Dr. Josep Cornella
Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz, 1
45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
cornella@kofo.mpg.de
+49(0)208/306-2428
Josep Cornella (Pep) was born in La Bisbal del Penedès, a small town in south Catalunya. He graduated in chemistry in 2008 from the University of Barcelona and carried MSc studies in the Department of Organic Chemistry studying the chemistry of allylboron reagents.
After completing his masters thesis, he moved to the United Kingdom to pursue doctoral studies in the group of Prof. Igor Larrosa (QMUL). In early 2012, he earned his PhD working on the use of aromatic carboxylic acids as aryl donors in metal-catalyzed decarboxylative reactions. He then moved back to Catalunya, where he joined the group of Prof. Ruben Martin (ICIQ) as a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow. There, he developed novel transformations involving Ni-catalyzed C–O bond activation and carbon dioxide insertion into organic molecules.
In 2015, Pep obtained a Beatriu de Pinós Fellowship to carry out further postdoctoral studies in the group of Prof. Phil S. Baran at The Scripps Research Institute, California, USA. During this time at Scripps, he worked on the discovery and implementation of new transformations based on the concept of “redox-active esters” as practical and readily available partners for Ni- and Fe-catalyzed C–C bond forming reactions.
In spring 2017, he was appointed as a Max Planck Group Leader in the Department of Organometallic Chemistry at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
In summer of the same year, he obtained a Max Planck Research Group Leader (MPRGL) position in the same Institute, to create and lead the Sustainable Catalysis Laboratory.
Awards and Honors
2023 - 22/23 Chemical Communications Emerging Investigator Lectureship
2023 - 2023 Young Investigator Award Group Leader RSEQ
2022 - 2022 Class of SN10 Scientists to Watch, Science News Journal
2022 - 2022 Padwa Lecture, Columbia University (NY, USA)
2022 - 2022 Merck Organic Chemistry Lecturer, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA)
2022 - 2022 Organometallics Distinguished Author Award
2021 - Novartis Early Career Award 2021
2021 - Kyoto Rising Star Lectureship (MSD Life Science Foundation - Japan)
2021 - Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis 2021 (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
2020 - ORCHEM Nachwuchspreis 2020
2020 - Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award 2020
2020 - Ruhrpreis für Kunst und Wissenschaft 2020
2020 - Otto Röhm Gedächtnisstiftung Forschung Preis 2020
2020 - C&EN Talented 12 - Class 2020
2020 - Dozentenpreis des Fonds (Fonds der Chemischen Industrie)
2020 - Marcial Moreno Mañas Award (Real Sociedad Española de Quimica-Catalan Section)
2020 - ERC Starting Grant
2019 - MS-CEC Young Researcher Award
2019 - Junior Scientist Program Fellowship (JSP - Bürgenstock)
2018 - Sachkostenzuschüsse Fonds der Chemischen Industrie
2018 - Thieme Chemistry Journals Award
2017 - Independent Max-Planck Research Group Leader
2016 - TSRI Travel Award (Society of Fellows)
2015 - Beatriu de Pinos Postdoctoral Fellowship
2012 - Marie Curie Intraeuropean Fellowship (IEF)