05-13 Chem Highlights AMEND:Chem news - University of York

Chem
A NEWSLETTER FOR OUR
CHEMISTRY UNDERGRADUATES
Top five position for
Chemistry, times two
The Department of Chemistry was ranked
5th (out of 50) in both the Times University
Guide 2013 and the Guardian University
Guide 2013. The tables, which are based
on factors such as student satisfaction
and research quality, rank both subjects
(departments) and universities as a
whole. For Chemistry, we achieved highly
impressive overall scores of 89.4% and
86.1%. Professor Richard Taylor noted,
“Members of the Department of
Chemistry at York are very proud
of our longstanding reputation
for excellence in both research
and teaching. To come in the top five
UK Chemistry Departments in both the
Guardian and Times league tables, once
again, is a tremendous achievement.
And most importantly from my viewpoint,
York has the highest student satisfaction
rating of any department in the top 5
of the tables (99% in the Guardian
University Guide 2013).”
Renaming our colleges
All incoming first years are guaranteed
university accommodation and, in
previous years, some students have been
living in a college with a different name
to their Chemistry teaching college. For
example, they could be living in Alcuin
College and taught in James College
Chemistry group. As all our teaching
takes place in the Department of
Chemistry this was not a problem,
but it can be confusing to new students.
Consequently,
this year,
we decided to
rename our
eight Chemistry
teaching
colleges and
our students
voted to
name them
after famous
chemists.
Feb 2013
Building on our success
Chemistry at York has had another
fantastic year and we are very proud
of all our notable achievements in both
teaching and research, and of the numerous
prizes awarded to our Chemistry staff
for their outstanding successes.
As part of a £29 million
investment in Chemistry, we
have recently completed the
construction of the Dorothy
Hodgkin Research Building
(pictured), and have just started
work on a new £10 million
facility, which will house a new
and extensive undergraduate
teaching laboratory, together
with our Green Chemistry Centre of
Excellence. Work has also just started on a
new dedicated laboratory for atmospheric
chemistry. In addition, over the summer,
we have collaborated with the Departments
of Biology and Psychology to open new
research facilities (the Biorenewables
Development Centre and the Centre for
Hyperpolarisation in Magnetic Resonance)
in the adjacent Science Park.
We continue to innovate and refresh
our teaching programmes, whether
it be introducing new option courses,
new year-abroad placements, or investing in
additional teaching resources and facilities.
This includes the opening of a new
undergraduate common room and study area
for our Chemistry students, and an investment
to provide free copies of our year
1 recommended textbook, and
an electronic chemical drawing
package, to all new students.
We have also introduced a new
Careers in Chemistry website to
help our students develop and
articulate their own ‘employability
path’ and to assist in the search for
jobs after graduation. The wide
range of transferable skills sessions
that are integrated into the undergraduate
programme also strengthen job applications
as does work experience – and the expansion
of the chemistry research vacation bursary
scheme, where students carry out chemical
research over the summer, has proved
particularly popular.
I hope this newsletter will help to convey
some of the exciting developments and
wonderful opportunities that Chemistry
at York offers.
Professor Richard Taylor,
Head of Department
Opening of undergraduate common room
The opening ceremony
(notice the orange colour scheme!)
Professor Richard Taylor cut the ribbon on 12 November to
mark the opening of our Chemistry undergraduate common room
and study area. With comfy seats, beanbags, a whiteboard and
chalkboard, and study spaces, the area was designed through
consultation with our student chemical society, ChemSoc.
The common room was instigated following a suggestion
from some of our undergraduate students, at our Staff-Student
Committee. The Committee serves as a formal and important
channel between students and staff. Student feedback
provides valuable input to the review and development of
our Chemistry courses and inclusion of the additional social
space is another example of how the Department has
responded positively to issues raised by our students.
“We hope that our undergraduate chemists will enjoy
using this space, whether it be for a place to sit and chat
over lunch, for doing some private study, or for holding
peer-mentoring activities, such as revision classes.”
