Kallol Ray, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany, has been awarded the 2015 Carl Duisberg Memorial Prize by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society). The prize is awarded to individuals under 40 years of age who do not hold a position as full professor but have distinguished themselves through original work. Ray was honored for his interdisciplinary work on biomimetic inorganics.

The award was presented at the Chemiedozententagung in Regensburg, Germany, on March 2, 2015. The laudatio was held by Professor Christian Limberg, Humboldt-University, Berlin.

Kallol Ray studied chemistry at the University of Calcutta, India, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He received his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry, Mülheim, Germany, under Karl Wieghardt in 2005. He currently is Junior Research Group Leader at Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany, within the UniCat (“Unifying Concepts in Catalysis”) excellence cluster. His research is focused on the principles governing reactivities in biological systems which employ common transition metals like copper, iron, and manganese.

Ray was honored with the Ernst-Haage Award for outstanding research efforts in the field of bioinorganic chemistry and the EurJIC-Wöhler Young Investigator Prize.

 

From left to right: Dr. Kallol Ray, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Dr. Thomas Geelhaar, Merck KGaA and President of the GDCh, Professor Christian Limberg, Humboldt-University, Berlin (held the laudatio), Mrs. Ray, Professor Wolfram Koch, Executive Director of the GDCh.

 

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Selected Publications

• Status of Reactive Non-Heme Metal–Oxygen Intermediates in Chemical and Enzymatic Reactions,
  K. Ray, F. F. Pfaff, B. Wang, W. Nam,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 13942–13958.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja507807v
• Spectroscopic Capture and Reactivity of a Low-Spin Cobalt(IV)–Oxo Complex Stabilized by Binding Redox-Inactive Metal Ions,
  S. Hong, F. F. Pfaff, E. Kwon, Y. Wang, M. Seo, E. Bill, K. Ray, W. Nam,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 10403–10407.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201405874
• Joint spectroscopic and theoretical investigations of transition metal complexes involving non-innocent ligands,
  K. Ray, T. Petrenko, K. Wieghardt, F. Neese,
  Dalton Trans. 2007.
  DOI: 10.1039/b700096k