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James Cooper, Yunyan Qiu, and Liang Feng Selected as the 2021 Foresight Fellows

The Foresight Fellowship is a one-year program committed to giving change-makers the support to accelerate their bold ideas heading into the future. One former and two current Stoddart Group Postdoctoral Fellows, James Cooper, Yunyan Qiu and Liang Feng, were selected as the 2021 Foresight Fellows under the auspices of the Molecular Machines Group. According to the Program & Operations Director of The Foresight Institute, Lou de Kerhuelvez, the applications and profiles of James Cooper, Yunyan Qiu and Liang Feng were outstanding among an overwhelming number of high-quality applications this year. The Foresight Institute recognizes that providing a strong network and knowledge base for new Fellows to access will accelerate their mission and reflect their goals to lend further support to those making important strides in a variety of fields. During the one-year program, Fellows will be invited to engage in events, connect to Fellows and Mentors, and increase their skills to succeed in their endeavors.

University of Reading Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, and former Stoddart Group Postdoctoral Fellow, James Arthur Cooper, is selected as the 2021 Foresight Fellow in Transmembrane Molecular Nanotechnology, and also the Chair of the 2021 Foresight Molecular Machines Group. His current research interests focus on the development of stimuli-responsive transmembrane assemblies and coupling molecular networks with compartmentalized architectures.

Postdoctoral Fellow Yunyan Qiu is selected as the 2021 Foresight Fellow in Molecular Machines. He is currently working on designing and harnessing artificial molecular machines (AMMs) to produce functional polymers and materials in a controlled manner. A polymer chemist by training, he has developed an ever-increasing level of interest in exploring practical applications of artificial molecular pumps (AMPs), a subset of AMMs, in polymer chemistry and materials science.

Postdoctoral Fellow Liang Feng is selected as the 2021 Foresight Fellow in Molecular Machines and Robust Dynamics. He is currently dedicated to achieving the repeated dynamics of molecular machines in systems that exhibit “robust dynamics”. He aims to introduce cooperativity and amplification of dynamics of molecular machines into crystalline solid-state materials.

Well done James, Yunyan and Liang!  Many congratulations!

See the full list of 2021 Foresight Fellows

Pictured below – 2021 Foresight Fellows James Cooper, Yunyan Qiu, and Liang Feng: