The Yurii Simonov Memorial Prize winners 2012

Press release
June 4, , 2011

In support of scholars conducting innovative research in Solid State Physics, Crystallography, and Crystal and Structural Chemistry, Yurii Simonov Memorial Foundation and Institute of Applied Physics of Academy of Sciences of Moldova are pleased to announce first winners of its inaugural Yurii Simonov Memorial Prize.

The Scientific Committee and the Board decided to award two prizes of $1000 each:

Prize for seasoned researchers was awarded to Dr. Paulina Bourosh (Institute of Applied Physics, Academy of Sciences of Moldova) and Prof. Mihail Revenco (State University of Moldova) for the series of publications under the general title "Crystallographic studies for establishing pathways of chemical reactions in complicated systems". By applying X ray technique, Bourosh and Revenco have been able not only to determine the structure of the new compounds, but also to discover the ways of the development of the chemical reactions activated and promoted by the presence of the metallic ions, new arrangement of the atoms and chemical bonds, resulting finally in new properties of the materials.

Prize for younger researchers was awarded to Dr. Denis Prodius (Institute of Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of Moldova) for series of publications under the title "Synthesis and investigation of polynuclear metal (s-, d- and f-) carboxylates as modern multifunctional materials".The application of Dr. Prodius was focused on coordination clusters with unusual magnetic interactionsand biologically active compounds. The single crystal X-ray method played a crucial role in his investigations for the determination of molecular structures of novel compounds. Especially, this has been pronouncedly shown in his works related with Single Molecule Magnets, which are a special class of metal-organic clusters that possess purely individual magnetic properties, with each molecule able to be individually magnetized. A variety of different clusters were synthesized by Denis Prodius as precursors for obtaining more than 50 new substances in crystalline form and the crystal structure for 18 of them were analyzed.

Yurii Simonov played a crucial role in the developing of crystallography in Moldova, being associated with the Laboratory of physical methods of solid-state investigations of the Institute of Applied Physics. Fifty years of his life were increasingly and fruitfully dedicated to research. His contribution to structural studies of coordination, organic and supramolecular compounds was outstanding. About 600 scientific papers were published in internationally recognized journals; still more than six hundred were presented as abstracts of conferences and reports in local journals. His scientific activity extended across national borders, he established and developed cooperation with chemists, physicists and crystallographers in many countries in Europe, North America, and Asia.

More details about Yurii Simonov Memorial Foundation can be found at http://andreisimonov.com/YuriiSimonov/