Sometimes you have to lose to know how to win! Very excited to announce that after failing twice, I was awarded an ERC Starting Grant. Thanks to my group
@AnastasakiLab
and colleagues
@ETH_Materials
for their support! Trust me, you have to keep applying!
@ERC_Research
@ETH_en
We have two fully funded PhD positions in Polymer Chemistry at ETH
@AnastasakiLab
Musts: Good work ethic, self-motivation, team spirit, passion, love for polymers
Desirables: Liking cows and chocolate
Please Retweet.
My perspective on what matters for an ERC Starting Grant: The art of failing and how persistence (and other factors) ultimately leads to success.
@angew_chem
@ERC_Research
Link:
Hate polymers? Help us destroy them with depolymerization and chemical recycling!
We have two fully funded PhD positions in Polymer Chemistry at ETH! Come be our colleague!
@AnastasakiLab
Please Retweet
Did you know that copper together with a bit of oxygen can make a super ATRP catalyst?
Kostas
@kostaspark
figured it out: Oxygen-Enhanced Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization through the Formation of a Copper Superoxido Complex
@AnastasakiLab
@J_A_C_S
Fat, normal, skinny. All molecular weight distributions are beautiful and
@MariaNefeli12
makes them a reality: Concurrent control over sequence and dispersity in multiblock copolymers
@NatureChemistry
Link:
Thank you very much
@MacroJrnls_ACS
for honouring the work of our team. I am especially happy to share such a recongnition with a friend! Many congratulations
@PolyKonkol
you are on a roll!
Congratulations to Athina Anastasaki and Dominik Konkolewicz, 🏆 winners of the 2023
#ACSMacroLetters
/
#Biomacromolecules
/
#Macromolecules
Young Investigator Award, given in partnership with The ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry (POLY)!
Read more here ➡
We are happy to share our first RAFT paper featured in
@Chem_CP
on how to tailor dispersity of any polymer class. RAFT world, here we come! Congrats
@whitfield_rich
and
@AnastasakiLab
and thanks to the Queen of calculations Tanja Junkers
@polymerreaction
Congratulations to Dr Manon Rolland
@manonrolland19
on passing her PhD defence and becoming the
#1
PhD student graduating from our group! I am very proud to have witnessed her evolution into an independent scientist and very grateful to all her contributions to our lab. A thread.
Group’s first 2022 paper in
@angew_chem
: Have you ever thought of adding a transformer to a polymeric nanoparticle? Transformer-Induced Metamorphosis of Polymeric Nanoparticle Shape at Room Temperature by our group’s wizard
@kostaspark
@AnastasakiLab
Our latest group photo hanging out with cows
@AnastasakiLab
Only one group member is scared (!)
@HyunSukWang1
or maybe he just cannot take his eyes off them!
Join us at the International School of Macromolecular Science next summer! Meet amazing polymer chemists at the beautiful town of Erice (Sicily)! Before you pack your swimming suit visit or ask
@Brent_Sumerlin
and I for more info!
It does not happen often but sometimes ATRP wins RAFT: Photoinduced Iron-Catalyzed ATRP of Renewable Monomers in Low-Toxicity Solvents: A Greener Approach
Project idea conceived & executed by
@kostaspark
#Proudsupervisor
@AnastasakiLab
@ACSMacroLett
Link:
Very proud of our group
@AnastasakiLab
for our first paper! Great job by
@whitfield_rich
Perhaps the first and last time where the entire group can be on a paper! Or maybe not!
Stay tuned for more :)
We are very happy to report our very first paper on tuning the dispersity via photo-induced ATRP! Did you know that fat/dispersed polymers can maintain high end-group fidelity? Well done
@whitfield_rich
Freshly published by
@angew_chem
Link:
Enjoying the first posters at
#RSCPoster
in the confront of my office and while having enough food supplies to get me going until the end of the day :)
Today I was assigned the task to shape meatballs for the first time in my life, age 32. I thought I was doing pretty great and then was told off that they are not really uniform...I tried to explain that high dispersity can be a good thing. But I was not very convincing...oh well
While procrastinating writing a grant proposal, we created a google scholar account for our group
@AnastasakiLab
featuring our papers! Co-authors are our group members and we have a h-index of 6! Starting from scratch is exciting! What is your lab’s h-index?
