A University of Birmingham scientist has been awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF) in the School of Chemistry.
Dr Andrew Jupp’s project, ‘Shining Light on N2 Activation: The Photo-induced Functionalisation of Nitrogen Gas’ will explore the generation of commercially relevant nitrogen-containing products, such as dyes and pharmaceuticals, directly from nitrogen gas. The novel approach harnesses the energy in light to form highly reactive compounds that can react with the ‘inert’ gas nitrogen and generate useful products in a sustainable manner.
Dr Jupp said: “It is a huge honour to be awarded this prestigious Fellowship. I’m very excited to launch my independent research group at Birmingham and start tackling this important issue.”
The Royal Society, founded in 1660, is the oldest national scientific institution in the world. Its fundamental purpose is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.
Venki Ramakrishnan, the President of the Royal Society said, “The URF scheme celebrates and rewards high calibre early career scientists throughout the UK and Ireland. While Brexit and the pandemic will have an impact on early career researchers, it is gratifying to see this year’s URF scheme continuing to support talented researchers from around the world. This is vital for sustaining the talent pipeline that the UK’s science and innovation sector relies on. The scheme’s alumni go on to achieve great things within their disciplines, with their research contributing to the advancement of our society.”
Dr Jupp was appointed as a University of Birmingham Fellow in July 2020. His research interests lie at the interface of inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and sustainability. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford (2012-2016) under the supervision of Professor Jose Goicoechea. He worked on phosphorus analogues of the cyanate anion and urea, for which he was awarded the Reaxys Ph.D. Prize in Hong Kong in 2015. He subsequently carried out a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship with Professor Doug Stephan at the University of Toronto (2016-2018), working on the synthesis and reactivity of main-group Lewis acids and bases, and the functionalisation of carbon dioxide. In 2018, he became an NWO VENI laureate at the University of Amsterdam, working with Associate Professor Chris Slootweg on the formation of main-group radicals.