Category: Informasjon
Update on Biogas research at TCLS this week
TCLS this week focused on Biogas; the gas mixture of methane (50-70%) and carbon dioxide (50-30%) that many of the local buses use for fuel. Assoc. Prof. Vasan Sivalingam and PhD-student Gudny Flatabø visited from Department of Process, Energy and Environmental Technology at the University of South-Eastern Norway (https://www.usn.no/english/about/contact-us/employees/vasan-sivalingam), and Vasan presented his research on how to advance methane yield in biogas by integration of fermentation of syngas (mixture of H2, CO2 & CO) and microbial electrosynthesis (MES). In return, Stian Hegdahl, phd-student at our department, explored and explained how to wrestle bio-oil from residues from the biogas production. He also exemplified the fate of pharmaceutical drugs when exposed to conditions needed for hydrothermal conversion of feedstock to make Bio-Oil.
Click- chemistry wins the Nobel prize
The Nobel prize this year is split equally between K. Barry Sharpless (Scripps Research, USA), Morten Meldal (Københavns universitet) and Carolyn R. Bertozzi (Stanford U., USA); the two first for laying the foundations of click chemistry, and prof. Bertozzi for putting it to good use in mapping living cells.
The principle of click chemistry is illustrated in the scheme, ”© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences”. The reaction between an azide and an alkyne, in the presence of catalytic amounts of copper, produces quickly and without byproducts the corresponding substituted triazole, even in water and in the presence of air.
For a pop-sci introduction to this fascinating topic, please go here. A more in-depth exposition is to be found here.
It should be mentioned that this is prof. Sharpless´ second Nobel prize in chemistry. He also won in 2001, for his contributions to the development of «broadly useful and commercially viable catalytic oxidation chemistry for the selective production of bioactive chiral molecules.»
Welcome back to an exciting new academic year!
Hopefully you have all experienced an enjoyable summer vacation and that you have managed to dispose of stress hormones earned during the Spring term, and also stored up energy, ideas and inspiration to invest in the new academic year!
Foto/ill.: Eivind Senneset
This week we are receiving new and returning students in chemistry, nanotechnology, medicinal technology, pharmacy, energy studies and in the teacher education, to name those programs where chemistry is most heavily invested. As for numbers, the chemistry program is bouncing back very nicely and we expect to fill all the places offered with well motivated students. Nanotechnology is also looking promising, and the Med-tech program gives medicine, odontology and psychology a real competition for which program is the hardest to get accepted into!
Choosing UiB and our programs is a strong expression of trust which translates into a great responsibility. We accept this responsibility with dedication to quality in our study programs, both in the individual courses, the programs, and the social learning environment. Let us continue the proud tradition of the Chemistry Department in welcoming the students in a friendly, helpful and efficient manner!
Welcome, Kangkang!
Kangkang Wang is a PhD candidate recruited for the CompFish project at the Xinjiang University. He is conducting a one-year exchange stay at the Department of Chemistry, UiB. 
During this period, he is going to study adsorption of organic pollutants on microplastics and develop new analytical method for quantitively evaluation of microplastics in fish tissues. His research will answer the following questions about microplastics: (1) what is the adsorption mechanism of dyes on nylon microplastics; (2) is there differences for fresh microplastics and aged ones on the adsorption behavior; (3) how does the adsorption affect by the sizes of microplastics; (4) if fluorescence and GPC can be used to quantify microplastics in fish tissue.
Welcome to our new Research Advisor and PhD Coordinator, Torill Andersen Eidsvaag!
Bergenser og UiB alumn. Jeg har en bachelor i fysikk fra UiB og en master i forskningsformidling fra University of the West of England i Bristol. Jeg har jobbet ved UiB i snart åtte år, først i studieseksjonen ved MN-fakultetet og de siste tre årene som koordinator for UiB sin havvindsatsning, Bergen Offshore Wind Centre (BOW). I studieseksjonen har jeg jobbet hovedsakelig med vitnemål og internasjonalisering. Ved BOW har jeg hatt mange roller og vært med på å bygge opp senteret sammen med faglig ledelse. Jeg brenner for å skape gode rammer og godt miljø rundt forskning og utdanning og jeg gleder meg veldig til å bli kjent med dere på Kjemisk institutt!
