AsianScientist (Nov. 29, 2018) – Professor Chihaya Adachi of Kyushu University, Japan, has been awarded the 2018 Nagoya Silver Medal for his pioneering research on organic optoelectronics, organic semiconductor device properties, organic photophysics and photochemistry.
The Nagoya Medal Award was initially proposed by Professor Hisashi Yamamoto of Chubu University and Professor Ryoji Noyori of Nagoya University in 1995. The Nagoya Gold Medal has been awarded every year to an organic chemist who has made significant original contributions to the field. The Nagoya Silver Medal, on the other hand, was only established in 1999 and has been awarded every year to a front-runner based in Japan, whose research has a major impact on the field of synthetic organic chemistry.
Adachi, who has been conferred the 2018 Nagoya Silver Medal, received his Bachelor of Science at Chuo University in 1986 and his PhD in materials science and technology at Kyushu University in 1991. He began his independent career as a professor in 2004 at the Chitose Institute of Science and Technology before moving to Kyushu University in 2005.
His recent research revolves around the development of next-generation optoelectronic devices, which require new synthesis methods for novel materials with specific properties. His lab is working on high-performance organic light-emitting transistors, organic photovoltaics, organic memory devices and organic laser diodes.
Currently, Adachi is a professor of the Graduate School of Engineering and the director of the Center of Organic Photonics and Electronics Research at Kyushu University. Besides the Nagoya Silver Medal, he has received other commendations, including the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Minister’s Science and Technology Award in 2018 and the Thomson Reuters Research Front Award in 2016. He also serves as an editor of the journals Organic Electronics and Scientific Reports.
The 2018 Nagoya Gold Medal went to Professor David MacMillan of Princeton University, US, for his research in catalysis, including organocatalysis, light-dependent oxidation and reduction reactions, and the application of these to the synthesis of natural products and pharmaceuticals.
The award winners will give lectures on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at the Noyori Conference Hall of Nagoya University in Japan.
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Source: Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-molecules; Photo: Kyushu University.
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