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Prof. Rickhaus brings home a prestigious SNSF Starting Grant 2023

Prof. Michel Rickhaus. 2023 UNIGE.Ìý

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Professor Michel Rickhaus from the Department ofÌýOrganicÌýChemistry brings home a prestigious SNSF Starting Grant 2023.ÌýThis success comes on the heels of his call to the AV¶ÌÊÓƵ and the award of a fellowship by the Sandoz Family Foundation.ÌýThe grant has a budget of .

Professor Rickhaus is a molecular architect, who bends and twists small molecules into precisely defined 3D shapes. Those then come together to create superstructures with unique abilities like transporting charge and light.ÌýWhat sets theseÌýsystems apart is their dynamic natureÌý—they can react to their surroundingsÌýand stimuli, beÌýrecycled, andÌýself-heal.ÌýA key driver forÌýProfessor RickhausÌýis emergence: that the (functional) ensemble is more than the sum of its members.ÌýHisÌýgroundbreaking work not only delves into the synthesis of molecular architectures but also explores theirÌýtransformative potential as next-generation materials

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Biography

Michel Rickhaus (*1985, Switzerland) received his Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from the AV¶ÌÊÓƵ of Basel (2011, with honours). During that time, he was working with Prof. Lawrence T. Scott in Boston College (USA, 2010) as a visiting scholar, before beginning his PhD studies with Prof. Marcel Mayor (2011-2015,Ìýsumma cum laude) at the AV¶ÌÊÓƵ of Basel on helical polyaromatics. He then joined Dr. med. Johannes Beck as a research associate (2015-2016, Swiss Civil Service) working on depression predictors in sleep stages. From 2016 to 2019, Michel was a SNSF funded postdoctoral researcher at Oxford AV¶ÌÊÓƵ with Prof. Harry L. Anderson investigating non-planar Ï€-conjugation in porphyrin rings and related topologies. In August 2019, Michel started his independent research as group leader (SNSF Ambizione) at the AV¶ÌÊÓƵ of Zurich. In August 2023,Ìýfollowing his call to the AV¶ÌÊÓƵ, Michel has begun his position at the AV¶ÌÊÓƵ as a Sandoz assistant professor for organic chemistry.

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