News and Events
Research Grant Success
Congratulations to Dr Conor Hogan who has received an ARC Discovery Project grant (with Dr W Shen, A/Prof SD Kolev and Prof G Whitesides) of $500,000 over 3 years for the project "Paper fluidics - A novel approach to low cost printable microsensors".
Max O'Connor Lecture 2009 - Ian McKelvie
The annual Max O'Connor Lecture was awarded to A/Prof. Ian McKelvie (Monash University). The lecture entitled "Flow analysis as a tool for interrogating aquatic biogeochemical processes" was delivered in the Department of Chemistry at La Trobe University on Tuesday 20th October, 2009.
Professor Bob Brownlee awarding A/Professor Ian McKelvie the Max O'Connor Lecture
Congratulations to postgraduate student prize winners
Two prizes were awarded to La Trobe Chemistry students at the recent Intersect09 conference.
Ellen Reid (postgraduate, Hogan lab) won the prize for best student oral presentation. Martin Brzozowski (postgraduate, Abbott/Wilson lab) won the prize for best student poster presentation.
Intersect09 Conference hosted by Chemistry at La Trobe
September 2009
Intersect09 was a joint conference, co-organised by the School of Molecular Sciences (La Trobe University), the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and CSIRO. Pictured below are the conference presenters and organisers.
ACS article for Department of Chemistry
August 2009
We congratulate the Brownlee research group for their article that as been accepted in the high impact, high quality ACS journal,
JCTC (Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation).
The paper is entitled
"Binding of an RNA pol II ligand to the WW domain of Pin1 using Molecular Dynamics docking simulations", authored by C. Ng, D. Oehme, Y. Kato, M. Tanokura and R. Brownlee.
Open Day 2009
August 2009
Open Day 2009 saw the Department showcase some exciting features of chemistry - from liquid nitrogen icypoles to nano-particles!
Chemistry Department Outreach Program
August 2009
Emeritus Professor Bob Brownlee and Rohan Griffith (Northcote High School) presented two workshops on
"Computer molecular modelling" at the Science Teachers Association of Victoria (STAV) and Northcote High School ICT: Science without Limits Conference
on Fri 28 August 2009.
A/Prof Hughes elected as Fellow of RACI
August 2009
We congratulate A/Prof Andrew Hughes on being elected a Fellow of the RACI.
Research Monograph published
August 2009
The first volume of a series edited by Andrew Hughes entitled Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins in Organic Chemistry has been published.
Volume 1 is titled Origins and Synthesis of Amino Acids.
Volume 2 is due to be released in October 2009 and will cover Modified Amino Acids, Organocatalysis and Enzymes.
PhD Scholarships Available
July 2009
Mid-year PhD scholarship are available within the Department of Chemistry. Details are available here, with interested students encouraged to seek an academic supervisor before applying.
Research presentations at Molecular Modeling Conference 2009
July 2009
Research from the Abbott, Brownlee and Wilson groups was presented at MM2009 (Molecular Modeling) on the Gold Coast, Australia, in July 2009. David Wilson presented a talk on theoretical modeling of amino acids in the gas-phase, Daniel Oehme (Brownlee group) presented a poster on molecular dynamics modeling of HIV-1 Protease inhibitors
and Martin Brzozowski presented a poster on results from computational modeling of PDK1 kinase inhibitors (Abbott/Wilson group).
Daniel Oehme and Martin Brzozowski
Students present posters at 2009 Faraday meeting in London
June 2009
Egan Doeven and Greg Barbante presented posters at a Faraday Discussions meeting.
Egan Doeven and Greg Barbante
Four New Academic Staff in 2009
The Department of Chemistry has appointed four new academics to start in 2009.
- Dr Peter Barnard has taken up a position of Lecturer in Chemistry (March 2009).
- Dr Evan Robertson has taken up a position of Senior Lecturer in Chemistry (April 2009).
- Dr Adam Mechler has taken up a position of Senior Lecturer in Chemistry (July 2009).
- Dr Anne Richards has taken up a position as Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, starting in late 2009
Emeritus Professor Brownlee
Congratulations to Professor Brownlee who was conferred Emeritus Professor status.
A function was held on July 2 at La Trobe University.
Emeritus Chemistry Academics: (L-R) Terry Cardwell, Bob Brownlee, John Hill, Bob Cattrall, Jim Morrison and Maureen Mackay.
La Trobe Institute of Molecular Sciences (LIMS) receives $64M funding
13 May 2009
The Institute, a $96M project, received $64M funding from the federal government in the 2009 budget. The new institute will bring together the existing disciplines within the School of Molecular Science. See here for the funding announcement.
New 500MHz NMR
March 2009
The new Bruker machine arrived on March 8, 2009, and is currently being installed in the newly-refurbished lab. Photos coming...
Computer Lab refurbishment
March 2009
Chemistry Computer Lab refurbishment has been completed for our new iMacs (Jan 2009)
Congratulations to postgraduate student prize winners
Two prizes were awarded to La Trobe Chemistry students at the recent R&D topics conference at Macquarie University.
Ellen Reid (postgraduate, Hogan lab) won 2nd prize for her oral presentation, "Enhancing Electrochemiluminescence Detection: New Highly Luminescent Platinum (II) Complexes"
Lindsay Palmer (honours, Hogan lab) won 2nd prize for his Poster presentation entitled "New luminescent materials for sensing applications"
La Trobe Chemistry Book Donation to Thailand
August 2009
The latest batch of Chemistry text Books and Journals has arrived at Maejo University in Chaing Mai Thailand and have been formally accepted by the Dean of Science in Maejo University. The photos show a formal handing over ceremony in the library at Meajo University by Professors R. Brownlee and J. Hill, and a letter of Appreciation from Maejo University.
Including the books and journals sent this year, members of the Department of Chemistry at La Trobe University have donated more than 1500 text books and a 35 year complete journal collection.
April 2009
A consignment of some 900 kg of Books and Journals has been packed for shipment for donation to the Department of Chemistry, Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The shipment consists of donations from 10 members of the La Trobe Chemistry Staff. The donated books and journals are each stamped 'Donation from Chemistry Department/La Trobe University' and are shelved in the Maejo Faculty of Science Library. These shelves are identified with a suitable plaque bearing the La Trobe University inscription.
September 2007
A shipment of some 600 kg of Books and Journals was donated from Chemistry Staff. On that occasion the books were formally donated to the Department of Chemistry, Maejo University, at a ceremony attended by Professors R. Brownlee and J. Hill. The photo below shows Sakchais accepting one of the books on behalf of Maejo University Library.
We welcome anyone wanting to contribute to (or sponsor) this program, whether to aid in the shipping costs, or provide books and/or journals. In the first instance, please contact the Department.
