Past News

Congratulations to Professor Naumov and Luca, whose manuscript entitled: Structure–Mechanical Relationships in Polymorphs of an Organic Semiconductor (C4-NT3N) was published in Crystal Growth & Design. What a great way to finish the year!

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Panče Naumov, gave an invited lecture at the Conference of the Asian Crystallographic Association (AsCA2019), held at the National University of Singapore. Professor Naumov’s talk was entitled: Mechanical Properties of Molecular Crystals: The Bigger Picture.

Postdoctoral Associate, Luca Catalano, gave a talk entitled Organic Crystals as Optical Waveguides at the bi-weekly Chemistry Talks, NYU Abu Dhabi.

Congratulations, Professor Naumov, on being selected by the Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Scientists (MBRAS) as a finalist for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinguishment. Professor Naumov is one of 33 academy members selected according to bibliometrics and pursuant to the criteria set under the UAE Scholar Index.

Congratulations to Luca Catalano and Jad Mahmoud Halabi, who participated in December's Fikret Science Club sponsored by NYU Abu Dhabi’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology.  Luca and Jad were part of a 3-person panel focused on “Art & Science, the Yin & the Yang." 

Congratulations to Professor Naumov and Durga, whose manuscript entitled: Mechanically Responsive Crystals: Analysis of Macroscopic Strain Reveals “Hidden” Processes was published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 

Research Scientist, Durga Karothu, gave an informative and well-received talk entitled Dynamic crystalline organic materials at the bi-weekly Chemistry Talks, NYU Abu Dhabi.

Professor Naumov’s interview with Al-Fanar is now live online. Check out the article here.

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Panče Naumov’s manuscript entitled: Efficient screening for ternary molecular ionic cocrystals using a complementary mechanosynthesis and computational structure prediction approach was accepted for publishing in Chemistry─A European Journal. This research is a collaborative effort between the Naumov group from NYUAD and the group of Sharmarke Mohammed from Khalifa University.

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Panče Naumov, was awarded The 2020 Hans and Marlies Zimmer International Scholar by the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. 

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Panče Naumov, was interviewed by Al-Fanar for an article highlighting some of the most pressing issues facing researchers in the Arab world today.

Research Scientist, Ejaz Ahmed, gave a talk entitled Soft Molecular Crystals at the bi-weekly Chemistry Talks, NYU Abu Dhabi, November 18, 2019.

Postdoctoral Associate Luca Catalano’s poster entitled Smart optical waveguides for next-generation optoelectronics was awarded Best Poster in Chemistry at Cell Symposium: Next-Generation Materials for Energy Applications held in Xiamen, China from November 16-19, 2019.  Congratulations, Luca!

Undergraduate Student Rodrigo Ferreira was highlighted in NYUAD’s 2019 Annual Research Report.

Welcome back to Professor Panče Naumov, who returned from a 3-week GRI Fellowship at NYU's campus in Madrid, Spain. 

Research Scientist, Patrick Commins, gave a talk entitled Self-healing Crystals at the bi-weekly Chemistry Talks, NYU Abu Dhabi, November 4, 2019.

Congratulations to Professor Naumov, Durga, Jad and Liang, whose manuscript entitled Global Performance Indices for Dynamic Crystals as Organic Thermal Actuators was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials!

The Naumov Group had a manuscript entitled Extraordinary Anisotropic Thermal Expansion in Photosalient Crystals accepted for publishing in IUCrJ. Congratulations to Durga and Professor Naumov, as well as all of our collaborators.

Professor Panče Naumov gave an invited lecture entitled Mechanical Properties of Molecular Crystals: The Bigger Picture at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. 

Post-doctoral Associate, Luca Catalano, attended the International Symposium on Contemporary Crystal Engineering and Solid-State Chemistry held in Rehovot, Israel, from October 23-24, 2019. "The conference was held to celebrate the 100th anniversary since the birth of Gerhard M.J. Schmidt, the father of crystal engineering. The event gathered leading scientists in the field of solid-state chemistry from all over the world." Luca gave a talk entitled Dynamic Crystalline Solids: The Bigger Picture and also presented a poster entitled Adaptive Crystals as optical waveguides.

Congratulations to Graduate student Jad Mahmoud Halabi, co-founder of Glimpses: The Art of Science, on a second successful Glimpses exhibition, held at NYUAD Oct 14- 27th. The exhibition saw cutting-edge scientific research exhibited as artworks, including images, videos, and interactive installations. Glimpses aims to take science outside the lab and bring it to casual spaces to humanize science, create positive dispositions towards it, and help build identities around it.

Graduate student Jad Mahmoud Halabi’s profile was highlighted on the online portal, #UniqueScientists whose mission is to “embrace diversity and share the #UniqueJourney of any scientist who wishes to share their tale with the world.” 

The Naumov Group had a paper entitled Spatial Photocontrol of the Optical Output from an Organic Crystal Waveguide published in the Journal of American Chemical Science (JACS). Congratulations to graduate student and first author Jad Mahmoud Halabi on having his first paper published in such a reputable journal!

Graduate student Jad Mahmoud Halabi was invited to attend Conveying Science Through Art: A Public Engagement Workshop at the New York Academy of Sciences headquarters in NYC in partnership with Guerilla Science and Pratt Institute. The 3-day workshop, which took place from September 6-8, aimed to equip scientists with skills and techniques to tap into their creative side and effectively communicate the wonder and complexity of science to diverse audiences.

Check out the spotlight article by Nobel Laureate Sir J. Fraser Stoddart in which he refers to one of the Naumov Group's recent papers Thermosalient Amphidynamic Molecular Machines: Motion at the Molecular and Macroscopic Scales.

