Mir Wais Hosseini awarded the Grand Prix Le Bel 2016

Mir Wais Hosseini is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Strasbourg and a Fellow at USIAS. His research has been awarded with the Grand Prix Achille Le Bel 2016 for his "remarkable discoveries in supramolecular chemistry".

Professor Hosseini has pioneered the development of molecular tectonics, a domain on the interface of supramolecular chemistry and solid state and material chemistry. His focus is on the design and manufacturing of cristalline materials by self-assembly of molecular construction units or “tectons”. Recently he and his colleagues were the first to achieve genuine crystal welding. By actively designing the basic molecular building blocks that are the basis for self-assembly of crystals, it is possible to predict and control their molecular assembly. These results, recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2015/137), offer an exciting new tool in the design of smart materials.

The Grand Prix Achille Le Bel is awarded annually by the Société Chimique de France to reward internationally recognized work in the field of chemistry. Established in 1976, it is given in honor of the French chemist Joseph Achille Le Bel (January 21, 1847 - 6 Aug 1930) considered the precursor of modern stereochemistry.
Mir Wais Hosseini was awarded the Grand Prix Le Bel 2016 together with Christian Bruneau of the Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes.