Nuno Maulide has been elected full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the age of 41, thus becoming the youngest full member and the only foreigner outside the German-speaking countries to join the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
“It is a huge honour to have been elected full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, especially considering my age and the fact that I’ve only been working in Austria for 8 years”, says Nuno Maulide. “I must share this distinction with my research group, a team of very dynamic and enthusiastic young chemists. This is a very valuable recognition of our scientific work and its impact on the Austrian scientific scene”, he adds.
Full members are elected at the plenary session of the Academy from a list of candidates appointed by other full members. The Técnico alumnus was elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 2017.
“I am fortunate enough to have reached certain career goals at unusual ages. At the age of 29 I was Group Leader at Max-Planck Institute, I became Full Professor at the age of 33 and now, at 41, I am Full Member of an Academy, in a country other than mine. 7-8 years ago, I couldn’t not even speak German” recalls the alumnus.
After completing his degree in Chemistry from Técnico, Nuno Maulide pursued a PhD at the Catholic University of Leuven, in Belgium, and a postdoc at Stanford University. His exceptional career started in Germany. In 2012, the alumnus won the annual award for the best junior scientists in the field of chemistry, in Germany. He has been a lecturer and researcher in Organic Chemistry at the University of Vienna since 2013. Over these 8 years in the Austrian capital Nuno Maulide has been awarded numerous distinctions.
The Técnico alumnus has already won three European Research Council (ERC) grants, a Starting Grant in 2011, a Consolidator Grant in 2016, and a Proof of Concept in 2018. In that same year, Nuno Maulide won the Springer Heterocyclic Chemistry Award, given to researchers up to the age of 50 on a bi-annual or tri-annual basis, for their important contributions in the field of heterocyclic chemistry; in 2017, the Técnico alumnus was awarded the Marcial Moreno Mañas Lectureship of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry, which recognises researchers under the age of 40 with exceptional contributions in the field of Organic Chemistry.
In 2019, Nuno Maulide received the Ignaz Lieben Award, the oldest award given to scientists working in Austria, for his “outstanding contributions” to the development of new reaction mechanisms in Organic Chemistry. A few weeks earlier, Nuno Maulide had been named “Scientist of the Year” by the Austrian Club of Education and Science Journalists.
The full professor at the University of Vienna is a renowned expert in Organic Chemistry, and he is also one of the most respected science communicators.