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Panče Naumov’s manuscript entitled: Supramolecular Organization of Model Polycyclic Aromatic Molecules: Comparison of 2D and 3D Assemblies was published in ChemNanoMat. This paper studied the 2D and 3D assembly of a model aromatic compound, which can help us understand how to prevent the formation of solid precipitates in oil reservoirs and production tubing. This is the third publication from NYU Abu Dhabi related to petroleomics (chemistry of oil), from an externally funded project financially supported by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Panče Naumov, gave an invited keynote lecture, Mechanical Properties of Molecular Crystals: The Bigger Picture at the 32nd European Crystallographic Meeting held in Vienna, Austria, August 18-23, 2019. 1,200 participants attended the conference.

Professor Naumov has been invited to contribute a blog-type post to the Nature Research Chemistry Community. The post will discuss the Naumov Group’s paper entitled: Shape-Memory Effects in Molecular Crystals which was recently accepted for publishing in Nature Communications.

Congratulations to the Naumov Group along with NYUAD CTP scientists who had a manuscript published by Chemical Science entitled: Martensitic organic crystals as soft actuators. The paper was also featured as ChemSci Pick of the Week. Check out the paper to discover how little crystals can push more than 10,000 times their own weight. That’s more than 200 times stronger than an ant!

The Naumov Group's manuscript entitled Shape-Memory Effects in Molecular Crystals was accepted for publishing by Nature Communications. Congratulations to Durga, Ejaz and Panče for their tremendous efforts!

Graduate student Jad Mahmoud Halabi is currently spending one month at Washington State University hosted by Professor Mark G. Kuzyk. This collaboration aims to explore the potential of using mechanically responsive organic crystals as mechanical actuators in soft robotics actuators and micromachinery.

Research Associate Durga Prasad Karothu was awarded the Joel Bernstein Poster Award from The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) at ICCOSS XXIV 2019, held in New York, June 16-21. Durga presented a poster on Shape Memory Effects in Soft Crystals.

Research Scientist Patrick Commins presented a poster entitled “Efficiently Self-Healing Molecular Crystals” at ICCOSS XXIV 2019, held in New York, June 16-21.

Professor Panče Naumov gave an invited talk entitled “The Man Who Inspired Many of Us” during the JOEL BERNSTEIN MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM in New York City.  The symposium was held as part of the 24th International Conference on the Chemistry of the Organic Solid State (ICCOSS XXIV) 2019. Professor Naumov also organized, gave a session opening speech and chaired the first session of the conference. The Advisory Board of the GRC appointed Dr Naumov as a chair and organizer of the next conference, which will be held in Ohrid, Macedonia, in June 2021.

Post-doctoral Associate, Luca Catalano gave a poster presentation entitled "Bendable organic crystals and their use in optoelectronics" at CrystalForms@Bo held in Bologna, Italy June 9-11, 2019.

Welcome to Muhammad Haider, who joined the Naumov Group for Summer 2019 as part of the Visiting Undergraduate Research Program. Muhammad is an NYUNY, Rising Senior majoring in Biology, minoring in Chemistry. He is excited about the opportunity to do research at NYUAD, which he sees as the perfect next step in his studies in the natural sciences. Being a first-time visitor to the middle east, Muhammad is enjoying the rich culture, history and emphasis on learning in the UAE both inside and outside the lab.

Professor Panče Naumov attended the Crystal Forms conference held in Bologna, Italy, June 9-11, 2019.

Research Associate, Durga Prasad Karothu, gave a talk on Shape Memory Effects in Soft Crystals at Supramol 2019, held in Lecce, Italy, from June 6-8.

Congratulations to graduate student Jad Mahmoud Halabi who successfully passed his Qualifying Exam.

Professor Panče Naumov gave an invited talk on “Crystal Adaptronics: Dynamic and Soft-Matter-Like Properties of Molecular Crystals “at the 102nd Canadian Chemistry Conference held in Quebec City, Canada. Over 300 people attended the conference.

Research Associate Durga Prasad Karothu was awarded the Best Poster prize from Crystal Growth and Design at 14th International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC2019) Lecce, Italy, on June 2-6, 2019. Durga presented a poster on Shape Memory Effects in Soft Crystals.

Post-doctoral Associate Luca Catalano gave a poster presentation entitled "Bendable organic crystals and their use in optoelectronics" at ISMSC 2019, held in Lecce, Italy, June 2-6, 2019. Luca also gave an oral on the same subject at Supramol 2019, held in Lecce, Italy, June 6-8, 2019.

Angewandte Chemie has recognized Professor Panče Naumov as one of their most prolific and trusted authors. Professor Naumov’s author profile will be featured as part of its series on those authors who have recently published their tenth paper in Angewandte Chemie in the last 10 years.

NYUAD student Ieva Liepuoniute and members of the Naumov Group and collaborators from other institutions had a paper entitled "Reversible Multicolor Photochromism of Dihydroazulene Crystals" published in Chemistry-A European Journal.

Professor Panče Naumov hosted the Second Middle Eastern Materials Science Conference held at NYUAD, Abu Dhabi, UAE, November 12-14, 2018.

Global PhD student, Jad Mahmoud Halabi, attended the Science Alliance Leadership Training (SALT) held in Washington DC, USA, October 2018. The program, which was co-hosted by the New York Academy of Sciences and Lockheed Martin is designed to provide exceptional students in the STEM fields with the opportunity to immerse themselves in understanding leadership concepts that will allow them to effectively advocate for their career.

Professor Panče Naumov acted as co-chair for the Microsymposia "Exploring structural dynamics in crystals" at the 31st European Crystallographic Meeting (ECM31) held in Oviedo, Spain, August 2018.

AdvancedScienceNews.com highlighted Professor Naumov's research in an article entitled " Humidity-Driven Motility in Feather Grass Awns."

An article discussing Marieh Al Bandawi's research on the development of heat-proof vaccines was published in The National.

Gijo Raj gave an invited talk entitled "Probing chemical transitions and nano-mechanical properties using Atomic Force Microscopy: from organic crystals to petroleum heavy aromatics" at CEA Grenoble.

