In 2016, Solvay created the Ernest Solvay Fund for Chemistry in Strasbourg, €500K dedicated to supporting high-level theses. The foundation provided the same amount of cofinancing from its own funds.
The collaboration between Solvay and the University of Strasbourg is one that benefits everyone, both in terms of the quality of the research work financed and from a human perspective.
For Solvay, the partnership strengthens its relationship with the academic world and provides access to a pool of exceptional young talent from around the world, selected by the foundation’s board of experts. And the chosen candidates benefit from an internationally renowned research environment with strong ties to the socio-economic world.
The first successful candidate, Chang-Bo Huang from the East China Normal University in Shanghai, joined Paolo Samorì’s team at the ISIS in late 2016, where he carried out his doctoral research on an innovative subject relating to supramolecular nanostructures for electronics and sensors.
While writing his thesis, Chang-Bo Huang was in regular contact with Solvay, visiting industrial sites in China and France, holding an in-house conference, and meeting with one of Solvay’s laboratories to discuss shared research, making him a natural ambassador for the brand.
Chang Bo Huang’s research has led to spectacular advances in supramolecular multifunctional materials derived from graphene.