Delighted to announce Professor Athina Anastasaki
@AthinaAnastasa1
has joined the Editorial Board of
@PolymChem
! We're excited to work with her and we welcome her to the team!
Congratulations to Dr Kostas Parkatzidis
@kostaspark
on becoming the
#2
PhD student graduating from our group! What a fantastic PhD defence! He absolutely nailed the questions! I am so proud of you! Here is a bit more about Kostas. Free gossip. A thread.
We still have available spots for the International School of Macromolecular Science in July! If you want to hang out with
@Brent_Sumerlin
and other polymer chemists at the magestic town of Erice (Sicily) register now: The scene will not disappoint you :)
I thought I was doing great while recording my Macro2020+ talk (Korea). And then I said at the end: "I am happy to answer any questions you may HAM". Just so you know, I am not recording this AGAIN so enjoy my ham talk in a couple of weeks :)
Very proud of my PhD student
@MariaNefeli12
who successfully defended her Research Plan and could answer well all sorts of questions :) Thanks
@JanVermant
and Andre
@Complex_Mat
for being in the committee!
Thanks
@IUPAC
for the honor!
I was thinking Cu is a bit more appropriate but Curium (Cu) is close enough and the name comes after Curie who I very much admire!
Congratulations to Prof. Athina Anastasaki of Greece for her representation of curium in
#PTChemists
.
@AthinaAnastasa1
is assistant professor
@ETH_en
where she develops new methods to synthesize smart polymers
Going off for two weeks to Greece. Looking forward to seeing family and friends, swim and eat all the food I can! Will try not to think about science during this time so help me out :)
Congratulations to Hyun Suk
@HyunSukWang1
for becoming the fourth group member to pass his research plan defense!
@AnastasakiLab
PS Without good internet connection, we will vanish!
An example of when the female mentor is proud of her female PhD student who is then proud of her female semester project student. Congratulations
@manonrolland19
and Victoria and thanks
@JPolymSci
for the invitation!
Young male 1st year PhD student: The project you gave me is not working. The chemicals have expired. Your idea is crap.
Young female 1st year PhD project: I am so sorry that my project is not working. I will repeat. You should fire me. It is my fault.
My SNF Project was beautifully rejected BUT clearly someone has to not get it. And in this case I am so happy to serve as the foil to many great scientists and friends like
@dave_kammer
who GOT IT! Congratulations to everyone! I now have 5 days to write a new proposal..tick tock
Very proud of
@kostaspark
for successfully defending his research plan. I cannot be seen clapping in the photo as someone had to take the photo :)
@JanVermant
has been caught smiling too, confirming how great Kostas did! Congratulations Kostas!
@AnastasakiLab
For my polymer colleagues: we may sometimes forget it but POLYMERS are also considered a material so if you know an awesome rising star in polymer chemistry please nominate them for this award (has to be non-tenured!) It is a great award and swiss money are also on the table :)
Do you know a rock star
#AssistantProfessor
(or equivalent)? Then nominate them for the Materials Prize for Young Investigators.
@ETH_Materials
@ETH_en
The
#Award
includes 10,000 USD and a special lecture! For more information please check it out here:
Many thanks to
@polymerreaction
for a very nice talk and for educating us about discrete oligomers, flow chemistry and fancy automation! Also thanks to
@KellyVelonia
and
@Velonia_Lab
for joining and for doubling our small group number!
Many thanks to
@BarnerKowollik
for a fantastic seminar and for sharing his passion for science! Every slide was a different cool idea! Also, thanks again to our partner in crime
@KellyVelonia
@Velonia_Lab
for boosting attendance :) Thanks
@polymerreaction
for the nice initiative!