Yumi’s work investigating the anti-cataracts effects of cleome rupicola was featured in The National.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition has highlighted the Naumov Group’s research on bendable crystals in a press release from June 18, 2018.

A highlight on Yumi Gambrill’s work on the isolation of bioactive compounds from the UAE plant Cleome rupicola has been published here on the NYUAD website.

A story based on the Naumov Group’s research on bendable crystals is available online now at Nature Asia’s  India and Middle East editions.

Professor Naumov’s Fellowship was announced on the NYUAD website, available in English here and Arabic here. The Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University has also posted our announcement on their website.

Post-doctoral associate Luca Catano had a manuscript entitled “Exploiting rotational motion in molecular crystals” accepted for publication in CrystEngComm. Luca will also be submitting artwork for the cover of the publication.

Professor Panče Naumov was awarded the Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard University.

Post-doctoral associate, Luca Catalano, has been awarded the best PhD prize in crystallography 2018 offered by the Italian Crystallographic Association (AIC) for his thesis entitled “Towards engineering of solid-state supramolecular rotors via halogen bonding.” The Politecnico di Milano, where he recently completed his doctoral studies, highlighted Luca’s prize in their May PhD Newsletter. Luca has also been invited as an awardee to give a lecture at the next AIC annual meeting in Rome (Italy), 23-28 June 2018.

Student Yumi Gambrill, Class of 2018, won 2nd place out of 21 abstracts presented in the chemistry and environmental sciences category at the 6th UAE Undergraduate Research Competition, held by Abu Dhabi University.

Research associate Gijo Raj, in collaboration with Visiting Research Professor, Gennaro Esposito, had a manuscript entitled “Interference of citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles on β2-microglobulin oligomeric association” accepted for publication in ChemmCom.

Student Ibrahim Tahir successfully graduated from the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Scholars Program (SMSP), having completed a successful internship with the Naumov Group.

Post-Doctoral Associate Luca Catano had his paper entitled “Bendable organic crystals” accepted by the SPIE Organic Photonics + Electronics Symposium. Luca will travel to San Diego in August 2018 to present his paper.

Ejaz and Luca visited SPring-8, a synchrotron radiation facility in Japan, to perform micro-focused FTIR experiments from April 16 – 20, 2018.

Professor Panče Naumov was invited to act as co-chair in the organization of the MS34, entitled “Exploring structural dynamics in crystals,” within the scientific programme of the 31st European Crystallographic Meeting (ECM31) to be held in Oviedo, Spain, August 22 – 27, 2018.

Student Nathan Lui received the International Student Chapter travel grant to attend the ACS meeting in New Orleans in March 2018.

Student Ibrahim Tahir started his internship with the Naumov Group after being accepted into SMSP (Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Scholar Program). The program also involves taking courses during the year (Leadership, Public speaking, US Foreign Policies, Critical Thinking, and Persuasive Writing) and upon successfully graduating from the program (August 2018), he will be awarded a scholarship for graduate school.

Research Associate Ejaz Ahmed started his month long visit to work with our collaborators at Novosibirsk State University in Russia.

Dr. Jans Van Esch from University of Delft visited NYUAD and the Naumov group and gave a lecture entitled Fuel-Driven Active Materials.

Professor Panče Naumov attended the 24th Congress of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), in Hyderabad, India and gave an invited lecture entitled "Disintegrative vs Restorative Effects during Motion, Deformation and Self-Healing of Dynamic Molecular Crystals".

Manuscript "Mechanistic Investigations of the 2-Coumaranone Chemiluminescence" from members of the Naumov Group and collaborators has been accepted for publication by Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics journal.

Research Scientist Patrick Commins visited the Bruker facilities in Yokohama, Japan learning electron spin resonance spectroscopy. He then spent a month at University of Lethbridge in Canada learning advanced NMR spectroscopy techniques.

Postdoctoral Associate, Stefan Schramm attended and presented a poster entitled "Photoinduced Solid State Decarboxylation of N,N-Dimethylaminolucifer in Single Crystals" at the Gordon Research Conference, Bates College, Lewiston, USA from July 22-28th.

Chemical Communications accepted the Naumov Group manuscript "Metal-Coated Thermosalient Crystals as Electrical Fuses".

Advanced Materials has accepted the Naumov Group manuscript "Vapomechanically Responsive Motion of Microchannel-Programmed Actuators".

ACIE has issued a press release on work from the Naumov Group entitled “Raucous Crystals”.

CrystEngComm has accepted the Naumov Group paper “Ionic Cocrystals of Molecular Saccharin”.

DESY recently highlighted work from the Naumov Group with article on "Jumping crystals produce sound waves".

Stefan Schramm, Postdoctoral Associate, has been awarded the Alan R. Katritzky award for synthetic heterocyclic chemistry. The award is endowed with €1000 and will be awarded by the president of the University of Jena on July 6th. Congratulations to Stefan.

Chemical Communications has accepted the Naumov Group paper “A Stable Gold(I)–Enyne Species Obtained by Alkyne Carboauration in a Complex Rearrangement”.

The manuscript "Direct Observation of Asphaltene Nanoparticles on Model Mineral Substrates" from Gijo Raj, Alain Lesimple, Jamie Whelan and Panče Naumov has just been accepted by Langmuir for publication.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition have accepted for publication the manuscript "Acoustic Emission from Organic Martensites" from Manas K. Panda, Martin Etter, Robert E. Dinnebier, and Panče Naumov.

Postdoctoral Associate Stefan Schramm has been awarded the Frans De Schryver ACS Travel Grant to attend the Methods and Applications in Fluorescence (MAF) Conference in Bruges, Belgium in September 2017. Congratulations to Stefan.

Postdoctoral Associate Cesar Carrasco-Lopez attended a meeting at the University of Strasbourg, organized by Dr. Pascal Didier, to coordinate with our collaborators on the future strategies and approaches, relating to the Bioluminescence project, that will be developed during the second half of 2017.

