemistry Award was established in 2013 by Robert Hołyst from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ICF), Warsaw, Poland. Since 2017 the contest has been co-organized with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague), Prague, Czech Republic.

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21

November

2022

Warsaw

Dream Chemistry Award 2022 is coming

Nothing is better than dreaming about progress, innovation, and the future. All scientists have a dream, but not everyone dares to dream loudly, crossing schematic boundaries and jumping into the deep water. There are many grants supporting research and awards appreciating curious minds; however, there is only one unique award worldwide for visionary research projects in chemistry or a chemistry-related discipline. It is the Dream Chemistry Award.

Continue

15

November

2022

Warsaw

Dream Chemistry Award 2022 Final – Schedule

Five finalists, selected by the DCA Scientific Committee were invited to present their dream projects and compete for the Dream Chemistry Award 2022. The final will take place on 5–6 December at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

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27

September

2022

Warsaw

Finalists of the Dream Chemistry Award 2022 selected

The DCA Scientific Committee selected top projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists are invited to present their projects in person during the contest’s final, which will be held on December 5–6 in Warsaw, Poland.

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22

December

2021

Prague

The organizers and the winner on the Dream Chemistry Award 2021

We asked Jarad Mason, the winner of the 2021 Dream Chemistry Award, about his impressions of the competition and his future research plans; as well as the main organizers of the Dream Chemistry Award, Pavel Jungwirth and Robert Hołyst, what they think about this year's competition and its development in recent years.

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7

December

2021

Prague

Treating hypoxia with microporous water – the 2021 Dream Chemistry Award goes to Jarad Mason of Harvard University

The winners of the 2021 Dream Chemistry Award and the TOP 5 Prize have been decided. This year’s Dream Chemistry Award and the financial prize of EUR 10,000 goes to Jarad Mason of Harvard University for his project on treating hypoxia with microporous water.

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1

December

2021

Prague

Dream Chemistry Award 2021 Final – Live stream

The final of the Dream Chemistry Award 2021, which takes place on 6–7 December 2021 in Prague, will see five finalists who will present their dream projects.

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1

October

2021

Prague

Finalists of Dream Chemistry Award 2021 selected

The DCA Scientific Committee selected top projects from this year’s submissions. Five finalists are invited to present their projects in person during the contest’s final, which will be held at IOCB Prague on 6–7 December 2021.

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8

December

2020

Warsaw

Dreaming big about the smallest things: Dream Chemistry Award 2020

On the 1 December, the jury has announced the winner of this year's Dream Chemistry Award. Because of the pandemic restrictions, the whole event has been carried online.

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1

February

2020

Emiliano Cortés: “To have big dreams you need to imagine that things can be different and that you can contribute towards that.”

An interview with Emiliano Cortés (Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Lighting Up Chemical Reaction Pathways”.

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1

February

2020

Jeffrey Martell: “We need to think expansively to identify research goals that others haven't thought of.”

An interview with Jeffrey D. Martell (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “DNA Nano-Scaffolds for Rapid Discovery of Enzyme-Mimicking Catalysts”.

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1

February

2020

Yoeri van de Burgt: “Imagination and the ability to dream is essential. Most other logical and reasonable ideas have already been tried.”

An interview with Yoeri van de Burgt (Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Brain-Inspired Organic Modular Lab-on-a-Chip for Cell Classification”.

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1

February

2020

Hannes Mikula: “The Dream Chemistry Award was an amazing experience.”

An interview with Hannes Mikula (Vienna University of Technology, Austria), the TOP 5 finalist of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Double-targeted In Vivo Synthesis of Drugs at the Site of Disease”.

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1

February

2020

Yujia Qing: “The DCA gave me a unique opportunity to distill my abstract thoughts, which emerged during daily research, into a systematic plan.”

An interview with Yujia Qing (University of Oxford, UK), the winner of the Dream Chemistry Award 2019 with the project “Sequencing Life”.

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5

December

2019

Prague

Dream Chemistry Award 2019 goes to Yujia Qing of University of Oxford

Yujia Qing of University of Oxford has won the 2019 Dream Chemistry Award, an international competition for young scientists that took place on 2-3 December 2019, at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague). In addition to the Dream Chemistry Award statuette, the winner also received two monetary prizes totaling €11,000.

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4

December

2018

Warsaw

Dr. Eric Daniel Glowacki with the Dream Chemistry Award 2018

The winner of the global Dream Chemistry Award competition this year is Dr. Eric Daniel Glowacki from the Linköping University. The Scientific Committee awarding the prize praised the laureate's project on catalysts for the production of clean energy from the hydrogen peroxide.

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10

October

2018

Warsaw

Dream Chemistry Award 2018 knows its Finalists

This year’s edition of the Dream Chemistry Award knows its finalists. The Scientific Committee selected top 5 candidates and their projects and invited the authors to Warsaw, Poland, to the finale of the contest which will be held on 3-4 December 2018.

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6

December

2017

Prague

Winning project of the DCA 2017 focuses on new perspectives for cancer treatment

On 4-5 December 2017, the finale of the international scientific contest Dream Chemistry Award was held in Prague, organized by the leading chemistry institutes of the Czech and Polish Academy of Sciences.

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