Preface

International, national, and regional chemical societies; national academies; and professional bodies recognize scientists for their outstanding contributions by, for example, the award of medals, prizes, endowed lectureships, invitation to present plenary lectures at conferences/symposia, invitation to contribute to scholarly works, and the election to leadership positions in such professional bodies. In chemistry, the highest accolade remains the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, or the immortalization of a scientist in the naming of an element. As an international nongovernmental scientific organization, IUPAC takes great interest in the worldwide achievements of chemists, particularly young chemists. Therefore, IUPAC established the annual prestigious Prize for Young Chemists. In doing so, we endeavor to encourage research in the chemical sciences and the participation of promising young chemists. The prizes are given for the most outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the general area of the chemical sciences, as described in a 1000-word essay; normally, IUPAC awards four of these prizes per year. An international panel of eminent chemists, chaired by the immediate Past President of IUPAC, adjudicates these essays, together with recommendations from senior scientists with whom the candidates collaborated. The prizewinners each receive a cash prize of USD 1000 and a free trip to an IUPAC Congress at which they are invited to present a poster describing their award-winning research findings. At IUPAC, we are delighted that since its inception, the IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists has attracted substantial attention from exceptionally gifted research students and their supervisors. The IUPAC Bureau remains in full support of this undertaking and took the decision to continue with this meritorious program on a long-term basis. It is heartening to note that we received 60 applications from 22 countries for the 2005 IUPAC Prize. The essays were of a very high standard and the adjudication process was a challenging task. All of the participants and their supervisors deserve the appreciation of the international scientific fraternity. Recipients of the 2005 IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists were: Zev J. Gartner , University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; "Evolutionary approaches for the discovery of functional synthetic small molecules" Jiaxing Huang , University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; "Syntheses and applications of conducting polymer polyaniline nanofi