The Journal of Organic Chemistry accepted the manuscript "From Highly Fluorescent Donors to Strongly Absorbing Acceptors: The Tunable Properties of Fluorubines" from Dominique Mario Gampe, Stefan Schramm, Steffen Ziemann, Matthias Westerhausen, Helmar Görls, Panče Naumov and Rainer Beckert for publication.

The Naumov research group published six out of the 12 papers listed under the "Chemistry" category in the United Arab Emirates in the Nature Index 2016, for the period between February 1 2016 and January 31 2017. This accounts for 70.5% of the chemistry publications in the UAE in both fractional count (FC) and weighed fractional count (WFC).

NYUAD students Ieva Liepuoniute, Nathan Lui and Alvaro Yanez competed in the 5th United Arab Emirates Undergraduate Research Competition, at Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi.  Each gave an oral presentation on research carried out in the Naumov Lab. Ieva's talk was entitled "Photochromism of dihydroazulenes: Investigating the reaction mechanism and thermodynamic properties in solid state", Nathan's was entitled "Humidity-responsive luminescent switching in oxyluciferin-agarose thin films as a basis for optical humidity sensors" and Alvaro's "Morphokinematics of Stipa epilosa hygroactuation".

Dylan Shields from Anna Gudmundsdottir's Research Group at the University of Cincinnati visited for two weeks to join our team for collaborative research.

Distinguished Research Professor Kenneth Harris from Cardiff University, Wales visited the Naumov Group and gave two lectures to researchers on campus. One entitled “Structure Determination of Molecular Solids from Powder X-ray Diffraction Data: Current Opportunities and "State-of-the-Art" and the other entitled “New Experimental Techniques for Exploring Crystallization Pathways and Structural Properties of Solids”.

Cesar Carrasco-Lopez, Postdoctoral Associate from the Naumov group, was awarded beamtime at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, US and attended from 5‒7 April to carry out research testing on crystals.

Postdoctoral Associate Philip Rodenbough from the Naumov group has been awarded beam time at the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago.  Allocated slot will be scheduled for some time between June and August.

Professor Toru Asahi from Waseda University visited the group for several days during March 2017.

NYUAD highlights the work of Naumov group postdoc Philip Rodenbough, who is working on a project to improve digital chemistry literacy in Kenyan schools.

Philip Rodenbough, Postdoctoral Associate with the Naumov group, gave an interview to the Ras Al Khaimah Media Office sharing his enthusiasm for the IWAM conference.

Panče Naumov and colleagues were recognized for their work on firefly bioluminescence by the Human Frontier Science Program.

Our manuscript entitled “Flexibility in a Molecular Crystal Accomplished by Structural Modulation of Carbohydrate Epimers” has been accepted by the journal Crystal Growth and Design.

Takuya Taniguchi, a chemistry PhD student from Professor Toru Asahi’s lab in Waseda University, Japan is visiting the Naumov Group until the end of March to do research. Welcome, Takuya!

Professor Isabelle Navizet from University Paris-Est-Marne-la Vallee visited NYUAD and gave a lecture entitled “Excited States and Light Emission in Firefly Bioluminescence System: A Theoretical Study” to researchers at NYUAD as part of the Chemistry Seminar Series.

Collaborator Dr Yasuo Mitani from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan visited the Naumov Group from January 28-31.

Professor Panče Naumov was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Society of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence (ISBC).

Associate Professor Panče Naumov and other collaborators have had their manuscript accepted for publication. The manuscript entitled "Oxyluciferin Derivatives: A Toolbox of Environment-Sensitive Fluorescence Probes for Molecular and Cellular Applications" was accepted by The Journal of Physical Chemistry, Part B: Biophysical Chemistry, Biomaterials, Liquids, and Soft Matter, Section B: Biophysical Chemistry and Biomolecules.

Associate Professor Panče Naumov and other collaborators have had their manuscript accepted for publication, entitled entitled “Synthesis of Tetraoxygenated Terephthalates via a Dichloroquinone Route: Characterization of Cross-Conjugated Liebermann Betaine Intermediates,” in Helvetica Chimica Acta.

Sahr Khan, a Postdoctoral Researcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, visited the Naumov Group and also gave a lecture entitled “Sustainable Energy by Direct H2O/CO2 to Fuel Conversion” to researchers at NYUAD.

Dr Sunil Kumar from NYUNY visited NYUAD and gave a lecture entitled “Foldamer-based Approach to Probe the Mechanistic Pathways of Protein Misfolding” as part of the Chemistry Seminar Series.

Associate Professor Panče Naumov with group members and other collaborators have had their manuscript accepted for publication. Manuscript entitled “Probing Structural Perturbation in a Bent Molecular Crystal with Synchrotron Infrared Microspectroscopy and Periodic Density Functional Theory Calculations” was accepted by the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Panče Naumov attended the QAFCO-Texas A&M at Qatar Conference 2017 and gave a lecture entitled “Dynamic Molecular Single Crystals.” The conference was held in Doha, Qatar, January 11-13.

Ieva Liepuoniute, undergraduate researcher in the Naumov Group, has been offered admission to the doctoral program at the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry with an Excellence in Chemistry Fellowship. Congratulations to her!

Tabinah Faisal, Tamara Gjorgjieva, and Veronika Li completed research projects in the Naumov Group for their NYUAD FOS-2 course. Their projects won top honors at their class’s Crystal Symposium. Well done!

The Naumov Group has been recognized with honorable mention by the LyncéeTec Innovation Challenge in 4D Profilimetry Applications. See Alain Lesimple’s entry, “formation of nanoaggregates by evaporation of solvent,” here.

Professor Xutang Tao from the Institute of Crystal Materials and State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, China visited NYUAD as part of the Chemistry Seminar Series and gave an talk entitled "Phase Transition and Crystal Growth of Organic and Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite Materials".

