Evolutionary biologist Sinead English and chemist Emanuele Penocchio will take up professorships in Mainz

Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft, a private philanthropic foundation based in Berlin, is providing a total of about EUR 2 million to support the appointments of evolutionary biologist Dr. Sinead English and chemist Dr. Emanuele Penocchio to professorships at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany. Sinead English will join JGU from the University of Bristol and will hold a permanent professorship at JGU's Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution. Emanuele Penocchio will move to JGU from the University of Strasbourg and will work in the field of Theoretical Chemistry at the JGU Department of Chemistry. He is being appointed to a tenure-track professorship intended to lead to a permanent professorship following a successful evaluation period.

"We are delighted that Sinead English and Emanuele Penocchio – two internationally outstanding researchers – are coming to our university. We wish them both every success as they begin their work here. We are also very grateful to Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft for its support, which enables us to significantly strengthen our university through appointments of this caliber," stated Professor Stefan Müller-Stach, Vice President for Research and Academic Careers at JGU. "It is also worth noting that Sinead English's appointment is supported by the Ministry of Science, Continuing Education, and Health of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate through its funding line designed to facilitate the recruitment and retention of outstanding academics, for which we are equally grateful."

Sinead English: life history and evolutionary responses to environmental change

Evolutionary biologist Sinead English investigates how environmental conditions shape health, reproduction, and disease transmission across different life stages and generations. Her research combines evolutionary biology, health research, and climate science, drawing on theoretical models, experiments, and comparative studies. A key focus of her work is understanding the evolutionary dynamics and consequences of pregnancy, the effects of prenatal stress, and the development of disease vectors. Her goal is to develop new insights into how organisms allocate their limited resources to growth, reproduction, and survival. At the same time, she explores the implications of these insights for global challenges, including how animals will respond to rapid environmental change.

Emanuele Penocchio: turning molecules into engines

Understanding the laws of thermodynamics once enabled the development of the steam engine and propelled the First Industrial Revolution. Today, artificial molecular machines are paving the way for a potential "nano-industrial revolution." However, the theory needed for their systematic design has yet to be developed. Established models describe chemistry at equilibrium, while molecular machines – much like living cells – function only far from it. Progress therefore continues to depend largely on serendipity and intuition.

Chemist Emanuele Penocchio is coming to Mainz to close this gap by establishing the first design rules for a form of chemistry that – like life itself – never comes to rest. He will join JGU from the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Strasbourg, where he holds a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, and after several years at Northwestern University in the United States. At JGU, he plans to develop the theoretical and computational methods required to systematically predict, design, and program chemical processes under nonequilibrium conditions. Potential applications range from more efficient catalysts and cleaner, electrified chemical manufacturing to materials that harness energy from their surroundings.