Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Lehn presented French Embassy Scientific Prizes and visited IOCB Prague
Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry Jean-Marie Lehn presented awards to, among others, two researchers associated with IOCB Prague. He later visited the institute, where he met with early-career researchers.
At the Scientific Prizes of the French Embassy ceremony, held at Buquoy Palace on 26 June, two former IOCB Prague PhD students were honored. The Jean-Marie Lehn Prize, awarded for outstanding research by PhD students in chemistry, was presented to Jakub Copko for a project carried out in the Tomáš Slanina Group. Michal Kráľ, from the Jan Konvalinka Group, received the Sanofi Prize for Pharmacy.
During his visit to IOCB Prague, Jean-Marie Lehn met with the institute's Vice Director for International Relations, Zdeněk Hostomský, as well as a group of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, with whom he discussed their research and career paths.
The program also included meetings with representatives of IOCB Tech, Prague.bio, and i&i Bio, organizations closely linked to IOCB Prague that support technology transfer and innovation.
Jean-Marie Lehn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 for his pioneering research on molecular recognition, which laid the foundations for supramolecular chemistry. Alongside his own scientific research, he has long been committed to supporting early-career scientists and fostering international scientific collaboration.
In 1994, Jean-Marie Lehn established a prize recognizing outstanding research by Czech PhD students in chemistry. The prize has been awarded every year since then, and since 2023 it has been financially supported by the IOCB Foundation (formerly the IOCB Tech Foundation).