Manuscript entitled “Excited-State Dynamics of Oxyluciferin in Firefly Luciferase” with authors Joris Snellenburg, Sergey Laptenok, Richard DeSa, Panče Naumov, Kyril Solntsev has been accepted by the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The Naumov group visited the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in Dubai.

Dr Panče Naumov attended the First General Body Meeting of the UAE Chapter of the American Chemical Society held at NYUAD and presented invited talk “Materials Science at New York University Abu Dhabi.”

Dr Stefan Schramm appeared on CNN to talk about the Super Moon.

Dr Panče Naumov attended the 4th Arab-American Frontiers of Science Engineering and Medicine Symposium at Masdar, Abu Dhabi.

An article regarding Patrick Commins’s work on self-healing crystals was published in The National.

Our collaborators from other UAE research institutions were awarded for their achievements based on collaborative research with Naumov group: Dr. Na’il Saleh Ibrahim (Department of Chemistry, UAE University) was awarded by UAEU for his distinguished research works and outstanding performance in recent top-ranked publications, and Dr. Jolly Jacob (Abu Dhabi University) was awarded by ADU the service award for 2015-2016. Congratulations to our collaborators!

Dr. Panče Naumov was awarded tenure at New York University Abu Dhabi.

Work by Patrick Commins, Hideyuki Hara, and Panče Naumov on self-healing crystals was highlighted in Nature Middle East and many other media sources. Other English Media: NYUAD, Futurity and Gulf News Arabic Media: 24.ae, Al Khaleej, Al Watan, Dot Emirates, Emaratyah, Stone Mine, Ait News, Post Via, Thabbet, Al Mostakshf

Patrick Commins’s work on self-healing crystals was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Durga Prasad Karothu's work on terephthalic acid was published in Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Stefan Schramm’s work on coumaranones has been highlighted in C&EN news, Chemistry in Pictures.

Prof Yoshihiro Ohmiya and Dr Mitani from the “National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology”, Tsukuba, Japan visited and both gave a lecture, Prof. Ohmiya on “Bioluminescence of Dinoflagellate” and Dr Mitani on "Luminous animals from fields to the Lab".

Professor Panče Naumov concluded a three month period in Germany carrying out research work at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart as part of his Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Former student Alex Larkin was accepted into the WWU Masters in Teaching program through Everett Community College in the US.

Manuscript "Bioinspired Molecular Lantern: Tuning the Firefly Oxyluciferin Emission with Host-Guest Chemistry" with authors Na'il Saleh, Abdul Rahman Ba Suwaid, Ahmad Alhalabi, Ahmed Z. A. Abuibaid, Oleg Maltsev, Lukas Hintermann and Panče Naumov was accepted for publication in Journal of Physical Chemistry B.

Dr. Naumov visited University of Colorado at Boulder and discussed the opportunities for collaboration.

Manuscript "Unexpected Formation of a Fused Double Cycle Trinuclear Gold(I) Complex Supported by ortho-Phenyl Metallated Aryl-Diphosphine Ligands and Strong Aurophilic Interactions" written by Csaba Jobbágy, Péter Baranyai, Pál Szabó, Tamás Holczbauer, Barbara Rácz, Liang Li, Panče Naumov and Andrea Deák was accepted for publication in Dalton Transactions.

Dr Jianbo Xie and co-authors Liang Li, Anastassiya Knyazeva, James Weston and Panče Naumov's paper entitled "Mechanically Robust, Chemically Inert Superhydrophobic Charcoal Surfaces" was accepted for publication in Chemical Communications.

Durga Prasad Karothu visited Professor Phillip Coppens Lab at the University at Buffalo in New York.

Dr. Manas Panda’s and coauthors work entitled “Strong and Anomalous Thermal Expansion Precedes the Thermosalient Effect in Dynamic Molecular Crystals” has been accepted for publication in Scientific Reports.

As a winner of the Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Dr. Naumov carried out research work at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany during June and will return in August for a further month’s research work.

Stefan Schramm was awarded the Marlene Deluca Award for outstanding contributions at the International Symposium on Bioluminescence & Chemiluminescence in Tsukuba, Japan.

Dr. Francisco Vargas from Rice University, USA visited the Naumov lab.

An article describing the establishment of the new UAE chapter of the American Chemical Society during the inaugural Middle Eastern Materials Science Conference in Abu Dhabi was posted in C&EN news, NYUAD website and NYU Chemistry Website.

Manuscript "Synergistic Action of Thermoresponsive and Hygroresponsive Elements Elicits Rapid and Directional Response from a Bilayer Actuator" from authors Dr. Lidong Zhang, Israel Desta and Professor Panče Naumov has been published in Chemical Communications. The paper was selected to be highlighted on the back cover page of the journal.

The First Middle-Eastern Materials Science Conference at New York University Abu Dhabi took place from March 22-24. Organized by Professor Pance Naumov and Jane Toye and supported by the NYUAD Institute the conference included 39 invited talks presented by distinguished scholars from the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East as well as 32 poster presentations.

Members of the Naumov Group also participated in the conference with Dr. Patrick Commins and Dr. Durga Prasad Karothu giving oral talks and Dr. Manas Panda, Dr. Lidong Zhang, Dr. Gijo Raj, Dr. Jianbo Xie, Israel Desta (Research Assistant), and student Marieh Al-Handawi presenting posters. The conference also marked the inauguration of the United Arab Emirates American Chemical Society Chapter with Donna Nelson, the current ACS President giving a speech and handing over the Charter to founder of the Chapter, Professor Panče Naumov.

Collaborator Dr. Champika V. Hettiarachchi from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka visited the Naumov Group from 19th March to 1st April for collaborative research.

Collaborator Dr. Stanislav Chizhik from Novosibirsk State University in Russia visited the Naumov Group from 19th March to 2nd April for collaborative research.

