2018 Grand Prix for chemists Thomas Ebbesen and Susumu Kitagawa

The 2018 Grand Prix of the Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie has been conjointly awarded for the impact of their research on materials science to Professor Thomas Ebbesen, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, and Professor Susumu Kitagawa, professor of inorganic chemistry at Kyoto University, Japan.

The prize is attributed on a biannual basis and honours "original work in chemistry, of benefit to mankind, society, or nature" and comprises 50 000 EUR and a bronze medal. The award ceremony will take place on 13 February 2019, at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France.

This distinction goes to Thomas Ebbesen, who holds a Chair of Physical Chemistry of Light-Matter
Interactions at USIAS, for his work in the field of nanosciences and, in particular, for the recent development of “polaritonic” chemistry that plays on strong light-matter interactions to modify chemical reactivity and enhance the properties of molecular matter.

Susumu Kitagawa, who gave a USIAS Kyoto lecture in Strasbourg in 2017, receives the award for his work on the conception and synthesis of functional porous materials – better known as porous coordination polymers (PCPs) or metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) – with innovative properties in photochemistry, catalysis, gas separation, etc.

For more information, see the Grand Prix 2018 web page (in French).