Dr Andrew Parsons, Deputy Head of Department

Student
feedback
Feedback from our
students plays an
important role in helping
us to improve our
teaching and the student
experience. We seek feedback in different
ways, from representation of students on
various departmental committees, to
completion of online feedback forms, to
informal discussions with members of
staff. Academic staff review the feedback
and for every course a report is compiled,
summarising what feedback was obtained
and any actions to be undertaken. This
year, as well as providing the reports
online, we have displayed them in the
department for all to see.
“Overall I think the Department
of Chemistry is brilliant. Topics
are interesting and well taught.
I’m very glad to be studying here.”
Quote from a current student
Best department
for supervision
The Department was awarded the highly
competitive ‘Best Department’ prize
at the ‘Supervisor of the Year’ awards
organised by York University Students’
Union (YUSU). Students across the
university were able to nominate their
personal supervisors for an award,
and based on the number and quality
of nominations, the awarding panel
recognised the whole Chemistry
department as providing the very
best supervision of its undergraduate
students. This reflects the results of the
2011 National Student Survey in which
93% of York Chemistry students felt they
received good advice and support with
their studies. Our pastoral supervision of
students is supported by our small group
teaching system based on chemistry
colleges, which allows students to
build their chemistry knowledge in a
supportive environment, and develop
an excellent understanding with their
college tutors.
Nominated chemistry supervisors
Chemistry@York February 2013
Research
Highlights
York insulin chemists in
anniversary breakthrough
Chemists in our YSBL group are part
of an international team that has
established the first three-dimensional
insight into the complex way the
insulin hormone binds to its receptor
on cell surfaces. The study is published
in the journal Nature, 90 years after
the discovery of insulin, and 43 years
after determination of the crystal
structure of the hormone by Dorothy
Hodgkin. This first demonstration
of insulin/insulin-receptor
interaction will potentially assist
insulin modification to develop more
effective hormone therapies for
treating diabetes, a disease that is a
growing burden in both developed
and developing societies.
‘Mining’ for metals
using Nature’s machines
Researchers in the University’s Green
Chemistry Centre of Excellence and the
Centre for Novel Agricultural Products
(CNAP) aim to develop ways to extract
platinum group metals (PGM) discarded
during mine processing which might then
be used in catalysis. The research will
investigate “phyto-mining”, which
involves growing plants on mine waste
materials to sponge up PGM into their
cellular structure. Initial studies show that
plant cells used to phyto-mine PGM can
be turned into materials for a variety of
industrial applications – the one in most
demand being catalytic converters for
vehicle emissions control.
New study reveals gas that
triggers ozone destruction
Chemists at York and Leeds have made a
significant discovery about the cause
of the destruction of ozone over oceans.
They have established that the majority
of ozone-depleting iodine oxide
observed over the remote ocean comes
from a previously unknown marine
source. The research team found that
the principal source of iodine oxide
can be explained by emissions of
hypoiodous acid (HOI) – a gas not yet
considered as being released from the
ocean – along with a contribution from
molecular iodine (I 2 ). This new research,
which is published in Nature Geoscience,
builds on an earlier study which showed
that reactive iodine, along with bromine,
in the atmosphere is responsible for the
destruction of vast amounts of ozone –
around 50 per cent more than predicted
by the world’s most advanced climate
models – in the lower atmosphere over
the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
New partnership to ‘accelerate’ evaluation of chemical reactions
The Department has agreed a new partnership with a Swiss-based technology company
to modernise the way chemical reactions are screened and evaluated. Under the new
partnership with Chemspeed Technologies, the company will invest £750,000 to provide
two robotic platforms to be housed in our Dorothy Hodgkin research building.
“Accelerating the speed and increasing the number of experiments
is a critical factor in research and development. The higher output,
especially testing a greater number of experimental variables, can
leverage the success rate in finding new, greener and cleaner synthetic
methods which are important drivers in research, not only for
academics but also in industry.” Professor Ian Fairlamb
Collagen damage
on a molecular scale
A team of mathematicians, chemists
and archaeologists at York have
come up with a new way to analyse
old bones using mass-spectrometric
methods. The new approach,
developed by Dr Julie Wilson, enables
the rapid assessment of damage in
bone collagen at the scale of single
amino acids. Using this technique the
team mapped a large number of
archaeological bones, revealing that
different residues degrade at different
rates. Excitingly, this method could be
able to date artifacts as old as
1,000,000 years, which is well
beyond that possible for carbon dating.
www.york.ac.uk/Chemistry

Chemistry@York February 2013
Opening of the second phase of the Dorothy Hodgkin Building
A new £9.4 million second phase to a key research
building – the latest stage in a major re-development
programme in the Department of Chemistry – was
opened officially on 31 October. The first phase
was completed in August 2004.
Underscoring York’s enduring link with one of the UK’s
outstanding scientists of the 20th century, the new
facilities were opened by Professor Michael Grätzel, the
Director of the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces
at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in
Switzerland. Before opening the building, Professor
Michael Grätzel gave a public lecture entitled ‘Power
from the Sun, solar cells that mimic photosynthesis’.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brian Cantor, said:
“We take great pride in our association with Dorothy Hodgkin. This exciting
research building, named after her, reflects our commitment to Chemistry
in York. These excellent new facilities will help our talented researchers to
continue their world-leading research and to make discoveries that make a tangible
difference to society.”
The building is constructed on the site of the laboratory where, in her retirement in the
1970s and 1980s, Professor Hodgkin wrote up the findings of a total of more than 30 years’
research into insulin structures carried out principally in Oxford.
For photos taken during the construction:
http://www.york.ac.uk/campus-development/projects/chemistry-e/chemistry/
Biorenewables
Development Centre
– open for business
The Biorenewables Development Centre
(BDC) was officially opened by the
Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary
of State for Business, Industry and Skills,
on 5 July 2012.
The BDC is a 10–100 kg (10–100 litres)
world-class scale-up facility that allows
York researchers to test the most
promising processes for converting
renewables into chemicals and
materials. In this way they can prove
a new process and/or produce enough
product for detailed commercial analysis
and assessment, for example by an
interested company. The BDC is very
much about engaging and working with
industry and is a joint venture between
the Departments of Chemistry (Green
Chemistry) and Biology (CNAP), which
is funded by the ERDF and BIS.
For a video ‘flythrough’:
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=k0ouVH-
_sn0&feature=player_embedded
New Chemical Structures
New atmospheric building
The Department is developing the first
dedicated laboratory building in the UK
for atmospheric chemistry research.
Supported in part by a £1.25M grant
from the Wolfson Foundation, the
facility will co-locate state-of-the-art
global computer modelling facilities
with laboratory science and instrument
technology development plus
calibration and logistics support for
field observations. The Wolfson lab
will bring together the atmospheric
research teams in Chemistry as well as
providing experimental and modelling
infrastructure for interdisciplinary
research across the University.
Opening of refurbished teaching laboratory
The Department has worked closely with the University to remodel and refurbish
part of our undergraduate teaching laboratories – one of the four lobes of teaching
laboratories, an instrument room and a chemical preparation room. All of the work
was completed in time for the start of the 2012–13 academic year.
All areas are equipped with high quality
fumehoods and laboratory furniture,
and there has been a significant
investment in the latest equipment.
Around £150k has been invested in
new state-of-the-art instrumentation,
including infrared spectrometers and
fluorospectrophotometers, together with
£120k in new glassware and equipment.
The refurbishment has also incorporated aspects of modern building design, including
numerous roof light domes, which has allowed natural light to flood into the lab,
giving it a very light and open feel. Professor Richard Taylor noted:
“The refurbished labs will be superb to work in – and now that the
construction of the new teaching labs has started, the new first year
undergraduates will be the envy of students everywhere!”
Looking at demolition and rebuilding
The building will house faculty staff,
post-doctoral researchers, external
research staff including those from the
National Centre for Atmospheric Science
and Defra, as well as postgraduates
and undergraduates undertaking
research projects.
To prepare for our new undergraduate teaching
laboratory and Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence
we have recently demolished an older research building
– you may like to see our short video showing the
demolition works: http://www.york.ac.uk/chemistry/newbuild/
You can also check out the progress of our new
building project, recorded using a webcam:
http://www.york.ac.uk/ chemistry/images/cam/index1.cfm

Undergraduate Chemistry
degrees accredited
The Department is delighted to announce that
all of its undergraduate degree courses have
recently been re-accredited by the
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).
