22 September 2014 – Six innovative research projects were selected among more than 110 applications to receive the support of the Green Chemistry for Life project, which was created by UNESCO and PhosAgro in close cooperation with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to promote the sustainable use and design of chemicals and chemical processes. The goal of the partnership of UNESCO and PhosAgro Green Chemistry for Life is to harness the talents of young scientists to promote advances in green chemistry and its contribution to environmental safety through innovations that help to minimize or prevent environmental and health hazards, as well as the development of energy-efficient processes and the introduction of new environmentally-sound technologies. Project applications were evaluated and selected by an international scientific jury headed by Prof. Maceij Nalecz, Director, Division of Scientific Policy and Capacity Building, UNESCO, to finance the most promising research proposals from young scientists.
Among the winners is Associate Professor Ir Dr Sharifah Rafidah Datu’ Wan Alwi (Process Systems Engineering Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM-PROSPECT)) and her team for their project entitled: “Study of papaya peel waste as adsorbent for efficient lead (ii) removal from wastewater”. The project research team includes Associate Professor Dr Ida Idayu and Mrs Sahar Abbaszadeh from Faculty of Chemical Engineering, UTM, Assistant Professor Dr Nahid Ghasemi from University of Islamic Azad University, Iran, and Professor Dr Colin Webb from University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Their project will receive the financial support up to US$30,000.
The other 5 winners were Dr. Thibault Cantat (France), Mostafa Gasser (Egypt), Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Reyes (Peru), Anastasia Hubina (Ukraine) and Professor Ning Yan (Singapore). The awards were presented during the PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC International Symposium for Green Chemistry in the Y. V. Samoilov Scientific Research Institute for Fertilizers (PhosAgro Company) in Moscow, Russia.
Among the attendees of the event were Acad. V. E. Fortov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vice-Chairperson of the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO, G.E. Ordhzonikidze, Deputy Director of the Department for International Organisations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Executive Secretary of the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO, Prof. M. Nalecz, Director of the Division of Science Policy and Capacity Building, UNESCO, Prof. N. Moreau, Member of the Executive Committee of the International Council for Science (“ICSU”), former President of IUPAC, and Prof. J. Corish, Treasurer, IUPAC.
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