PhD researcher recognised with international crystallography award

Final year PhD student Frederik Link has been awarded the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) Young Scientist Award.

At the 7th European Conference on Crystal Growth in Paris, PhD student Frederik Link was awarded the Young Scientists Award for his contributions towards the crystallisation of proteins.

Formed after the Second World War, the IUCr was formally admitted to the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) in 1947. Its objectives are to promote international cooperation in crystallography, promote international publication of crystallographic research and to facilitate standardisation of methods, units and symbols within the field.

“I’m really proud to have received this award and would like to thank my supervisor Professor Jerry Heng and friends and colleagues for their support during my PhD." Frederik Link Department of Chemical Engineering

Frederik is a departmental scholar and a member of Professor Jerry Heng’s research group. He was invited to deliver a talk at the conference about his research into the design and optimisation of a continuous crystallisation platform for the purification of biopharmaceutical proteins. He focuses on increasing the purification efficiency and reproducibility by investigating the role of fluid dynamics as well as interfacial phenomena between the bulk solution and the crystalliser’s wall on the crystallisation rate and crystal yield of biopharmaceutical proteins.

Commenting on his award, Frederik said: “I’m really proud to have received this award and would like to thank my supervisor Professor Jerry Heng and friends and colleagues for their support during my PhD. I believe that this work could help revolutionise the downstream purification of biopharmaceutical so it’s a very exciting and interesting field to be working in.”

Professor Jerry Heng, Frederik’s supervisor, added: "It’s great to see Frederik’s work being recognised in this way. He’s an exceptional student thoroughly deserving of this award and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for him and his research."