Professor Richard Catlow named new Royal Society Foreign Secretary
8 July 2016
Professor Richard Catlow (UCL Chemistry) has been
elected Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society. He will take over from
Professor Martyn Poliakoff who will step down in November.
"The
relationship between science in the UK and Europe is in a state of flux
and so the role of the Foreign Secretary of the Society has never been
more important. Science has always been a global undertaking and
international collaboration has become the norm. Richard Catlow is well
placed to help the Society negotiate this difficult time and build on
the strong relationships we have across the world." Said Venki
Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society.
Professor Catlow's
research develops and applies computer models in conjunction with
experiment to probe the properties of materials, including their
synthesis, structure and properties. By combining computational methods
with experiments, he has made considerable contributions to major areas
of contemporary materials chemistry and physics, including mineralogy
and the study of electronic, energy and catalytic materials.
He
said "I am very pleased and honoured to be taking on this new and
challenging role. Science is an international endeavour and its of key
importance to maintain and extend the international collaborations and
interactions of UK science and to ensure that UK science plays its full
role on the world stage."
Professor Catlow currently has a joint
appointment between the Department of Chemistry, UCL and the School of
Chemistry, Cardiff University. He has collaborated in Europe, the US,
India, China, Japan, Cuba, Africa and Australia and has a particular
interest in capacity building programmes in Africa.
The post of
Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society dates back to 1723 and predates
the post of Foreign Secretary in HM Government by sixty years.