This means that all of our BSc and
MChem degrees are recognised by
the RSC as providing high quality
training and skills in Chemistry. York Chemistry
is one of the very first departments in the UK
to have its BSc degree accredited by the RSC.
As part of the accreditation process,
independent experts carefully scrutinised
our degree programmes. They praised our
‘integrated approach to chemical science
teaching and learning’ and ‘high quality
problem solving experience’ delivered by
a ‘strong cohort of staff’ and the ‘good
range of both traditional and modern
experiments’, which our students carry
out in teaching laboratories. The Department
was particularly commended for its varied
programme to help students develop
transferable skills, which was considered
‘excellent’, and ‘often achieved in
a unique way’.
“The tutorials are always fantastic,
the small group set up means
you can really develop your
understanding and connect with
what your tutor is telling you.”
Quote from a current student
Chemistry@York February 2013
New Chemistry
course pages for KIS
To prepare our website for the introduction
of Key Information Sets (KIS), we recently
revamped the web information for all
16 of our Chemistry degree programmes.
KIS has been designed to meet the
information needs of prospective students
trying to compare different courses
from different Institutions.
For all of our 3-year BSc and 4-year
MChem Chemistry degree programmes
we now have separate web pages, with
specific and detailed information
in each of the following areas:
¬ Overview ¬ Course content
¬ Teaching ¬ Assessment
¬ Careers ¬ Applying
Teaching
Prominence
Teaching Award for
Nigel Lowe
Congratulations to Dr Nigel Lowe
who was awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s
Teaching Award for 2012. Nigel is the
fifth member of the Department of
Chemistry to win an individual
award, which recognises and
rewards excellence in teaching
at York.
The awards panel commended Nigel on
his innovative approaches to transferable
skills teaching across the Department,
and his use of e-learning to support
practical Chemistry. They were also
impressed by his engagement with
the UK chemical education community
through publications and
collaborative projects.
“The feedback I received
on the practical course
was very constructive.”
Quote from a current student
David Smith nominated for
THE ‘Most Innovative Teacher’
Stepping up to chemistry
‘Stepping up to Chemistry’ is a web resource aimed at preuniversity
students, prior to starting their course here at York.
Developed in collaboration with our students, this material
is designed to help students with topics that are generally
found to be the most difficult (based on student feedback)
and to ease the transition to university. We also hope it
will prove useful to our students during their first year of study.
Topics include quantitative chemistry, laboratory practicals,
atoms, ions and quanta, and energetics. For each topic, alongside an introduction,
there are sections that include a summary of key points, useful texts and web resources,
worked examples, and practice problems with outline answers, including video clips
showing walkthroughs of selected answers.
We thank our students who helped develop this project, in particular, Katie Lee who
instigated the project and Elizabeth Wilcock who expanded the material and added
it to the web. Katie developed the material as part of a project in the third year of her
BSc degree, while Elizabeth was awarded a student internship to develop the project
over the summer between the second and third year of her Chemistry degree.
Professor David Smith was nominated for
a Times Higher Education Award as ‘Most
Innovative Teacher’. This nomination
recognises Dave’s novel approaches to
student teaching over a number of years
and in particular his recent innovations
in the use of YouTube, in a project called
‘ITube, YouTube, WeTube, ChemTube’.
Dave has developed a YouTube channel
(http://www.YouTube.com/professordaveatyork)
that aims to explain the organic
chemistry of everyday life. He has also
enabled York undergraduates to engage
with making their own YouTube videos as
part of the assessment for their first year
Macromolecules course. In this way, the
students themselves go on to inspire the
next generation of learners around the
world. Playlists of these student videos
can also be found in Dave’s YouTube
channel.
New appointment
We are delighted to announce that Dr Alison Parkin joined the department as an
Anniversary Research Lecturer in October. Alison’s research explores how transition
metal centres in proteins activate chemical reactions that are essential for life.
“I am having an exciting time as a new member of academic staff.