Professor Naumov attended the 44th Symposium for Research Award Winners of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bamberg, Germany on March 18th to receive his award.

Professor Naumov hosted Dwayne Miller from the Max Planck Institute, Germany and University of Toronto, Canada, as part of the Chemistry Seminar Series. Dwayne gave an oral talk on “Mapping Atomic Motions with Ultra bright Electrons: The Chemists’ Gedanken Experiment Enters the Lab Frame” to the Science department researchers.

Panče Naumov, Manas Panda, Durga Prasad Karothu, Patrick Commins, Maria Al-Handawi, and Israel Desta attended the International Workshop on Advanced Materials conference at Ras Al-Khaimah.

A report featuring student Marieh Al-Handawi appeared in U.S. News and World Report relating to her passion for chemistry and the varying careers opportunities that having a degree in Chemistry can bring.

Stefan Schramm, a graduate from the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena visited the group and lab as part of a 4-week scholar program. During his visit he gave a presentation entitled “Chemiluminescent 2-Coumaranones.”

The Naumov Group received the ADEC Award for Research Excellence (A2RE) 2015. This is a grant award for two years for research on project entitled “A New Method for Direct Analysis of Formation of Asphaltene Scale in Abu Dhabi Oil Reservoirs.”

The Naumov Group project entitled “A New Method for Direct Analysis of Formation of Asphaltene Scale in Abu Dhabi Oil Reservoirs” was accepted for funding by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC).

Pance Naumov, together with Tim White, Bart Kahr, and Yanlei Yu organized a microsympoisum on "Mechanically Responsive Materials" at the 2015 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem), Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, US.

The “Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Transformations” themed issue which Professor Pance Naumov edited has now been published online in CrystEngComm, a Royal Society of Chemistry journal. There were 24 contributions to the themed issue paper.

The manuscript “Rapid and Robust Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the First-order Phase Transition in Crystals of the Organic-inorganic Perovskite (C12H25NH3)2PbI4” Aymen Yangui, Mouhamadou Sy, Liang Li, Younes Abid, Panče Naumov, and Kamel Boukheddaden has been accepted for publication in Scientific Reports (an open access journal published by the Nature Publishing Group). Dr. Liang Li is a member of the Core Technology Platform (CTP) team, and has worked with Dr. Naumov on this research project.

The manuscript “Directed Motility of Hygroresponsive Biomimetic Actuators” Lidong Zhang, Stanislav Chizhik, Yunze Wen, and Panče Naumov has been accepted for publication in the journal Advanced Functional Materials (IF = 11.8). Yunze Wen is NYUAD graduate (Class of 2015) and this research was part of his Capstone experience.

Professor Panče Naumov visited New York University New York and gave a lecture entitled “Dynamic Molecular Single Crystals.”

The manuscript Mechanically Responsive Molecular Crystals from Panče Naumov, Stanislav Chizhik, Manas Panda, Naba K. Nath, and Elena Boldyreva was accepted for publication in Chemical Reviews and was selected as cover page.

The manuscript Mechanically Responsive Molecular Crystals from Panče Naumov, Stanislav Chizhik, Manas Panda, Naba K. Nath and Elena Boldyreva was accepted for publication in Chemical Reviews.

Professor Naumov was invited and participated in a ceremony as a promoter of Academician Gligor Jovanovski’s “Collected Papers” at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts from 20-22 October in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.

Oliver Mullins, Science Advisor, Schlumberger visited NYUAD and the Naumov group.  He gave a public lecture entitled “Petroleomics: Chemistry of the Underworld”.

Lidong Zhang, Jianbo Xie, Marieh Al-Handawi and Pance Naumov were featured in the education section of the Gulf News.

Panče Naumov was featured as one of UAE’s innovators in an issue of The National.

NYU student Ieva Liepuoniute, supported by the Naumov Group and a grant from the ACS, and representing the Student Chapter of the ACS in the UAE attended the 250th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Expo and also attended the International Student Chapters meeting held in Boston, USA from August 16 to 20, 2015.

Lidong Zhang and Pance Naumov’s work was featured in Masdar Institute press release.

Dr. Patrick Commins visited the Ward group at New York University to carry out research work from July 28 to August 13, 2015.

Lidong Zhang and Pance Naumov’s collaboration with Abu Dhabi University was featured in the August edition of Abu Dhabi University's E-Newsletter.

Lidong Zhang’s Angewandte Chemie paper Light- and Humidity-Induced Motion of an Acidochromic Film was highlighted in the front-piece section of the journal.

Panče Naumov accepted the associate editor position for RSC Advances, a journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Angewandte highlighted the news of Professor Naumov being awarded the Alexander Von Humboldt fellowship for research in Germany.

Pance Naumov’s Humboldt Research Award was recognized in Gulf News.

Haoran Liang and his recent publication in Nature Communication was featured on the NYUAD website.

Lidong’s article in Nature Communications was featured in Nature Middle East.

Marieh Al-Handawi's first place in chemistry at the Third United Arab Emirates Undergraduate Student Research Competition was recognized on the NYUAD blog.

Our former group member and collaborator, Tomče Runčevski from the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Germany was awarded the Otto-Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society.

Marieh Al-Handawi, Momina Raza, Noor Debbouza, Patrick Commins, and Panče Naumov attended the Third United Arab Emirates Undergraduate Student Research Competition (UGSRC) at Abu Dhabi University. Marieh Al-Handawi won first prize in the Chemistry category.

Professor Joel Bernstein, an NYUAD Global Distinguished Professor, visited and gave two invited lectures "Disappearing Polymorphs" and "Chemistry in the Courtroom."

Dr. Naumov was awarded a fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct research in Germany.

Following an invitation, Dr. Lidong Zhang visited the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research Department in Mainz, Germany. During his visit to the Institute he gave an invited oral presentation on “Bio-Inspired Multiresponsive Polymer Composites for Energy Conversion”

The Naumov Group's work on firefly bioluminescence was featured in an article in the Human Frontier Science Program Success Stories website entitled “Guiding light: the mysteries of firefly bioluminescence unfold.”

