The 2014 Carl Duisberg Memorial Prize of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh; German Chemical Society) has been awarded to Professor Thomas Junkers, Universiteit Hasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium. This prize is given to researchers under the age of 40. Especially because of his results for the controlled synthesis of poly(p-phenylenevinylene)s that could enable new applications in the field of printable electronics, Junkers is awarded.
The award was presented at the Chemiedozententagung in Paderborn, Germany, on March 10, 2014. It is endowed with EUR 7,500, of which EUR 2,500 are destined exclusively for the research group of the prize winner.

Thomas Junkers studied chemistry at the University of Göttingen, Germany, where he completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistrey under the guidance of Michael Buback in 2006. From 2006–2008, he worked as a research associate with Christopher Barner-Kowollik and Tom Davis at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Austrailia, and from 2008–2010, he carried out his habilitation at the University of Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), both Germany. He was made professor at the Universiteit Hasselt in 2010.

Thomas Junkers research is at the interface of physical organic chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and chemical engineering. Junkers and his research group are interested in topics such as the synthesis of complex polymeric materials by controlled radical polymerization techniques, the kinetic and mechanistic study of polymerization processes, and the in-depth characterization of polymeric materials.

Selected publications by Thomas Junkers:

• Facile design of degradable poly(β-thioester)s with tunable structure and functionality,
  N. Zaquen, B. Wenn, K. Ranieri, J. Vandenbergh, T. Junkers,
  J. Polym. Sci. Part A. Polym. Chem. 2014, 52, 178–187.
  DOI: 10.1002/pola.26986
• Straightforward Synthesis of Symmetrical Multiblock Copolymers by Simultaneous Block Extension and Radical Coupling Reactions,
  A. Debuigne, C. Detrembleur, C. Jerome, T. Junkers,
  Macromolecules 2013, 46, 8922–8931.
  DOI: 10.1021/ma401918t
• Synthesis of Sequence-Controlled Acrylate Oligomers via Consecutive RAFT Single Monomer Insertions,
  J. Vandenbergh, G. Reekmans, P. Adriaensens, T. Junkers,
  Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 10358–10360.
  DOI: 10.1039/C3CC45994B