ICIQ alumnus Dr. Mauro Mato (former PhD student in the Echavarren group)  has won one of the 2021 Alfred R. Bader Award for Student Innovation. This award recognises the work of chemistry graduate students, whose innovative research is making an impact on synthetic organic chemistry and has the potential to advance science in the future. The scientist has received this distinction in recognition for his work in the field of carbene generation, leading to advances in synthetic methodology, including cyclopropanation.

After doing the URV–ICIQ Master in Synthesis, Catalysis and Molecular Design, Dr. Mato started his PhD at the Echavarren group and in July 2021 he defended his thesis focused on the development of new carbene precursors. “Thanks to the carbene precursors developed during the thesis, we’re now able to access a wide range of complex structures that can also have biological activity,” explains Dr. Mato.

Together with students from Princeton University, the University of Chicago and the University of California Los Angeles, Dr. Mato will present his research at the virtual Chemistry Symposium on November 4rth. Register for the Bader Student Chemistry Symposium here.

Since 2005, the Bader Award supports the next generation of scientists by building on the legacy of Alfred R. Bader, who was one of the foremost chemical innovators of his time. As co-founder of Aldrich Chemical Company, which later became Sigma-Aldrich now part of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Bader was committed to scientific collaboration and valued high-quality innovative products.