Prof Hutchings awarded prestigious award for oxidation catalysis

At the recent 8th World Congress on Oxidation Catalysis (WCOC) held in Krakow, director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, Prof Graham Hutchings FRS was the recipient of the prestigious WCOC Award.

WCOC is one of the premier catalytic meetings focusing solely on surface science and catalysis of oxidation reactions, with each Congress recognising one person for their contribution to oxidation catalysis. The conference series started in 1993 in Spain with the first WCOC Award presented to Professor L Margolis from Russia.  Since then the conference has been held every four years and the local organising committee choose the recipient of the Award.

The committee also choose the nature of the award and as the conference was held in Krakow, Professor Małgorzata Witko (Chairperson of the Organising Committee, right in picture) on announcing the award, described that the 2017 WCOC Award was a 'Szopki' which can be translated as crib but they bear a heavy resemblance to gingerbread houses. Szopki represent Krakow’s oldest and most distinct custom. At Christmas Krakow is famous for its annual szopki competition where many compete to create large card and coloured foil constructions sometimes up to 3m high that recreate the nativity scene. Luckily the Award was a much smaller version

On receiving his award, Prof Hutchings commented “It is both a surprise and honour to receive this award and serves to acknowledge the efforts of all within the Cardiff Catalysis Institute”