Accolade for a chemist

CiM-Professor Ryan Gilmour becomes Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society of Chemistry
Univ.-Prof. PhD Ryan Gilmour is CiM Professor of Chemical Biology.
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Chemist Ryan Gilmour, a Professor at Münster University, has been appointed a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). “In Britain this is a great honour for any chemist, and it’s a high point in my career” says a delighted Ryan Gilmour, who heads a research group in the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence. As a Fellow of this British community of researchers, CiM Professor Gilmour aims to raise still further the international profile of natural sciences at Münster.

Ryan Gilmour, born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1980, carries out research on molecular design at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at Münster University. His research group is trying to create molecules with precisely defined properties, for example artificial carbohydrates which “recognize” molecular structures in the body and dock on to certain spots “receptors”. These receptors could then be made visible with the aid of molecular imaging and enable statements to be made on metabolic processes and diseases.

CiM Professor Ryan Gilmour took his PhD at the University of Cambridge in England, and after that he undertook research at the Max Planck Institute of Coal Research in Mülheim an der Ruhr, and at Zurich Technical University (ETH) in Switzerland. At ETH he subsequently held an Alfred Werner Assistant Professorship from the Werner Foundation, which promotes talented junior scientists in Switzerland. Since 2012 Gilmour has been Professor of Chemical Biology at Münster University, and since 2013 head of a research group within the Cell-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence. For his research on molecular design he received a grant from the European Research Council – a so-called ERC Starting Grant – in 2013 in order to further build up his research group.

“For the sake of knowledge and for the benefit of mankind“ is the motto of the RSC, which was founded in London in 1841. It is a non-profit organisation and promotes international networking, research projects and publications in the field of the chemical sciences. With over 51,000 members it is the world’s largest chemical society and is represented in numerous countries.