Bergenser and UiB alumnus. I have a bachelor’s in physics from UiB and a master’s in research communication from the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol. I have worked at UiB for almost eight years, first in the study section at the MN faculty and for the last three years as coordinator for UiB’s offshore wind initiative, Bergen Offshore Wind Center (BOW). In the study section, I have mainly worked with diplomas and internationalisation. At BOW, I have had many roles and helped to build up the center together with professional management. I am passionate about creating good frameworks and a good environment around research and education and I am very much looking forward to getting to know you at the Department of Chemistry!
Vennlig hilsen Torill
Extra call by the L. Meltzers foundation
Meltzer Research Fund has made additional funds available this year, and the university has now released an extraordinary call for applications.
The funding database will open on 14 February, and scientific staff can then apply to cover costs in the following categories:
- Small research infrastructure. Up to NOK 200,000.
- Minor research funds. Up to NOK 100,000.
- Organizing scientific conferences, workshops etc. Up to NOK 200,000.
Please read carefully the instructions and find the application form here.
Deadline: 18 March 2022
Seminar in bioinformatics on Monday May 31 — part of hiring process
The five top candidates to fill a vacancy at Department of Chemistry and CBU as faculty member in bioinformatics will present their research and research plans to a broad audience on Monday, May 31. The event is organized as a digital seminar, please follow the link. This will take you to a waiting room. Please attend with your full name in order to be allowed entry.
09.00 Welcome
09.05 Prashanth Athri – Director at CubeBio, AI in drug discovery
09.35 Vishwesh Venkatraman – Researcher, NTNU
10.05 Antonella Di Pizio – Leader of Molecular Modeling group at the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich
10.35 Markus Miettinen – Leader of the High-Fidelity Biomolecular Modelling Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam
11.05 Enrico Riccardi – Researcher at Section of Machine learning, Department of Informatics, UiO, Oslo
11.45 Closing
Valg på nye instituttrådmedlemmer til Kjemisk institutt våren 2021 / Election of board members to the department board at the Department of Chemistry – spring 2021
Det er i år valg til instituttrådet for gruppe A (fast ansatte i undervisnings- og forskerstilling), gruppe B (midlertidig tilsatte i undervisnings- og forskerstilling), gruppe C (ansatte i tekniske og administrative stillinger) og gruppe D (studenter).
Kandidatene i gruppe B og D blir valgt for perioden 1.8.2021-31.7.2022. Kandidatene i gruppe A og C blir valgt for perioden 1.8.21-31.7.25.
Har du lyst til å stille, eller kjenner du noen som har lyst til å stille til valg, så vil Kari Nordvik gjerne høre fra deg!
Frist for å melde inn kandidater er 23. mars kl. 12:00
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Members representing all groups (staff and students) to the Department Board are to be elected for the period of – group B and D 1.8.2021-31.7.2022, group A and C 1.8.21-31.7.2025.
Do you want to run as a candidate, or to you know someone who do – please let us know!
Contact Kari.Nordvik@uib.no
Deadline for the nomination of candidates is 23. March, 12:00PM
UiB idé – Do you have a good idea? Seek support!
UiB idé gives employees and students the possibility to apply for economic support for good innovation ideas, which must be developed and tested before they can be further developed.
For an idea to be innovative, it must be novel, create value and respond to specific needs from a certain user group, or from society in general. Good ideas are found in all professional environments, and can become social innovations, public sector innovations, process innovations, commercialization projects or other types of innovation.
With UiB idé, UiB has a program that can support your idea with both advice and funding, to help you to reach your goal.
The maximum funding amount is NOK 500,000 for researcher projects, and NOK 100,000 for student projects. The application deadline is 6 April 2021, and the project must be completed by December 2021. For the pilot year 2021, the total program budget is around NOK 2,000,000.
You can read more about the call and application procedure at the UiB idé webpage.
