The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has awarded one of this year’s Humboldt Research Awards to the chemist Prof. Dr. Richmond Sarpong from the University of California, Berkeley (USA). The nomination came from the Institute of Organic Chemistry.
Since its formation in 1953, the Humboldt Foundation has been able to connect international scientists from over 140 countries with German researchers. For his outstanding achievements in research and teaching in his department of chemistry, Professor Sarpong will receive an award of 60,000 Euros as well as an invitation to a research stay in Germany, hosted by the Institute of Organic Chemistry.
Research award recognises internationally leading individuals for their overall work to date
With his outstanding research work, Prof. Sarpong is considered one of the most important and successful scientists in organic chemistry worldwide. His research focuses on natural product chemistry and, more recently, on the development of concepts for rational, AI-assisted design for chemical natural product and drug synthesis. He is the co-founder of the new US-based Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis (C-CAS).
Richmond Sarpong studied chemistry at Macalester College in St. Paul (USA) in the early 1990s, graduated from Princeton University (USA) and subsequently conducted research as a UNCF/Pfizer Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena (USA). He received numerous international prizes and awards, was involved in scientific committees and held visiting professorships in various countries, including Germany.
In 2004, he moved to an assistant professorship at the University of California at Berkeley and attained the title of Full Professor in 2014. In 2018, he was appointed Executive Associate Dean at the College of Chemistry in Berkeley.
Stay in Hanover: joint research and teaching projects
The Humboldt Research Award honours Prof. Sarpong for his achievements and gives him the opportunity for a total of one year research stay in Hanover. He will conduct his research in cooperation with Prof. Kirschning and his colleagues at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, as well as directly interact with students in teaching courses. A first visit to the host institution in Hanover is planned for July 2022.
The researchers at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and the Centre of Biomolecular Drug Research (BMWZ) are looking forward to the collaboration with Prof. Sarpong and to his creative and in every aspect inspiring research approaches. The focus of the collaboration will be on interdisciplinary research topics that combine natural product synthesis with biotechnological methods, especially in the field of terpenes.
In 2017, the Institute of Organic Chemistry welcomed Prof. Varrinder Aggarwal, a previous honoree of the Humboldt Research Award. With Prof. Sarpong, research and teaching on active and natural products at the Leibniz University will welcome another exceptional addition.
