Announcement from The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan
Ryoji Noyori Prize sponsored by Takasago International Corporation and administered by The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan
Ryoji Noyori Prize, sponsored by Takasago International Corporation, was established in 2002 by The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan (SSOCJ) in commemoration of Professor Ryoji Noyori's winning of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry as well as the 60th anniversary of SSOCJ. The pur pose of the Prize is to recognize outstanding contributions to research in asymmetric synthetic chemistry defined in its broadest sense. The Prize, which consists of a certificate, a medallion, and $10,000, is bestowed every year to a recipient meeting the above mentioned criteria. The International Prize Committee selects a recipient, and the recipient shall deliver a prize lecture at the annual general meeting of SSOCJ at which the Prize will be presented.
The Winner of the Prize for the award year 2017 is David W. MacMillan, Professor, Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, U.S.A. Professor MacMillan has been a pioneer in both the areas of organocatalysis and photoredox catalysis. Within organocatalysis he invented the area of iminium catalysis and made significant
contributions to hydrogenbonding catalysis, including the development of the MacMillan organocatalysts. He has also been a leader in bringing the f ield of photoredox catalysis to synthetic organic chemistry. This new area already has widespread applications in the pharmaceutical industry. The past recipients: Henri B. Kagan (2002) Gilbert Stork (2003) Dieter Seebach (2004) Tsutomu Katsuki (2005) David A. Evans (2006) Tamio Hayashi (2007) Andreas Pfaltz (2008) Yoshio Okamoto (2009) Eric N. Jacobsen (2010) Hisashi Yamamoto(2011) Masakatsu Shibasaki (2012) Barry M. Trost(2013) Dieter Enders (2014) Larry E. Overman (2015) Keiji Maruoka (2016) The members of the International Prize Committee for the award year 2017: Nobuharu Iwasawa(Chairman) Dieter Enders Shunichi Hashimoto Eric N. Jacobsen Keiji Maruoka Larry E. Overman Masaya Sawamura Kazuhiko Takai
Call for Nominations for the Award Year 2018 ( Deadline May 1, 2018 ) Any individual may nominate one individual for the award year 2018 by May 1, 2018. The nomination form can be downloaded from the SSOCJ web site at http://www.ssocj.jp/ indexenglish.html. The documents submitted are retained on file for three award years.
Preferred method of submittal is by e-mail attachment of the form. e-mail address:
[email protected] However, submittal by express or conventional mail is also acceptable.
The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan 1-5 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo, 101-0062 Japan Tel: +81-3-3292-7621 Fax: +81-3-3292-7622 Website: http://www.ssocj.jp/
Nissay Aroma Square 17F 5-37-1 Kamata, Ota-Ku, Tokyo, 144-8721 Japan Tel:+81-3-5744-0511 Fax: +81-3-5744-0512 Website: http://www.takasago.com
Reactions ▸ Letters to the editor Science demos The Reaction “DIY science” (July 17, page 3) reminded me of one of my favorite comments about science projects at the many secondary school science fairs I have judged. All too often, the projects are of a single type with too little creative input from the students. [Most] biology and chemistry projects are a boring variant of the “effect of x on y.” Usually x is a chemical or a chemical formulation, like a salt or a detergent, and y is something that is counted, measured with a ruler, or even just qualitatively judged. It is easy to see why students choose [this] paradigm since it incorporates many of the scientific research they are learning, like comparisons to a control and some kind of measurement. However, the
students might be able to come up with something more interesting and educational to measure than the height of bean plants or which bleach is more effective. So after several years of this tedium, I began suggesting to the teachers they talk to the students about other types of quantitative measurements that could make their projects more interesting. Here are a few examples. Weight: Inexpensive scales with readouts in grams or even tenth-grams are now readily available at kitchen and bath stores or [online] for less than $20. Glucose: Digital meters are available that are intended for use with blood, but they might be used to measure hydrolysis of a disaccharide, consumption of glucose by a microbial culture, or whatever liquid might release or consume glucose. The meters are available for $10–$30 and come with a limited number of test strips, but more can be bought at reason-
able prices ($10–$25 per pack of 50). Multipurpose soil tester: Digital soil test instruments are available to test for pH, moisture, and light. These can cost as little as $10–$12. Temperature: Digital immersion and infrared thermometers are available with 0.1 °C precision. Students could use them for experiments in calorimetry, to standardize temperatures, or to measure reactions as a function of temperature. Costs are in the range of $7–$20. Endoscopes and microscopes: Endoscopes using a USB connection could be used as a microscope and are available for less than $15. USB digital video microscopes are available for about $50. I hope this list of suggestions will suggest other ideas and lead to better secondary school science projects.
John W. Cross Alexandria, Va.
Rethinking open access and predation There is little doubt that the present and future of scientific publishing lies in open access through different variations, although in most cases article publishing charges (APCs) are required, typically
NOVEMBER 6, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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paid by the researchers’ grants or external funding institutions. As strange as it may be, the emergence of open access and predatory journals represents an intertwined phenomenon. Even worse, the use of illegitimate pirate sites has increased. If one considers that many reputable journals charge more than $2,500 to cover the costs of publishing (in a few cases up to $5,000 per article), the obvious question is, Who can afford it? Because predatory journals are often targeting researchers from developing countries, they
As senior scientists, we have the mission of warning our junior colleagues and students about predatory practices and how to select journals preserving integrity from submission to publication. offer attractive and comparatively low APCs with respect to legitimate journals. But a recent analysis (Nature 2017, DOI: 10.1038/549023a) shows an opposite and worrying trend: More than half the papers captured by predatory journals have been authored in high- or upper-middle-income countries.
As senior scientists, we have the mission of warning our junior colleagues and students about predatory practices and how to select journals preserving integrity from submission to publication. Educational training is essential, but it could be no more than charlatanism if money is the ultimate goal. It is somewhat ironic that some editors, on rejecting a good manuscript in a well-established journal, usually recommend the authors resubmit it to a sister open access journal, often promising a refreshing perspective. Moreover, how can we convince taxpayers and funding agencies that publication of one fine paper in a leading journal has an exorbitant fee, when conversely, numerous apps on the internet cost less than $1.00? It is obvious that high-quality and high-profile journals should be supported financially. APCs appear to be compulsory unless governments take serious decisions and incentives to fund legitimate journals while cutting off the malpractice of illegitimate ones. In any case, lower costs should not be regarded as a sign of disreputability.
Pedro Cintas Badajoz, Spain
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | NOVEMBER 6, 2017
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