The World Congress and Expo on Nanotechnology and Materials Science was held in Dubai. Three members of the group attended and gave oral lectures. Dr. Panče Naumov presented “Smart Single Crystals,” Dr. Manas Panda presented “Adaptive and Actuating Single Crystals: Towards Smart Materials and Artificial Molecular Machinery,” and Dr. Lidong Zhang presented “Photogatinged Humidity-Driven Motility.”

Patrick Commins was awarded the IUCr Young Scientists Award of ICCOSS 2015.

The invited article "In situ Crystallization and Crystal Structure Determination of Chlorobenzene" was accepted for publication in the Festschrift issue of Macedonian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in honor of Professor Gligor Jovanovski.

Professor Bill Jones from Cambridge University visited and gave a lecture entitled "Studying Pharmaceutical Solid Forms Using Atomic Force Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy. What do we learn from these techniques?"

NYUAD hosted the Royal Society of Chemistry Members Symposium entitled "Advances in the Energy, Water and Environmental Sectors."

The article "Photosalient Behavior of Photoreactive Crystals" was accepted for publication in the Chemistry of Materials.

The article entitled “Structure-Reactivity Correlations and Mechanistic Understanding of the Photorearrangement and Photosalient Effect of α-Santonin and its Derivatives in Solutions, Crystals and Nanocrystalline Suspensions” written by Patrick Commins, Arunkumar Natarajan, Chao-Kuan Tsai, Saeed I. Khan, Naba K. Nath, Panče Naumov, and Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay was accepted for publication in Crystal Growth & Design Journal.

The Naumov Group, including students, attended and presented at the International Workshop on Advanced Materials (IWAM 2015).

The Naumov Group’s work exploring plastic bending crystals of hexachlorobenzene was featured in Nature India.

Panče Naumov, has been invited to join the Advisory Board of CrystEngComm (a journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry).

Manas Panda visited the Japan Synchrotron Radiation facility, SPring-8 located at Harima Science Park City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

Naumov Research Group manuscript entitled "Spatially Resolved Analysis of Short-Range Structure Perturbations in a Plastically Bent Molecular Crystal" was published in Nature Chemistry. The paper was also highlighted on the portal Nature Middle East.

The Naumov Group in collaboration with researchers from the UAE University was awarded a research grant from the UAE University Research Council towards the study of smart biomimetic superhydrophobic self-cleaning materials.

Four undergraduate students, namely Momina Raza and Debbouza Nor El Houda (both ADU), Marieh Al Handawi (UAEU), and Yunze Wen (NYUAD) — who are all working on projects within the Naumov lab were awarded travel grants to present posters at the International Workshop for Advanced Materials conference in February.

Panče Naumov visited Professor Toru Asahi’s lab at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.

Dr. Naumov gave an Invited Lecture “Single Crystals on the Move: Photodiffraction and Kinematic Analysis of Photoactive Crystals”​ at the 8th Singapore International Chemical Conference (SICC-8), National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Dr. Yaser Greish from UAEU visited to give a seminar on nanofibers and electrospinning.

Dr. Naumov attended the 2nd RSC Gulf Symposium “Design and Applications of Advanced Materials” at the University of Sharjah, UAE and gave an Invited Lecture "Smart Crystals and Polymers."

The Naumov Group was awarded the University-Industry Research Collaboration Award (U-IRCA) 2014 from the UAE National Research Foundation for proposal on "Smart Biomimetic Superhydrophobic Self-Cleaning Materials."

Panče Naumov was awarded the APA Prize for Young Chemists at the 8th Asian Photochemistry Conference held in Trivandrum, India.

The Naumov Group was awarded a research grant from ADNOC. This project proposes the purposeful design of polyaromatic charge-transfer compounds as efficient inhibitors for the selective interaction and stabilization of asphaltenes in crude oil.

Patrick Commins joined the Naumov group after completing his PhD studies at UCLA with Professor Garcia-Garibay.

An article “The Phenomena of Exploding Crystals” appeared on the NYUAD Salaam Blog.

Professor Yoshihiro Ohmiya from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan visited the group and whilst visiting gave a lecture on “Basics and Application of Bioluminescence.”

Our paper “Colossal positive and negative thermal expansion and thermosalient effect in a pentamorphic organometallic martensite” which was published online in Nature Communications on September 4, 2014, was highlighted on the website of the Max Planck Gesellschaft. Congratulations to Manas K. Panda, Tomce Runčevski, Subash Chandra Sahoo, Alexei A. Belik, Naba K. Nath, Robert E. Dinnebier, and Panče Naumov.

Panče Naumov visited the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture in Dubai.

Professor Dr. Roland Boese from SciConsult, Germany visited and gave a lecture entitled "At the limits — in situ crystallization for structure determination" to the group as well as training in using the OHCD.

Dr. Naumov gave an Invited Lecture “Firefly Bioluminescence: A Spectroscopic Perspective” at the 248th National American Chemical Society Meeting, Moscone Center West Building, San Francisco, US .

Several members of the group attended and gave an Invited Lecture at the 23rd Congress and Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Our recent work published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2014, 53, 5907—5911, was highlighted in the following media:
National University of Singapore Faculty of Science, EEtimes Europe, Solar Daily, Wireless Design & Development, Red Orbit, E&T Magazine, Science Daily, Nano Werk, Phys Org, Science Newsline.

7th - Our recent work published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2014, 53, 5907—5911, was highlighted by the portal Nature Middle East. “Process behind jumping crystals unlocked.”

Dr. Naumov presented "Keto or Enol — That is the Question: Recent Progress in Spectra-Structure Correlations of Firefly Oxyluciferin and its Derivatives" at the 14th Human Frontiers Scientific Program Conference (HFSP) in Lugano, Switzerland.

