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Congratulations to our speaker Sandra Diaz who won the prestigious Gunnerus Sustainability Science Award.

Gunnerus Prize 2019

2019-03-25

Congratulations to Planet Earth symposium speaker Frances Arnold, awarded 2018 Nobel prize in Chemistry.

Frances Arnold Facts

2018-10-08

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Sandvik in noble company

Eminent scientists, including five Nobel prize laureates, and 800 students from all over the world participated in the Planet Earth 2019 symposium arranged by Molecular Frontiers. Sandvik has partnered with Molecular Frontiers to increase young people’s interest in science and technology.

May 13, 2019

https://www.home.sandvik/en/news-and-media/newslist/news/2019/05/sandvik-in-a-noble-company/

Symposium on Planet Earth; A Scientific Journey, to be held at Stockholm University, Aula Magna

The Molecular Frontiers Journal to announce winners of the student competition on Solutions for Future Earth

Stockholm; May 9-10, 2019

 The Molecular Frontiers Foundation (MFF) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced that they will be holding a symposium on "Planet Earth; A Scientific Journey" to be held at Aula Magna, hosted by Stockholm University. The program will be co-chaired by Prof. Bengt Nordén, founder of MFF, and Dr. Lorie Karnath, founding member and symposium director. The symposium will focus on a subject of crucial importance to all, the planet that we live on. The program will look at earth from its very beginnings, consider the origin of life and evolution in its various forms. It will also investigate physical earth, offering an assessment of the planet, its current inhabitants and the biodiversity that support these. We will consider what science might hold for the planet’s future, including examples of how science is already positioned to enhance and help sustain our world. The outstanding roster of speakers offers a broad range of disciplines and experience, together providing an especially exciting and synergistic compilation of knowledge. In keeping with the Molecular Frontiers mission, the program seeks to educate, inspire and share the promise of discovery, to all those who participate. Citing Norden: “the concept behind the Molecular Frontiers symposiums is to foster exploration and discovery, connecting scientists from a multitude of disciplines on matters of particular significance. In doing this Molecular Frontiers serves to encourage new perspectives on scientific quandaries that can lead to breakthroughs, helping to realize science’s promise”.  Notes Karnath, “In order to best address the challenges ahead that the planet and its inhabitants will encounter it is important to understand what is happening and why. Only then can we begin to navigate the best path forward.”

 Opening remarks will be given by, Professor Dan Larhammar, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Professor Karin Markides, Chair of the Molecular Frontiers Foundation, Dr. Lorie Karnath and Professor Bengt Norden. Among the speakers slated for the program are; Day 1, Nobel laureate, Professor Jack Szostak, Harvard Medical School, who will discuss The Origin of life on earth revised, Professor Nick Lane: Biochemist and author. Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London will speak on Why Is life the way it is. Professor Donald Johanson, paleoanthropologist. Virginia M. Ullman Chair in Human Origins, Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Founding Director, Institute of Human Origins. Discoverer of the fossil of a female hominin australopithecine known as "Lucy" in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia offers a unique perspective on his topic, Our Place in Nature.  Professor Sir Christopher Dobson, FRS, John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology, Chemistry Department, University of Cambridge. Prof Dobson has specialized in the molecular mechanisms, such as protein misfolding and aggregation, behind Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and will speak to the audience on Aging Earth., Professor Joanna Haigh, FRS, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London, England, co-director of the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment will speak on Climate change, where the world is heading and how we can stop making things worse. Professor Carl Folke, The Gunnerus Prize 2017, Director of the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is also Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Stockholm Resilience Center will discuss Natural capital, resilience and biosphere stewardship. At the conclusion of day 1 there will be an Announcement of the winner of the Molecular Frontiers Journal Awards for Student Solutions for Future Planet Earth, with World Scientific, Singapore.

