PhD completions
Congratulations to School of Physical and Chemical Sciences PhD graduates Hunter Douglas and Alex Aves. Hunter was supervised by Professors Dave Frame and Laura Revell. Alex was supervised by Professors Laura Revell and Sally Gaw.
Congratulations also to Alexis Blackie who gave an excellent defence of her PhD thesis entitled, “Development of selective inhibitors of the splicing-associated kinase CLK4” recently. Alexis was supervised by Dan Foley and examined by Associate Professor Joanne Harvey from VUW and Professor Luca Laraia from Technical University of Denmark. Alexis gave an excellent short presentation about her work followed by an animated and engaging discussion of the chemistry that she has done.
Emeritus Professor Ward Thomas Robinson, 22 April 1937 - 9 April 2026
We are saddened to share the passing of Emeritus Professor Ward Robinson, a valued colleague and mentor, on 9 April 2026. His memorial was held on 23 April at St Peter’s Anglican Church, Upper Riccarton. Ward was a Professor in the Chemistry Department from 1967 - 2006. He was primarily an X-ray crystallographer, training successive generations of students in this technique (“a wonderful crystallography mentor”). He was well known within NZ and internationally for his expertise. He was also instrumental in the promotion of X-ray crystallography in New Zealand, Australia and Asia.
The following is a tribute by John Campbell:
One little-known aspect of Ward Robinson's life was that he was a pioneer in solar water heating. About 1970, when Ward Robinson built his two-story house in Clyde Rd, he installed a 60-gallon hot water cylinder in his attic. This was unusual at the time, being 50% more than the required hot water cylinder. He had two long-run sheets of his steep roof glazed. In that space, the Southern Industrial Development Division (SIDD) of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) placed their experimental solar hot water panels and took various readings to establish the veracity of their various designs of solar hot water panels. The first winter they discovered they were heating the sky. The cause was the hot water copper pipe coming from the top of the cylinder being soldered to the galvanised sheet metal surrounding the cylinder's insulation. I believe the manufacturers stated that their cylinders were manufactured for the Pacific Islands where frosts were not a problem. This problem was solved by cold chiselling the sheet metal around the pipe so there was no longer metal-to-metal contact.
Chemistry Olympiad Camp 2026
Anthea Lees and Owen Curnow went to the Chemistry Olympiad training camp in Auckland in mid-April. From an initial national exam last year of some 320 year-12 high school students, followed by online training for three months of the top 200 students, a group of 32 was selected to attend the six-day camp. The camp consists of nine theory sessions, three evening problem sessions, and three 3-hour practical labs. The four students who will represent New Zealand at the International Chemistry Olympiad competition were selected from a 3-hour lab exam and 3-hour theory exam. The international competition has ludicrously difficult 5-hour exams.
This was Anthea's first camp, and she was blown away by the quality of the students and the intensity of the training. She commented that "they just had Greg's 6 lectures on kinetics in one hour!" It wasn't all hard work though; there was also a quiz night and a titration competition. Yes, that was for fun! The international competition is in a different country each year, and in July this year Uzbekistan will host the teams of the 90 countries involved.
Professor Owen Curnow, Treasurer of the New Zealand Chemistry Olympiad programme, supports the training and selection of the national team and will be going as the head mentor of the NZ team. The team to represent New Zealand is: Nathan Appleton (Mt Maunganui), Wesley Lau (Macleans College), Percy Huang and Rahul Gupta (Pinehurst College). Owen was disappointed that none of the three Owens at the camp made the team!!
For more details of the New Zealand Chemistry Olympiad programme see: https://scienceolympianz.org.nz/chemistry
Professor Sarah Masters elected as the President-Elect of Commonwealth Chemistry
“I am delighted to share that I have been elected as the President-Elect of Commonwealth Chemistry and will commence my term in May 2026. I have been on the Commonwealth Chemistry Executive Board since its inception in 2020. You can find out more information about the organization and upcoming events on the Commonwealth Chemistry website.” https://commonwealthchemistry.org/
Congratulations, Sarah!
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has developed and committed to propagating worldwide a set of guiding principles for the responsible practice of chemistry
Responsible chemistry for a changing world: IUPAC's guiding principles, co-authored by Richard Hartshorn, is part of the themed collection: 2026 Chemical Science Perspective & Review.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2026/sc/d5sc08844e
The practice of chemistry is undergoing rapid transformation driven by innovation, convergence with other disciplines, and an urgent need to address global challenges from climate change to public health. At this critical juncture, the global chemistry community must embrace not only scientific excellence but also a shared commitment to ethical and responsible conduct that is aligned with world needs. Despite the existence of important national and sectoral ethical frameworks, their fragmented application has left a gap in establishing a truly global, inclusive, and actionable reference point for responsible chemistry. In response to this need, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has developed and committed to propagating worldwide a set of guiding principles for the responsible practice of chemistry. These principles, developed by chemists for the profession of chemistry, provide a unifying ethical foundation and practical pathways to employ responsible innovation across chemistry research, education, and industry worldwide. These principles aim to provide a common ethical foundation for responsible chemistry worldwide - across sectors, generations, and locations. By aligning scientific excellence with societal well-being and environmental stewardship, these principles offer chemists and institutions tools to foster trust, accountability, and global collaboration.