Thanks to
@RoySocChem
and
@PolymChem
for the invitation to participate to the Meet the Editor Online Event at
@ETH_en
! We had a great time and received some really good questions! Thanks for all your feedback and please reach out if have further questions!
My grandmother peacefully passed away early while sleeping with minimal wrinkles (she would like me to say that!) despite being 89 years old. Heads up: This will explain why I will be wearying black clothes for the next 40 days (tradition) and also why I will be sad.
Thanks a lot to
@Brent_Sumerlin
for a very impressive talk on Ultra High Molecular Weight Polymers; one of the big challenges in the field! Fantastic work! Thanks
@KellyVelonia
for joining and for the nice exchange of ideas!
Using your own blood for experiments is the real meaning of determination! Thanks
@Bruns_Lab
for the really interesting talk, we were very happy to host you! Usual thanks to
@KellyVelonia
for joining and to
@polymerreaction
for her brilliant scheme!
@AnastasakiLab
Europe and Switzerland are still not sleeping as we are way too excited with
#RSCPoster
Instead of conference dinner, the evening session includes healthier options to compensate for the junk food consumed during the day! I still wish I had pizza instead...
#APME2019
Also at Cape Town, this "warrior" loved my head and scaring me so I then bought myself a candyfloss to recover :) Best part: The candyfloss was less than a dollar!!!
Great work by
@Velonia_Lab
where they can pretty much grow any polymer class they want from any protein, making beautiful polymer-protein bioconjugates! Extra Bonus: It is so simple that even I can do it :) Thanks for letting us be part of this
@AnastasakiLab
Dedicated to colleagues who feel discouraged from negative teaching evaluations! My favorite comment: "Better Teaching Capabilities from the Prof" 1st Zoom lecture during the pandemic (in my 1st ever course!) & WITHOUT mouse :) Of course I will improve but this is not that bad...
I know this makes people uncomfortable, you may not know what to say. “This sucks Tanja, how are you” or even a click shows you are listening. Diversity is not only about looking for a conference speaker. It is about listening and supporting our colleagues
@polymerreaction
Tweeting with a day of delay! Many thanks to
@DavidSchilter
, senior editor of
@NatRevChem
for a very nice talk on writing and publishing and for using my head as an example of who is paying for publishing, much appreciated :) I dare you all to ask him to correct your abstract!
This sounds like what my mom would do to me if I break the quarantine and go out more than once a week (only for shopping, she does not approve teaching on site so I have to combine teaching/shopping to keep her happy :)) She is the real doctor of the family so I have to obey!
Attempt of one of my students to find Brett's website
@brett_fors
@forsgroup
Sorry Brett or should I say Bread! I also like how the word polymer at the end did not really help much!
@LizWFab
Young male 1st year PhD student: The project you gave me is not working. Or the chemicals have expired. Or your idea was crap.
Young female 1st year PhD project: I am so sorry my project is not working. I will repeat. You should fire me. It is my fault.
Read the latest Paper of the Month post by Prof Athina Anastasaki
@AthinaAnastasa1
on Transformation of gels via catalyst-free selective RAFT photoactivation!
Element 29, copper, Cu. Copper is one of only two metals on the periodic table (alongside gold) whose natural colouring is not silver. Cu can be recycled repeatedly without loss of performance, it’s estimated that 65% of all the Cu ever mined is still in use today.
#IYPT2019
Above all, Manon has always been a kind, smiley and friendly person willing to help her colleagues and support our group. I will miss her BUT although I am “losing” a colleague, I am “winning” a friend and I look forward to watching her succeed further and continue being happy!
If you like Robotic Materials, come be my colleage at
@ETH_Materials
so I am no longer the department's youngest Professor! Happy to answer any questions from prospective applicants about my experience here!
The Department of Materials invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure track) of Robotic Materials!
We are looking for candidates to develop a world-leading research program in the field.
We look forward to your application!
