M.A. Blanco Prize

Dr. Eduard Matito

The Miguel A. Blanco International Prize for Early Career Work in Charge Density 2018 (Inaugural) Laureate is

Dr. Eduard Matito i Gras

for his original and outstanding contributions in the development of new quantum mechanical methods and of new descriptors of chemical behaviour based on the electron and electron pair density distributions

 

SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:

Eduard Matito i Gras (b. 1980, Girona) obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Girona, under the supervision of Profs. Solà and Duran. His thesis was devoted to the development of new tools for chemical bonding analysis and aromaticity. As a postdoc he worked with Prof. Christiansen (Univ. Aarhus, 2007-2009), Prof. Cioslowski (Univ. Szczecin, 2009-2011) and Profs. López and Ugalde (UPV/EHU, 2011). From 2012 to 2015 was employed at the Univ. Girona, where he started his own group. Since 2015, he holds an Ikerbasque tenure-track position at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), where he supervises five PhD students and a postdoc. His research topics include method development, chemical bonding analysis and aromaticity. He is author of ca. 90 publications to date (2018).

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The Inaugural Miguel A. Blanco International Prize for Early Career Work in Charge Density

MiguelBlanco

Call for Nominations

 

We are pleased to announce the inaugural Miguel A. Blanco Prize to be presented at the Sagamore 2018

 

Conference.

To honor the memory of Prof. Miguel Blanco and to celebrate his work, the Miguel A. Blanco International Prize for Early Career Work in Charge Density will be awarded to one early-career scientists at Sagamore conferences with the inaugural prize to be awarded in Sagamore 2018 to be held in Halifax, Canada.

The Prize:

  • A framed Prize Diploma including a short citation explaining the basis upon which the prize has been awarded in relation to the contributions of the winner.
  • A 20 minute Award Lecture at the Sagamore Conference along with an “Invited Poster” by the Award winner.
  • A wide announcement to the community via email, social media, newswires and the like. Announcement is to be made by mid June 2018.
  • A financial reimbursement of the registration fee in the form of a cheque payable to the winner while at the conference.

Eligibility:

  • This prize is open to any person regardless of national origin, gender, age, etc.
  • The nominee should be an “early-career scientist”, typically no more than 8-10 years removed from receiving the Ph.D. degree. Family/maternity leave or other delays in a person’s research career can be considered if clearly indicated in nomination letter.
  • Self-nomination or nomination by others are accepted.
  • Topics considered for this award falls under “Quantum Crystallography” broadly defined. Specifically, this include, but not necessarily limited to, experimental and theoretical determination and analysis of the charge, spin, or momentum densities in crystals and/or in isolated molecules, Quantum Chemical Topology, Bader’s Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM), experimentally constrained wavefunction or density matrices, etc., with emphasis that could range on fundamental aspects, method development, and/or application.
  • Emphasis will be on originality, high quality, and impact of the work.

Nomination Guidelines/Procedures:

  1. cover letter of at most 3 pages, explaining the significance of the nominee’s research in the context of this award, and the contribution of the nominee to work that was co-authored with others. The innovation and potential impact of the work should be clearly indicated, and the potential of the nominee to becoming a leading scholar should be addressed.
  2. CV of the nominee with a full list of publications.
  3. Three sample publications that represent the best work by the candidate.
  4. OPTIONAL: Up to a maximum of two additional letters of support from scientists in the field. These confidential letters should be sent directly by email to the Chair of the Miguel Blanco Prize Selection Committee Dr. Carlo Gatti ([email protected]) preferably as one pdf file of a reasonable size.
  • It is the responsibility of the nominator to ensure that the whole package including the letters of support are received by the deadline (15 May 2018).
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: The main Organizers of Sagamore 2018 (Chérif F. Matta and Paul W. Ayers) are not involved in any way in the nomination, recommendation, selection, or vote regarding this prize – they will not even be informed about the identities of the nominees – and should not be contacted regarding this competition. The Organizers will only make the final announcement when the decision is communicated to them by the Chair of the Selection Committee. All communication about this prize should be with the Chair of the Prize Selection Committee Dr. Carlo Gatti ([email protected]).

The deliberations and individual votes of the committee will remain strictly confidential and its decision cannot be appealed. 

Miguel Blanco Prize 2018 Selection Committee:

Miguel A. Blanco (1969-2010) (formerly of the Departamento de Química Física y Analítica, Facultad de Química, Universidad de Oviedo) was one of the most innovative and original theorists of his generation. In his short career, he left a mark on the field of charge density research through several important contributions. Miguel’s premature death has deprived the community from not only from his scientific brilliance, but from his generous personality.