The whole department has been extremely welcoming and it is
brilliant to share chemistry ideas and challenges with an inspiring
group of research colleagues and enthusiastic undergraduate students.”
www.york.ac.uk/Chemistry
One of our students, Will Ingram, introduces inorganic
polymers on his YouTube video

2012 research
award winners
Dr Fred Antson
Senior Research Fellowship
Wellcome Trust
Prof Gideon Davies
European Research Council
Advanced Grant
Prof Pratibha Gai
Laureate for Europe
L’OREAL-UNESCO
Women in Science Awards
Prof Ally Lewis
Royal Society of Chemistry
John Jeyes Award
Dr Kirsty Penkman
Philip Leverhulme Prize
The Leverhulme Trust
Prof David Smith
Royal Society of Chemistry
Corday-Morgan Prize
Prof Richard Taylor
Royal Society of Chemistry
RSC Natural Product
Chemistry Award
Cantor Nanoscience Lecture
given by Nobel Laureate
On 25 May, Dr Venki Ramakrishnan,
(Nobel Laureate and MRC Laboratory
of Molecular Biology, Cambridge) gave
the Cantor Nanoscience lecture: How
antibiotics illuminate ribosome function
and vice versa. In 2000, his laboratory
determined the atomic structure of the
30S ribosomal subunit and its complexes
with ligands and antibiotics. This work
has led to insights into how the ribosome
‘reads’ the genetic code, as well as into
various aspects of antibiotic function.
For this work, he shared the 2009
Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
After the lecture, the Vice Chancellor
awarded a book prize to 3 students who
had performed particularly well in their
first year; Edward Matthews received
the Chemistry prize (pictured below).
Chem Highlights Feb 2013
Research Funding
Chemists Awarded
£800k EPSRC grant
Professors Simon Duckett and
Robin Perutz were recently awarded
an Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) grant worth
£800,000. The grant, entitled “Reaction
monitoring on micro-second timescales
by nuclear magnetic resonance: aiming
for a paradigm shift in the study of
reaction mechanisms”, will start
in early 2013 and run for 4 years.
New scanning technology aims to achieve
quicker diagnosis of disease
York chemist awarded
£480K for soft materials
research
Professor David Smith has been
awarded €575,000 as part of the
€4.1 million EU-funded network
SMART-NET (Soft Materials Advanced
Research and Training Network).
Over the next four years, this network
will support the training of 12
PhD students across a network
of six universities from the UK,
Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy,
and 3 postdoctoral researchers
based in partner companies and
government agencies.
York chemist awarded
£1.8M from MRC
Dr Marek Brzozowski, from our YSBL
group, has been awarded £1.8M from
the Medical Research Council (MRC)
to investigate the interplay between
diabetes and cancer. This is an
interdisciplinary and international
programme that targets the key
molecular contacts at the insulin
receptor complex. The programme
has a two-tier approach combining
fundamental and applied research.
In the very long term, it is envisaged
that the research will be relevant
to experimental and even clinical
intervention of both metabolic and
mitogenic (cancer-related) pathways.
Professor Simon Duckett is working on new technology that could revolutionise the
way in which Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans are used to view the molecular
events behind diseases like Alzheimer’s, without invasive procedure, by increasing
the sensitivity of an average hospital scanner by 200,000 times. The technology
underpinning this project, SABRE (Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange), has
received a £3.6M Strategic Award from the Wellcome Trust. The new grant brings
the total support for SABRE from the Wellcome Trust, the Wolfson Foundation,
Bruker Biospin, the University of York and the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) to over £12.5M in the last three years.
http://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/features/hyperpolarisation/
Chemists awarded a
€2.3 million research grant
Professors Gideon Davies and
Paul Walton have been awarded a
€2.3 million research grant from the
European Research Agency-Industrial
Biotechnology initiative. The project,
which is led from York, has partners in
Copenhagen, Marseille and Cambridge.
It aims to bring together expertise in
molecular biology, inorganic chemistry,
genomics, analysis and industry to
explore the significant opportunities for
bioethanol production created by the
recent discovery of GH61 enzymes.
