News

A new research publication authored by BGSI's Founding Director and Associate Director, Omar M. Yaghi and Kyle E. Cordova, together with BGSI scholars Steven J. Lyle and Robinson W. Flaig has been accepted in the Journal of Chemical Education. This work details three new experiments adoptable for use in undergraduate chemistry curricula. The objective was to provide more resources to university teaching staff for implementing state-of-the-art chemistry topics in their laboratory classes.

Congratulations to Steven, Robinson and the BGSI team!

Dr. Alejandro Fracaroli, a leading scholar from our partnering global science center, SuNaLab, Argentina, delivered the first MOF workshop in Peru. The workshop, "Introduction to a New Class of Porous Materials called MOFs and their Applications", was held in the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH), in the city of Lima, Peru.

The first executive education program, 'Global Frontiers in Science and Technology, organized by BGSI was a smash success. Over the course of a week, 30 international business executives visited UC Berkeley to hear from the university's top scholars on topics ranging from genome editing, nanotechnology, climate change, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Seminars by Profs. Jennifer Doudna, Dan Kammen, Michael Jordan, Peidong Yang, and Douglas S. Clark were the highlights of the week.

SuNaLab in Argentina and Nanoporous Materials Lab in South Korea were awarded a joint grant through CONICET-NRF to work on MOF mesostructures. This grant is an opportunity to strengthen the collaboration between two global science nodes led by Dr. Fracaroli at National University of Cordoba (UNC) and Dr. Kyungmin Choi at Sookmyung Women's University. This collaboration is an example of long-standing scientific relationships established and fostered through the Berkeley Global Science Institute.

Congratulations to Drs. Alejandro and Kyungmin!

From May 7-11, 2018, Associate Director Kyle E. Cordova visited the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and provided multi-day lectures at the  “Workshop on Reticular Materials” held at UNAM's Institute of Chemistry in Mexico City. The workshop was organized as a part of a broader initiative to strengthen the newly established partnership between Berkeley Global Science Institute and UNAM's Institute of Chemistry. Topics presented included: reticular chemistry design and development, structural characterization, and applications of reticular materials. 

Prof. Omar M. Yaghi visited the Saudi Aramco CO₂ Capture and Utilization Chair team at KFUPM as a part of ongoing efforts to perform innovative, high impact research in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During his visit, Prof. Yaghi met with counterparts at Saudi Aramco to present the team's progress in developing new materials for CO₂ capture and utilization applications. Prof. Yaghi also met with the KFUPM team to discuss research progress and to provide scientific mentoring and guidance.

The Israel Chemical Society is holding the 2018 Wolf Prize Symposium on May 30, 2018, which is sponsored, in part, by the Berkeley Global Science Institute. The event, Metal-Directed Assembly and Metal-Organic Frameworks, will honor 2018 Wolf Prize recipients, Prof. Omar M. Yaghi and Prof. Makoto Fujita. Speakers include Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, Prof. Lars Öhrström, Prof. Kimoon Kim, among many other distinguished scholars.

A delegation from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) led by Vice Chancellor Dr. Mohamed Albaili and Dr. Essam A. Abdel-Hafiz (Advisor, Office of the Vice Chancellor) visited UC Berkeley to sign a memorandum of understanding between our institutions. The delegation from UC Berkeley was led by Vice Provost Tsu-Jae King Liu and included Prof. Yaghi and Kyle Cordova. Following the MOU signing, Dr. Albaili and Dr. Abdel-Hafiz visited the Berkeley Global Science Institute, took a tour of the Yaghi group's research labs, and met with Prof. Yaghi and Mr.

Through BGSI's new partnership with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), we are organizing the first collaborative workshop, "Introduction to Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs): Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications", at UNAM in Mexico City from May 7-9, 2018. Associate Director Kyle E. Cordova will give lectures on topics ranging from history, synthesis and characterization, post-synthetic modification, crystal structure solution, topological analysis, and applications with respect to all things reticular chemistry.

Dr. Alejandro Fracaroli, a leading scholar from our partnering global science center, SuNaLab, Argentina, is organizing the first-ever MOF workshop in Peru. This event will take place at Cayetano Heredia University (UPCH) in Lima, Peru from July 9 - 13, 2018.  Dr. Fracaroli will detail the design, synthesis, and uses of reticular materials in applications ranging from the purification of contaminants in gas mixtures, catalysis, biomedical applications (drug capture and release), molecular imaging, and translational medicine.

A new research publication authored by KFUPM Ph.D. student, Mr. Mahmoud M. Abdelnaby, has been accepted in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A. This work detailed the preparation and characterization of a new porous, organic polymer and its performance in separating carbon dioxide from flue gas streams. This project was supervised by Dr. Othman Al-Hamouz and significant contributions were made through collaborations with colleagues throughout KFUPM.

Congratulations to Mahmoud, Othman, and the KFUPM team!

A global team of scientists, led by Prof. Selcuk Demir at Recep Tayyip Erdogan University in Turkey, collaborated to produce an extensive review of bipyridine-functionalized zirconium metal-organic frameworks. Significant contributions were made by researchers at two different centers of global science: (a) MANAR, Vietnam researchers: Dr. Thach Tu, Dr. Ha Lac Nguyen, and Mr. My Nguyen; and (b) RCNN, Indonesia researcher: Dr. Brian Yuliarto.

Associate Director Kyle E. Cordova visited ShanghaiTech University to discuss and promote global science. During the visit, Mr. Cordova visited Prof. Yuebiao Zhang's labs, met with relevant officials to deepen the relationship between the Berkeley Global Science Institute and ShanghaiTech, and gave a seminar to the School of Physical Science and Technology. An added bonus to the visit was a meet-up with Fudan University Professor, and global science advocate, Qiaowei Li as well as 2017 Laboratory Research Experience alumni Fan Zhang, Yan Yu, Liang Shang, Jie Li, and Tianyang Yan.

A delegation from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) led by Dr. William Lee (Director of Scientific Research) and Dr. Jorge Peon (Director of the Institute of Chemistry) visited UC Berkeley to sign a memorandum of understanding between our institutions. The delegation also included Dr. Lena Ruiz Azuara and thirteen young faculty members from UNAM's Institute of Chemistry. Over three days, the delegation met with the Dean of the College of Chemistry, Prof. Douglas S. Clark, Prof.

Berkeley Global Science Institute's Laboratory Research Experience program is a 6-week intensive research experience held annually over the summer in the College of Chemistry's laboratories. This program is designed to engage top, international undergraduate scholars and expose them to cutting-edge research topics.

For the first time, a global science node - to - global science node collaboration has resulted in a joint publication. This work was led by MANAR (Vietnam) researchers, Phuong Nguyen and Huong Nguyen, along with global science affiliate Dr. Felipe Gandara (ICMM-CSIC, Spain).

Through a collaboration with the College of Chemistry, we are excited to announce the second annual Laboratory Research Experience (LRE) program. The LRE program is designed for the top undergraduate scholars who are looking to be mentored by UC Berkeley scientists in research that mirrors the research being carried out in the College of Chemistry. The 2018 summer session will take place July 2 - August 10 at UC Berkeley. Please note: there are only 28 spots available and they will fill up fast!

From November 23-27, 2017, Associate Director Kyle E. Cordova and global science alumni Dr. Ha La Nguyen provided multi-day lectures at the  “Workshop on Metal-Organic Frameworks: Definitions, Synthesis, Characterizations, and Applications” held at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in Indonesia. The workshop was organized by the Research Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (the newest Global Science Node).