Grant: Collaborative Research and Training Experience

CREATE Sustainable Synthesis is a training program designed to address an acknowledged gap in the academic preparation of undergraduate, MSc, PhD and postdoctoral trainees for careers in industry. CREATE Sustainable Synthesis will train students in the field of Catalysis Research, which requires inter-disciplinary expertise to move a fundamental discovery in catalysis into an industrially viable catalytic process for the preparation of commercial products. Catalysts help chemical reactions to occur with reduced energy demands while generating reduced amounts of waste and consequently they are critical technologies for producing manufactured goods efficiently and cost-effectively. Thus, catalysis is presently used in a broad range of industries including the petrochemical, agrochemical, pharmaceutical, biomass conversion, energy and plastics sectors. Furthermore, improved catalytic methods are the cornerstone of advancing Green Chemistry and Clean Technology development for these industries. In industry, teams of multi-disciplinary researchers work together to realize the full commercial potential of new catalytic transformations; an approach that is presently lacking in current academic programs. CREATE Sustainable Synthesis marries Pharmaceutical Scientists/Medicinal Chemists and Chemical Engineers with Synthetic Chemists researching in Catalysis to identify potential applications in human-health, polymers/plastics, energy and biomass conversion. Furthermore, Chemists and Chemical Engineers will work together to carry out feasibility investigations for technology transfer to the manufacturing sector. In short course format, trainees will learn the basics of business, project management, communication and Intellectual Property to prepare them for the industrial work place. Most importantly, more than 6 industrial partners and 15 academic co-applicants and collaborators over a range of business sectors and technical expertise have partnered in CREATE Sustainable Synthesis to design the training program and provide 4 to 8 month internships for the graduate students enrolled.