Since its initiation in 2011, the prestigious Clara Immerwahr Award has attracted numerous high-quality applications from excellent female scientists at the early stage of their careers. This time, due to the outstanding achievements of the applicants, two young researchers receive the 2021 Clara Immerwahr Award: Dr. Michelle Browne, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and Dr. Daria Ruth Galimberti, Radboud University, The Netherlands.
Each recipient will be awarded the full award to advance their studies in catalysis at a research stay at UniSysCat with the aim to establish close collaborative links with UniSysCat working groups. Congratulations!
Dr. Michelle Browne completed her PhD in electrochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland in 2017. After several postdoctoral fellowships abroad, Dr. Browne currently studies 2D and layered materials as catalysts for water splitting, fuel cells and supercapacitors as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow in Trinity College Dublin. She is a reviewer for major publishing houses, was named one of the ‘Most Outstanding Reviewers for Journal of Materials Chemistry A’ in 2018 and is a representative for the Royal Society of Chemistry Electrochemistry Group. Dr. Browne also has a particular interest in inspiring young women in science and serves as the Outreach Editor for ‘Applied Materials Today’.
Dr. Daria Galimberti is a materials engineer with a PhD from Politecnico Milano, Italy (Prof. Chiara Castiglioni) in 2016. At the time of the application, she was a Humboldt research fellow at the Humboldt University Berlin (Prof. Joachim Sauer). Since November 2020, Dr. Galimberti is a tenure track assistant professor at the Institute for Molecules and Materials at Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. As an expert in the use of density functional theory molecular dynamics (DFT-MD) simulations, she looks back onto intensive research in the development and application of tools to characterize the physical and chemical properties of solid-air, water-air, and water-solid interfaces. Dr. Galimberti aims to continue in this field to investigate and understand the molecular reasons behind the catalytic role of such interfaces in natural and industrial processes.
We are looking forward to an exciting and collaborative research exchange with both Dr. Galimberti and Dr. Browne in the spirit of the Clara Immerwahr Award. The excellent awardees are also role models to future female scientists and as such inspire young women and girls to pursue a career in this field. They will share their experiences with fellow female scientists at a virtual meeting with EC²/BIG-NSE postgraduates. Dr. Galimberti and Dr. Browne are further invited to expand on their careers, research and current studies at the Award ceremony on April 23, 2021. Details regarding this event will follow.