Just registered this morning with
@AnastasakiLab
and we will be all watching it together with some high quality (hopefully!) pizza as it is until 9.30 at night (Swiss time)! Thanks for organizing it
@PolyKonkol
Expectations are high for both the talks and the pizza :)
@JkayFlake
I would be honored to receive such an email. We struggle to open up even to our therapist. If a student can open up to their professor it means they trust them and that they had an impact beyond their academic role. Students should feel able to talk to their supervisor...
@AnastasakiLab
@HyunSukWang1
@polyharrisson
@ChemicalScience
By far, the best word in German is "Wunderbar" (meaning wonderful/marvelous) and many of my colleagues use it all the time, even when speaking in English and without knowing that they use it. I love this word!
#RSCMat
We cannot accept to be second again next year!
@cwfoster90
we have loads of work to do for the next one :) Congratulations
#RSCAnalytical
and well done to all the participants! It was a good one :)
#RSCPoster
I am very proud of
@MariaNefeli12
who also published a paper in
@Nature
as a Master student (sorry for the “downgrade”!) so keep an eye on her! Congratulations
@MariaNefeli12
#RSCPoster
#RSCmat
#RSCedu
This is turning to almost an impact factor...We got quantity this year so next time we will go for quality too!! Unstoppable
#RSCmat
Check out the subject breakdown from
#RSCPoster
. How did your subject category do?
Massive engagement from
#RSCEdu
and a huge number of
#RSCMat
posters! 👇👇
@ronanburtenshaw
Manolis Glezos did not like to be called a hero. For him, his youngest brother was a hero as he was executed by the Germans. His last note was: "Fair well dear mother, today I am going to be executed. I am on my way to die for the Greeks". We will keep him alive in our memory!
This or organize 5 conferences at the same time? This or be the next head of department? This or never complain about anything? I promise to be nice :)
Today I found out that I failed ERC grant!
@ERC_Research
Knowing that I did my absolute best means it was out of my control to get it!
Congratulations to the ones that got it, very well deserved! For the rest of us, let’s keep trying!
Read the latest Paper of the month blog post by Prof Athina Anastasaki on Benchtop flow-NMR for rapid online monitoring of RAFT and free radical polymerisation in batch and continuous reactors and read the full Paper for free!
@alexapetelina
@AcademicChatter
Mentoring next generation of scientists and be proud when they become so much better than you!Being paid for your hobby! More flexibility and freedom than almost any other job. You are in charge and you can change things for the better; support, protect, inspire and be inspired!
Manon joined an empty lab and significantly contributed to making it functional. She was the lab manager since the beginning, the main person for external orders and our main GPC expert! There are very few people with her skills and I could always rely on her!
@polyharrisson
@Nghia_P_Truong
We are always happy to collaborate with you Simon AND to argue with you until one of us breaks down (usually not you :)) Thanks for all your help!
(2) Temporal Control in
#ATRP
Using Zerovalent Metals.
We use zerovalent metals (Cu or Ag wires) as ATRP activator (re)generators for investigating temporal control in ATRP.
#RSCPoster
#RSCMat
#MatyLand
@MatyPolymerLab
High-res PDF at:
All her academic successes were achieved without neglecting her private life. She showed us that if you learn how to be efficient you can, most of the times, have it all! I learned a lot from her positive attitude!
The only thing that made her prouder than her academic accomplishments, was the progress of her Bachelor and Master students. She celebrated their successes and supported them throughout demonstrating exemplary supervisory skills!
@TheoniGeo
I only hugged 6 positive people so far at the EPF which is certainly an improvement when compared to over 20 people at Bordeaux :) Hope you get well very soon!
@polymerreaction
There is no way to make each category 100% fair and representative of everyone's experience. You did not go through the shit most women go through at the very beginning but you went through different shit, arguably worse. Happy for you to be highlighted equally :)
Her soft skills have also evolved enormously and has been a great advocate of our group winning awards for the best talk and the best poster at international conferences. I was happy to see that she never gave up and worked on building her confidence day by day.
Although I will miss Kostas, I am not sad. I loose an excellent PhD student but I win a friend and a family member. And this does not have an expiration date. Best of luck Kostas with your future endeavours and thank you very much for your trust and for all your contributions!