Day 2 will open with Professor Sandra Diaz, Professor of Community and Ecosystems Ecology, Cordoba National University, Argentina, who will speak on The fabric of life and us. She will be followed by Professor Frances Arnold, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology, recognized for her work relating to molecular evolution, biotechnology and the directed evolution of enzymes and biosynthetic pathways, will discuss Enzymes by Evolution. Next to the podium will be Professor Omar Yaghi, James and Neeltje Tretter Chair Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Prof Yaghi is known for the development of “Reticular Chemistry” concerned with linking molecular building blocks into large predetermined structures with catalytic or other interesting functions who will consider ways that chemistry can help resolve planetary resource issues, with his talk on Harvesting water from desert air: Chemistry designs and viable solutions to vexing societal problems.  Professor Ben Feringa, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016, a synthetic organic chemist, specializing in molecular nanotechnology and homogenous catalysis. Professor of Molecular Sciences, at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Netherlands will speak on The Art of Building Small. Professor Josef Michl, Chemist, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, and Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, will consider Photophysics and future energy. The talks will conclude with an example of what imagination, science and technology can achieve, with Raphael Domjan, eco-explorer, Switzerland, initiator, president and expedition leader of “PlanetSolar” the first solar-powered around-the-world journey and the initiator and pilot of SolarStratos, a solar expedition to the edge of space.

 Registration is required for the program. Please register through: https://www.planetearthsymposium.org/registration Space is limited.
The symposium is organized by Molecular Frontiers Foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and hosted by Stockholm University.

 The program was additionally supported by Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Kjell och Märta Beijers Stiftelse, The Swedish Research Council, The Explorers Museum (Global Alliance), Peregrine Holdings, Jason Learning and World Scientific.   

About Molecular Frontiers Foundation:

Started in 2006, Molecular Frontiers operates as a non-profit organization, hosted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The organization which is celebrating its tenth-year anniversary has been responsible for orchestrating cutting edge scientific programs around the world. Its Scientific Advisory Board, a group of eminent scientists including many Nobel Prize laureates, represent expertise from a wide range of molecular science disciplines

About the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences:

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, founded in 1739, is an independent organization whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and strengthen their influence in society. The Academy takes special responsibility for the natural sciences and mathematics, but endeavors to promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines.

About World Scientific

World Scientific Publishing is a leading international independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research and professional communities. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organizations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. The company publishes about 600 books annually and 135 journals in various fields. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit www.worldscientific.com (https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/mfj)

 

 For queries please contact;  Dr. Lorie Karnath, symposium co-chair lkarnath@yahoo.com Tel +491723952051

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Molecular Frontiers Journal Announces “Solutions for Planet Earth” Awards

Singapore, December 5, 2018, Today World Scientific announced the Molecular Frontiers Journal Award inviting students who are excited about helping the planet to get creative and submit proposals that identify opportunities and challenges for future earth and to come up with solutions for these. The competition is open to students from around the world of high school age 13-18. The top three entries selected by a scientific committee will receive a cash award and certificate. The submissions will also be highlighted on the Molecular Frontiers Journal page and the winners will be invited to produce an article for the digital open access publication. The awardees will be named on May 9th in Stockholm, Sweden at the Planet Earth: A Scientific Journey symposium, hosted by the Molecular Frontiers Foundation. These along with other submissions chosen for particular merit will be displayed in poster format during the program. The winning and short-listed entries may be selected for the upcoming book Solutions for Planet Earth-by students be published later in 2019 by World Scientific.

Topic: To identify opportunities and challenges ahead for our future earth and come up with solutions for these.
Eligibility requirements: To qualify you must be enrolled in high school or home school. Entries must be submitted before February 28th, 2019.
Prizes: Submissions determined as best by the board will be selected for display during the symposium in May 2019. 1st, 2nd, 3rd prize entries will receive the Molecular Frontiers Journal prize and will be invited to produce an article for its digital open access publication.

To submit an entry please go to https://www.planetearthsymposium.org/submissions/

Only one entry per student will be accepted. Submit your entry as one file in either PDF or DOC format. Submissions must not exceed 1000 words. Up to (4) maximum embedded images/figures may be included in each entry. Submissions will be accepted between Friday, November 30, 2018, and Thursday, February 28, 2019. No further edits or changes will be accepted to an entry upon its submission.

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About Molecular Frontiers Journal

Open access since 2017 The Molecular Frontiers Journal fosters exploration and discovery, helping to realize science's promise. Connecting scientists from a multitude of disciplines around matters of global significance, it serves to encourage new perspectives on scientific quandaries that can lead to breakthroughs.

About World Scientific

World Scientific Publishing is a leading international independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research and professional communities. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organizations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. The company publishes about 600 books annually and 135 journals in various fields. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit www.worldscientific.com

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For additional information please contact:
Dr. Lorie Karnath, Managing Editor, Molecular Frontiers Journal: lkarnath@yahoo.com
Joy Quek, Senior Editor, World Scientific Publishing: jquek@wspc.com