The Committee of the Alfred Werner Fund approved scholarships for the period 2017-2019/20 to the following students:

Mrs Alena Budinská: ETH Zürich
BSc at Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Czech Republic

Mrs Jessica Caldwell: Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg 
BA at Indiana University - Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC), USA

Mr Brett M. Garabedian: University of Basel
BSc at University of California, Berkeley, USA

Mr Kevin Maik Jablonka: EPFL Lausanne
BSc at Technische Universität München, Germany

Mrs Asma Mansouri: University of Geneva
BSc at University Houari Boumediene, Alger, Algeria

Mr Dragan Miladinov: University of Basel
BSc at University of Novi Sad, Serbia

Mr Luka Milosevic: EPFL Lausanne
BSc at University of Belgrade, Serbia

Mrs Kleni Mulliri: University of Bern
BSc and MSc at University of Tirana, Albania

In 2016, Christoph Täschler initiated the Meet & Greet events by a one day visit of Lonza in Visp to offer the scholars the opportunity to learn about industrial research and production facilities, as well as to have an exchange with industrial chemists [1]. Thereafter, in 2017, Edouard Godineau and Alain De Mesmaeker organized a similar visit at Syngenta in Stein [2]. In order to pursue this tradition, Maud Reiter and Christian Chapuis invited on May 17th, 2018 thirteen current recipients of an Alfred Werner scholarship for a visit to the Firmenich R&D Division at Geneva. Seven scholars from the 2016-2018 class, along with six scholars from the 2017-2019 class, accompanied by David Spichiger, Hans Peter Lüthi of the SCS, and Christoph Täschler, Lonza and member of the Alfred Werner Fund Committee followed the invitation.

Firmenich, a supporter of the Alfred Werner Program,is the world largest privately-owned fragrance & flavor company, creating the key ingredients for some of the world's most desirable brands. It was founded in 1895 in Geneva and has 7’000 employees world­wide (see: www.firmenich.com)

The program comprised a tour through five different laboratories:

1. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Malodor project on reinventing toilets for emerging countries, presented by C. Starkenmann,
2. The New Ingredient synthetic lab of C. Chapuis,
3. A perfumery lab, hosted by N. Jeckelmann,
4. An NMR lab presented by J.-Y. de saint Laumer, and
5. The work of a sensorial lab explained by C. Vuilleumier.

Graphic: Methyl Jasmonate is one of the main odour components of jasmine oil. 10,000 blossoms of jasmin are needed to give 1 gram of the oil, making its synthesis a rewarding option.

The informal and lively discussion between these senior scientists and the students was continued during the lunch and coffee break on the terrace of the cafeteria.
The afternoon session started with an introductory presentation by Maud Reiter on topic of Firmenich SA and its R&D Division, and then ended with short presentations by the scholars of the 2016 – 2018 class.