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Alumnus Presents New Prize for PhD Students

This year sees the launch of the ???Fraser and Norma Stoddart Prize??? for School of Chemistry PhD graduates.

Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart giving a lecture in 2007

Candidates are expected not only to have demonstrated superior research accomplishments throughout their time at Edinburgh but they should also have contributed to the life of students within the School of Chemistry and beyond.

Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart and his wife Norma, both studied in Chemistry at Edinburgh in the 1960s. Sir Fraser is internationally renowned for his research in one of the most exciting areas of modern science, nanotechnology. He has pioneered the use of mechanically interlocked molecular architectures to create molecular machines, a process he calls ???molecular meccano???.

Norma also obtained a PhD degree in Biochemistry from the Medical School during her time in Edinburgh and then went into post doctoral research in endocrinology. She was an active participant in many activities of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Departments she worked in across the UK and North America until the time of her passing in 2004.

The Fraser and Norma Stoddart Prize honours PhD students who best remind us of the outstanding science, service and humanity that Fraser and Norma have brought to science. We???re delighted that Sir Fraser has instigated this new award recognising both the importance of the scientific and community contributions of our PhD students.

Sir Fraser will be giving a Public Lecture on 27th June in Edinburgh as part of our Tercentenary celebrations. We hope you will be able to attend.

Many of our alumni contribute financially to the work of the School and to the lives of our students. To mark the Tercentenary we have set up a Tercentenary Fund to fund undergraduate student Access Bursaries. Many of our students over the years have benefitted from these bursaries which go towards their maintenance costs, enabling students experiencing financial difficulties to take up their place of admission to study Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.