Dr Naumov gave a presentation on "Macroscopic Actuation of Single Crystals With Light" at the Telluride Workshop “Breaking and Making Bonds with Light,” Telluride, Colorado, US.

The lab and office move to the new campus on Saadiyat Island began. New Address:
New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), Experimental Research Building (ERB), Building C1, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Dr. Naumov presented "Keto or Enol — That is the Question: Recent Progress in Spectra-Structure Correlations of Firefly Oxyluciferin and its Derivatives" at the 18th International Symposium on Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence in Uppsala, Sweden.

Well done to Postdoctoral Associate Naba Kamal Nath who was one of four who were awarded a prize for their poster contribution at the Gordon Research Conference on Crystal Engineering held in the US. Naba's poster "Quantification of Photomechanical Bending of Organic Single Crystals" was one of over 70 poster contributions.

Dr. Naumov presented "Bending, Twisting, Hopping and other Acrobatics of Molecular Crystals" at the Gordon Research Conference, New Hampshire, US.

Our recent work published in Angewandte Chemie, 2014, 53, 5907—5911 was press-released on the NUS website.

Congratulations to our Senior student Haoran Liang, who was awarded first prize and (AED 10,000) in the Natural and Health Sciences category of The Second United Arab Emirates Undergraduate Student Research Competition (UGSRC), held at Abu Dhabi University in Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the UAE. Haoran participated along with over 530 students from 21 Universities from the UAE who presented their research projects and came up first with his Capstone research project "Smart Hybrid Polymer that Converts Humidity, Light and Heat Mechanical Work."

Professor Naumov participated in the jury panel of the 2nd Undergraduate Research competition.

Our recent work published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2014, 53, 5907—5911, on "Popcorn-like Explosion of Single Crystals Explained" was highlighted on the National University of Singapore's Science page "Single Crystals dance under UV Light" and on Guidechem "Popcorn-like Explosion of Single Crystals Explained."

A large group of students from Abu Dhabi University with mentor Dr. Jolly Jacob visited Professor Naumov and were given a tour of the CSE.

Professor Naumov visited Jordan University of Science and Technology and gave a lecture "Materials Science Research at New York University Abu Dhabi."

Mohammed Yahia, Editor for Nature Middle East visited Professor Naumov.

Dr. Ed Brothers, Texas A&M University, Qatar visited the group to discuss collaborative project work.

Dr. Kamel Boukheddaden, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin, visited our group and provided a lecture entitled “Spin-Crossover Phenomena: From Equilibrium to Non-equilibrium Properties” as part of the Chemistry Science Seminar Series.

Professor Naumov gave a lecture “Materials Science Research at New York University Abu-Dhabi” at the UAE University in Al Ain.

Dr. Justin Thomas, Associate Professor, College of Sustainable Sciences and Humanities, Zayed University visited and delivered a lecture on "Psychological Well-bing in the Gulf States" as part of the UAE Collaboration Seminar Series.

Professor Naumov gave a talk on "Materials Science Research at New York University Abu Dhabi" at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS, Pilani), Dubai campus.

The group had a visit from the STEM unit of NYUAD and gave a tour of the Chemistry Lab.

In recognition of Professor Pance Naumov winning the prestigious APA (Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association) Prize for Young Scientists 2013 an article has featured on Salaam: The NYUAD Blog entitled "NYUAD Professor's Work on Light-Induced Motion Wins International Recognition"

Dr. Kyril M. Solntsev from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, US visited the CSE and and presented a lecture entitled "Photoinduced processes in the Green Fluorescent Protein and its synthetic chromophores" to interested researchers.

Our recent work published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2014, on "Popcorn-like explosion of single crystals explained" was highlighted by Chemistry World (The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK) and other chemistry portals: Topix Singapore, BioPortfolio, Real Clear Science and e!Science News

Our paper "Single Crystals Popping Under UV Light: A Photosalient Effect Triggered by a [2+2] Cycloaddition Reaction" was featured on the front cover page of Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Dr. Matthew Martin, Assistant Professor, Applied Mathematics & Sciences at Khalifa University visited and delivered a lecture as part of the UAE Collaboration Seminar Series.

Dr. Stuart Cantrill, Chief Editor of Nature Chemistry, Nature Publishing Group, visited our group and provided a lecture entitled “The Nature of Chemistry Publishing” as part of the Chemistry Science Seminar Series.

The group visited the Petroleum Institute and Dr. Naumov presented a lecture to the Institute entitled "Materials Science Research at New York University Abu Dhabi."

Dr. Sharmarke Mohamed, Dr. Deborah Gater, and Dr. Maguy Abi Jaoude from Khalifa University visited the CSE and group.

The group visited Julphar (Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries) in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates and discussed the manufacturing of various medicines.

Professor Pance Naumov has been awarded the prestigious APA (Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association) Prize for Young Scientists 2013.

Dr. Ahmed Alosi, Research Program Manager at the National Research Foundation, UAE Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, visited our group and delivered a lecture as part of the UAE Collaboration Seminar Series.

Naba K. Nath, Manas K. Panda, Subash C. Sahoo’s paper "Thermally Induced and Photoinduced Mechanical Effects in Molecular Single Crystals—A Revival" was featured on the cover of CrystEngComm.

The RSC publishing blog highlighted our recent review article in CrystEngComm, 2014, DOI: 10.1039/C3CE41313F: “Jumping crystals.”

Our interns (Mouza Al Zaabi, Nihad Al Falahi and Reem Alkaabi) from Abu Dhabi University were awarded a travel grant to attend a workshop on advanced materials.

Dr. Lidong Zhang presented a talk “Synthesis of Hydrogels and Micromolecules for Fabrication of Functional Materials and Drug Delivery Systems” as part of the CSE Research Rounds seminar series.

Bart Kahr, Professor of Chemistry at New York University New York, visited our group.