Zinc can stabilize the smallest functional protein motifs. In our @chemicalscience.rsc.org article, we also showed that Zn2+ protects small potentially prebiotic peptides from photodegradation involving photoinduced electron transfer. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

I had a great pleasure to collaborate with @biomimetic-chem.bsky.social , develop and characterize a previously poorly understood reaction - quinol-enedione rearrangement. See the excellent experimental work with a small support of my DFT calculations😉 ! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

We evaluated the binding of activated dinucleotides in nonenzymatic RNA self-replication scenarios using molecular dynamics simulations. See the 1st paper by Basia, a 2nd year PhD student in my lab🥳! chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... Preprint: chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

Check out our 2024 #ChemSciMostPopular chemical biology collection, which is online now! Read the collection here: pubs.rsc.org/en/jour...#ChemSciMostPopular #ChemBio #ChemSky 🧪

📣 The abstract submission deadline for the 32nd International Conference on Photochemistry has been extended to 12 May 2025! 🔬Join us in Aachen, 13–18 July 2025, for great science in a historic setting!

New paper from our lab just out @pnas.org! 🚀 Using free energy simulations, #AIphaFold and #cryoEM refinement, we uncovered a key conformational change in a paradigm-shifting #CRISPR-associated #transposon capable of precise gene knock-ins. 🔍🧬 www.pnas.org/doi/epub/10....

Signs of life on a distant planet? Not so fast, say these astronomers www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Our research article about photoinduced electron transfer in DNA was selected as one of the most popular Chemical Science papers in chemical biology! pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... @chemicalscience.rsc.org @wroclaw-tech.bsky.social

Are you using nonadiabatic dynamics for complex systems? Join us in sunny Spain for the "Future Directions in Non-Adiabatic Dynamics" workshop (Sept 2-5, 2025) at CECAM-Zaragoza! Register by June 3. Check out the event page: tinyurl.com/2nvnanf2 #NAMD #NonAdiabaticDynamics #CECAM

Trump’s siege of science: how the first 30 days unfolded & what’s next Once upon a time leaders believed that science was essential to nation’s security, to better health, to more jobs, to a higher standard of living & to cultural progress 🧪 #academicSky @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Last week to register to the 11th Winter School in Computational Chemistry (27-31 Jan)! take a look at our great program, register for free and come along to learn a lot about #theochem 😊 winterschool.cc/program

I have a new paper in Dialogues on Climate Change exploring climate outcomes under current policies. I find that we are likely headed toward 2.7C by 2100 (with uncertainties from 1.9C to 3.7C), and that high end emissions scenarios have become much less likely. journals.sagepub.com...

With ERC grants it's best to celebrate the submission, because you never know if you get it. This week I submitted a ERC proposal for the 4th time (5th time counting Synergy). This time a CoG. Then, I took Thursday off to do some snowboarding, for the 1st time in 10 years 🙂.

A very nice news item was recently released by the service Science in Poland (in English). It describes our work on the identification of a new type of photoredox reactions, which can be enabled by sulfur-sulfur (chalcogen bonding) interactions 🙂. scienceinpoland.pl/en/news/news...

"[My adviser] told me that instead of focusing on finding a dream job, I should think about what I am good at and what makes me happy at least 80% of the time. This advice surprised me at first, but it ended up being exactly what I needed to hear." scim.ag/3DHtLCc

#compchem Good read: Good Practices in Database Generation for Benchmarking Density Functional Theory #compchemsky doi.org/10.1002/wcms...

Okay, can now perform iterative automatic ML potential fitting and finetuning including benchmark (for certain properties). Looks like I can also easily use both GPUs and CPUs in the same workflow despite the fact that they don't have access to the same hard drive. 🙃 But more on Monday.

We finally had some snowfall and with 5 cm thicker layer I would be nordic skiing already. Still nordic walking in these conditions is a lot of fun ;).

Najciekawsza część mojej pracy – wywiady w różnej formie (txt, audio) – z badaczkami i badaczami z różnych dziedzin. Ileż się można dowiedzieć! Polecam kolejną rozmowę⬇️

I took a 10 day break from running, but here I am back on the trails for my every year New Year's Eve run. Freezy but fun ;). Legs always feel nice after a break🙂

Does anyone have an easy to use program or web interface for generating simple, yet appealing Gantt charts for grant proposals? I'm playing around with TikZ, albeit with mixed results... The outcome is clear and readable, yet the interface is a bit of pain...

Saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Fraser Stoddart. I was inspired by a plenary talk he did at a conference a few years back... His embrace of diversity of ideas and scientists should guide us all in our work. #ChemSky

Really saddened by the news that Sir Fraser Stoddard has just passed away. He was still at Birmingham when I was just starting out as an undergraduate almost 30 years ago. He will be very missed by many.

Successfully applying for an ERC grant has been one of the biggest challenges that have hoped to overcome. So far, I tried ERC StG 3 times: 1st (perhaps) too early, 2nd unlucky (got funding from another source). I reached the interview stage this year, but my proposal had a couple of weak spots.

Ever wondered how to generate conformers in explicit solvent? Check out our python tool! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

So far, Bluesky has been a very refreshing experience 🙂. Nice to see the activity of fellow academics here instead of the content filtered by X's algorithms.

We present a preliminary timeline for calls operated by the National Science Centre in the year 2025. www.ncn.gov.pl/en/aktualnos...

#3ProcentNaNaukę Dość spychania nauki na margines! Wydatki na ten cel to polska racja stanu. Rząd powinien przedstawić jasny harmonogram dojścia do 3% PKB na naukę i wprowadzić mechanizmy dyscyplinujące, aby nie było łatwo tego planu odrzucić – mówi dla FA @jemielniak.bsky.social

Good piece by @natureportfolio.bsky.social. The erosion of thinking time—driven by admin, bureaucracy, industry agendas, and unrealistic output targets—stifles curiosity-led science. These pressures undermine innovation and the intellectual freedom vital for real progress. 🧪🌱🌍 #ScienceIsNotBusiness

PhD alert! I have two ERC-funded PhD positions to uncover the chemical origins of life (Oct 2025). *UK fees only*. Projects described here: www.lclu.cam.ac.uk/studentship-... Email me if interested - deadline (PhD in Biochemistry, Uni of Cambridge): Jan 7th! Please share within your networks!

Together with Miko Janicki, we showed for the 1st time that S...S chalcogen bonds can act as proxies for directional & selective electron transfer. This could lead to new photoredox chemical reactions! See our work in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...