A spacefilling
model of
ethanol
www.york.ac.uk/Chemistry

Chem Highlights Feb 2013
NEW advanced organic synthesis option
As part of a continuing commitment to refresh and revise our
undergraduate degree programmes, we have recently introduced a
new third year option called Advanced Synthesis – From Nature to
the Lab. First, the module outlines how biological systems achieve
the synthesis of complex natural products. Advanced retrosynthesis
is then covered, followed by aspects of stereoselective synthesis, and
finally, approaches to prepare nitrogen-containing functional groups
present in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. January saw the launch of this new
module which has proven to be extremely popular, with nearly 90 students on the course.
It is led by Peter O’Brien, one of our organic chemistry professors, who says:
“This is a fantastic and exciting addition to our organic chemistry teaching,
focusing on how complex molecules are synthesised. It is ideal preparation
for students who are planning a
4th year in the pharmaceutical industry.”
Short-listed for
Outstanding Departmental
Administration Team
The National Student Survey (NSS)
runs until the end of April 2013 and we
encourage all chemists in the final year
of their course to complete the survey.
This year the Student Hardship fund will
receive £1 for every survey completed.
The University of York has an
outstanding reputation for teaching
and research, featuring consistently in
the top few places in the league tables
of UK universities, and we hope that
this continues for next year.
Following on from last year’s NSS we
will be improving the way we inform
students of our actions to their
feedback. This includes asking module
coordinators to detail the changes to
a given course on the basis of student
feedback and this information will
be published (e.g. on a noticeboard
and/or online).
Record breaking placements
This summer, a record
number of over 50 of
our students will be
spending a Year in
Industry. The Chemical
Industry seems to
appreciate the extra
maturity and the enhanced background
in Chemistry shown by our Year 4 students.
Dr Brian Grievson, our year in
industry co-ordinator noted: “The
future of our MChem(Industry)
scheme looks very healthy,
which is fantastic news for students
considering York as a place to study.”
The Department of Chemistry Administration
Team were shortlisted for the Outstanding
Departmental Administration Team at the
Times Higher Education (THE) Leadership
and Management Awards 2012. The team
were short-listed for their exceptional
communication, co-operation and strong
team spirit, which underpin all the activities
within the Department. In 2012, the team
brought in innovative procedures and
processes to provide examples of best
practice across the University and HE sector,
with many innovations being adopted
by other departments.
Professor Brian Fulton, Academic
Coordinator for the Sciences, says:
“The Chemistry Admin team are
known throughout the University
for their professionalism, attention
to detail and innovative practices, and
a key part of operating such a large
and vibrant Department.”
York Graduation July 2013
The Chemistry Graduation Ceremony
will be held on Wednesday 10 July 2013
at 3.30pm.
50 years of changing the world
Follow the QR code
for a reflection on
the University’s
first 5 decades. See
photos of student
life in the 1960s!
Useful Links:
The Careers Service
www.york.ac.uk/services/careers/index.cfm
The Careers Service is for all University
of York students (undergraduates and
postgraduates of all years and subjects
of study) and graduates. This service
can help our students think about
their future career, with advice and
information about the options open
to them. For example, current students
can attend recruitment events and
workshops on aspects of job search,
whereas recent graduates can access
individual careers guidance interviews.
The Careers Service is on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/yorkcareersv=info:
Chemistry Alumni
www.york.ac.uk/chemistry/alumni/
Following graduation, the Department
is very keen to keep in touch with its
former students. We’d like to hear about
their employment news, job changes,
personal achievements, life changes
and any other news that they may have.
Our alumni can interact with us in
a variety of ways, including attending
our research seminars or Open Days,
talking about their careers to our
undergraduate students at careers
events, or contributing to Chemistry
Review, a full colour magazine
for post-16 chemists, which is
commissioned and edited at York.
Professor Dave’s Podcasts
Professor David Smith has produced a
series of podcasts on amazing molecules,
which can be viewed on youtube.
For the latest podcast by
ProfessorDaveatYork,
“Bad Pharma Good Pharma – a response
to Ben Goldacre’s book Bad Pharma and
his campaigning on the issue”, see:
www.youtube.com/user/
ProfessorDaveatYorkob=0
Find out about the latest news in the
department using twitter:
http://twitter.com/chemistryatyork
Website:
www.york.ac.uk/chemistry
Admissions:
undergraduate:
chem-ugrad@york.ac.uk
postgraduate:
chemgrad@york.ac.uk