Member Article

£1.5m funding for Nottingham sustainable chemistry post

£1.5m funding for new a Chair in Sustainable Chemistry at The University of Nottingham has been made put forward by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and GlaxoSmithKline.

The position will be based at the planned GSK Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry at the University.

It is part of a wider research agenda into sustainability and green chemistry at the University, and the Chair will have a particular focus on research of relevance to the pharmaceutical industry.

The Chair will be responsible for developing and sharing best practice in green chemistry and catalysing new collaborations with other institutions and industry partners.

It will also be pivotal to successfully attracting top UK academics, postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers to Nottingham, helping to embed sustainable chemistry principle in the next generation of scientists.

On a recent visit to the University, Business Secretary Vince Cable, said: “This appointment will further strengthen links between The University of Nottingham and GlaxoSmithKline, encouraging collaboration on a range of important research.

“It marks another important step in the establishment of the Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry based at the University, which will hopefully come to play an important role in the development and manufacture of new drugs.”

Professor David Delpy, EPSRC Chief Executive said: “The Chair will be pivotal to the UK’s sustainable chemistry research base, leading a collaborative partnership with GSK and other institutions that will put environmental stewardship firmly at the heart of future drug discovery.

“Furthermore, our vision is to provide an innovative, world-leading training framework through this appointment.”

Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK added: “We recognise that the success of the Sustainable Chemistry centre being established at The University of Nottingham will rely on the experts running it.

“That is why we are delighted to collaborate with EPSRC to jointly contribute to the funding of this new Chair.

“This is a great example of the public and private sector working together to find new ways to protect the environment and conserve natural resources for the future.

“We hope this support will enable The University of Nottingham to attract a world class leader, helping to forge stronger links between industry and academia and encourage more young people into science.”

The laboratory building will reflect the emphasis on sustainability, as one of the first labs to be designed to Building Research Establishment Environment Assessment Method (BREEAM) ‘Outstanding’ standard.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .