“The whole meeting was refreshing and inspiring! I brought home a lot of motivation and inspiration. I also made new friends that I will stay in contact with”, says peptide chemist Alesia A. Tietze, from Gothenburg University.

Alesia A. Tietze, Associate Professor in Medicinal chemistry at Gothenburg University, was nominated by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the Swedish Chemical Society, to be Sweden’s candidate in the Young Investigator Workshop, YIW, that was held in Leuven, Belgium, between 7-8 July 2023.

YIW is a yearly event which is organized by the Division of Organic Chemistry at EuChemS. All European countries can participate with one representative each. YIW 2023 was also attended by two candidates from the US.

YIW is specifically aimed at young researchers within the field of organic chemistry.

– We were all the same age, but in different stages in our careers, which was very interesting. It was also enlightening to get more insight into what resources researchers have in different countries, says Alesia A. Tietze.

– The whole meeting was refreshing and inspiring! Everyone was very open and asked good questions. I brought home a lot of motivation and inspiration. I also made new friends that I will stay in contact with. I think we will grow up together and see each other in meetings in the future. It will be very interesting to see how the field develops.

Before each YIW participant had held a workshop about his/her field of research, several candidates were selected by a committee, the top candidate was handed the Young Investigator Award. This year’s winner was Oliver Dumele from Humboldt University Berlin. The rest of the top candidates were sent to represent Europe at different meetings. Alesia, as well as Juliá Fabio from Spain, were sent to the ACS fall meeting 2023 (August 13-17) in San Francisco, USA.

Alesia A. Tietze is a peptide chemist with a research group at Gothenburg University. The group focus is divided into three different topics.

– Firstly, we develop selective bioconjugation methods for proteins. Secondly, we work with biosensors, and thirdly, we develop bioactive molecules – peptides and peptidomimetics – with the aim of finding novel compounds that can be used to treat infections caused by bacteria with antibiotic resistance.