NanoKTN Member Wins Prestigious SET For Britain Award

The Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN), one of the UK’s primary knowledge-based networks for Micro and Nanotechnologies, is pleased to announce that a PhD student and member of the NanoKTN has been awarded the Roscoe Medal, presented by representatives of RSC and AgChemAccess Ltd, at the prestigious SET for Britain event, recently held at the House of Commons.

SET for Britain aims to encourage, support and promote Britain’s early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers and technologists to ensure continued progress in the development of UK research and R, and ultimately the future of UK business. The SET for Britain awards gives early-career scientists the opportunity to communicate current state-of-the-art science to Members of Parliament and scientific peers.

ThaoNguyen Nguyen, who is currently finishing her PhD thesis in Dr Eugen Stulz’s group at the School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, was awarded the Roscoe Medal for her poster that looked at the use of Porphyrin-DNA as a scaffold for Nanoarchitectures. ThaoNguyen’s poster entitled Porphyrin-DNA as Scaffold for Nanoarchitecture and Nanotherapy, was judged the best Chemistry presentation.

The research focuses on the use of DNA as architecture for Porphyrin chromophore arrays (natural molecules found in heme or chlorophyll) for applications in future nanochips and potentially in photodynamic therapy for cancer treatment. The results show that DNA has great potential for the transformation from being a building block of life to being a building block for Nanotechnology.

ThaoNguyen’s poster also won the EPSRC Award for Young Scientist at the UK Nano Emerging Technologies Forum last year, hosted by the NanoKTN and UK Trade Investment (UKTI). Being a NanoKTN member and winning the EPSRC Award contributed towards her success at SET for Britain and has had a great impact on promoting her research.

“Winning the Roscoe Medal and the EPSRC Award has given me opportunities to communicate my research to a broader audience, one that I would not normally expect to meet. I thank the organisers for the valuable experiences and I highly recommend them to others looking to promote their work” explained ThaoNguyen. “Embedding an awareness within the next generation of current research will help to strengthen business and will hopefully create further connections between academia and industry.”