Outstanding Junior Faculty Award for Fernanda Duarte

26 May 2021

Tutorial Fellow in Chemistry, Prof. Fernanda Duarte, has been announced as a winner of the OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in Computational Chemistry.

Awarded by the COMP Division of the American Chemical Society, the prize recognises excellence in computational approaches to chemistry. The awards are designed to assist new faculty members in gaining visibility within the COMP community and come with a $1,000 prize fund. Alongside the three other winners, Fernanda will present her research at the Atlanta ACS National Meeting in autumn 2021. The ACS Computers in Chemistry Division brings together scientists who are interested in artificial intelligence, experimental design, and molecular modelling in the fields of agrochemicals, materials science, medicinal and organic chemistry, pharmaceuticals, polymers and theoretical chemistry.

Fernanda’s research group in the Department of Chemistry works at the interface between physical organic chemistry, atomistic simulations, and machine learning. They use electronic structure and classical molecular dynamics simulations in combination with statistical methods to rationalise reaction mechanisms, predict (bio)chemical reactivity and selectivity, and guide molecular design.