In 2016, the Solvay Group decided to provide €500,000 in support to the University of Strasbourg to enable the development of top-tier research projectsled by brilliant doctoral students recruited from around the world. This funding was supplemented by €400,000 in co-funding from the Jean-Marie Lehn Foundation.
This “Program of Excellence for the Chemistry of the Future” had two objectives:
For the company, this program also provides an opportunity to strengthen its ties with the academic community and meet promising young talent. As for the award recipients, they benefit from a world-renowned research environment at the European Union’s top university for chemistry*, which maintains close ties with the socio-economic sector.
*2022 Shanghai Ranking.
Solvay Scholarship Recipients Among the Best
applications received from around the world
meetings between the award winners and Solvay
publications resulting from research funded by the fund
The seven recipients of the Solvay Fund were selected from around the world based on their outstanding performance in their master’s programs.
From among the many applications received, a rigorous selection process was conducted by the foundation's external scientific advisory board.
Six years later, the quality of the research conducted by the award recipients speaks for itself: a total of 39 research articles have been published by the seven recipients of the Solvay Fund. This extraordinary scientific productivity is on par with the students’ exceptional backgrounds.
Brilliant research that is also useful in addressing major societal challenges. Their research topics are all related to today’s major issues: sustainable development, health, and new materials.
Chang-Bo Huang developed a prototype of a portable medical monitoring device designed to predict cardiovascular disease. He completed his dissertation in 2020 and now works in the chemical industry.
Anurag Mohanty has worked on the development of graphene-based materials for the production, conversion, and storage of green energy. Anurag is currently pursuing postdoctoral research at the University of Grenoble Alpes on related topics (bioelectrochemistry for sensors, energy, and nanomaterials).
Sebastian Andres Martinez Pena has developed new synthetic processes to produce compounds and materials for the pharmaceutical industry without generating any polluting waste. Upon completion of his dissertation, Sebastian Andres plans to pursue postdoctoral research at a Spanish university.
Alessandra Tassoni wrote her thesis on the development of greener production processes in the pharmaceutical and food industries. After completing her thesis in 2021, Alessandra also joined the R&D team at an Italian company.
Etienne Piantanida has developed biocompatible and biodegradable hydrogels with properties suited to various biomedical applications. After defending her dissertation in 2020, Etienne is now an R&D researcher in the private sector in Italy.
Xinghan Li has succeeded in slightly modifying the structure of a malaria treatment to turn it into an anticancer agent. He is currently in his final year of his Ph.D. program.
Christian Camilo Carmona Vargas has synthesized and characterized new materials to develop artificial muscles for soft robotics. He is currently in the final stages of his dissertation.
The last three recipients of the Solvay Fund (Christian Camilo Carmona Vargas, Xinghan Li, and Sebastian Andres Martinez Pena) joined the prestigious Complex Systems Chemistry Research School when it was founded in 2018. This highly demanding school offers a transdisciplinary program taught in English; it trains its students in management and introduces them to corporate R&D challenges. This ambitious program aims to train future leaders in chemistry for both academia and industry.
In line with Solvay’s “Chemistry of the Future” excellence program, the school funds doctoral degrees focused on topics related to strategic issues: smart materials, green chemistry, renewable energy, and biomedical technologies. Like Solvay, this integrated master’s-Ph.D. program aims to nurture a new generation of researchers who will help change the world.
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