The ERC distributes scientific funding across Europe under the EU’s 7^th Research Framework Programme. Advanced Grants are given to established researchers with a recent track-record that identifies them as scientific leaders, carrying out groundbreaking or unconventional research at the frontiers of their field.

The grant will fund Dominic’s work on p-block elements. He will be looking at the fundamental and practical applications of these elements in supramolecular chemistry – chemistry that is typically the domain of carbon chemistry – and catalysis, the classical domain of transition metals.

The programme has two major components, which span the non-metallic and metallic areas of the p-block. The first component involves the development of systematic approaches for building macromolecular inorganic systems, and their application in host-guest chemistry, gas storage and chemistry. And the second looks at applications of p-block metals in both stoichiometric and catalytic bond-forming reactions. This would provide cheaper alternatives to precious metal catalysts in the synthesis of both small molecules and polymers.