Kim Jelfs
{{Short description|Computational chemist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Kim Jelfs
| workplaces = Imperial College London
| alma_mater = University College London
| thesis_title = Modelling the growth of zeolitic materials
| thesis_url = http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/19480/
| thesis_year = 2010
}}
Kim E. Jelfs is a computational chemist based at Imperial College London who was one of the recipients of the Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prizes in 2018. She develops software to predict the structures and properties of molecular systems for renewable energy.
Early life and education
Jelfs studied chemistry at University College London.{{Cite news|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/171915/imperial-strengthens-expertise-computational-chemistry-drug/|title=Imperial strengthens expertise in computational chemistry and drug discovery {{!}} Imperial News {{!}} Imperial College London|work=Imperial News|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en-GB}} For her final year project, Jelfs worked at the Royal Institution.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/Awards/HarrisonMeldolaMemorialPrizes/Index.asp|title=RSC Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prizes|website=www.rsc.org|language=en|access-date=2018-06-01}} She earned her PhD in 2010, working with Ben Slater on modelling the growth of zeolitic materials.{{Cite thesis|url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/19480/|title=Modelling the growth of zeolitic materials|last=K.E.|first=Jelfs|date=2010-03-28|website=discovery.ucl.ac.uk|access-date=2018-06-01|type=Doctoral}}
Research and career
After completing her PhD Jelfs joined the University of Barcelona, working with Stefan Bromley. She moved to the University of Liverpool, working as a postdoctoral researcher with Matthew Rosseinsky and Andrew Ian Cooper. At the University of Liverpool Jelfs characterised the structure of porous materials. She was funded by an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Programme Grant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/cooper-group/people/kim-jelfs/|title=Kim Jelfs - Cooper Group - University of Liverpool|website=www.liverpool.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-06-01}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.directedassembly.co.uk/phases.html|title=Phases 1, 2, 3 +|website=www.directedassembly.co.uk|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-06-01}}
In 2013 she joined Imperial College London as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. In 2015 she was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant, which provides €1.5 million funding for five years of materials discovery.{{Cite news|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/grant-winners-7-november-2013/2008754.article|title=Grant winners - 7 November 2013|date=2013-11-07|work=Times Higher Education (THE)|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/181822/four-imperial-academics-celebrate-winning-european/|title=Four Imperial academics celebrate winning European Research Council grants {{!}} Imperial News {{!}} Imperial College London|work=Imperial News|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en-GB}}{{Cite news|url=https://erc.europa.eu/projects-figures/erc-funded-projects/results?search_api_views_fulltext=&page=32&items_per_page=20&f%5B0%5D=funding_scheme:Starting%20Grant%20(StG)|title=ERC FUNDED PROJECTS|work=ERC: European Research Council|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en|archive-date=2018-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705180034/https://erc.europa.eu/projects-figures/erc-funded-projects/results?search_api_views_fulltext=&page=32&items_per_page=20&f%5B0%5D=funding_scheme:Starting%20Grant%20(StG)|url-status=dead}} Her research will consider porous molecules, organic small molecules and polymers. She uses computational models to predict the relationships between structure and properties.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jelfs-group.org/research-1/|title=Research|website=Jelfs Computational Materials Group|language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-01}} The models can also be used to predict the properties of amorphous frameworks and porous molecules. Her group identified the 20 most probable topologies for porous cage molecules, which can be synthesised through dynamic covalent chemistry.{{Cite journal|last1=Santolini|first1=Valentina|last2=Miklitz|first2=Marcin|last3=Berardo|first3=Enrico|last4=Jelfs|first4=Kim E.|date=2017|title=Topological landscapes of porous organic cages|journal=Nanoscale|language=en|volume=9|issue=16|pages=5280–5298|doi=10.1039/C7NR00703E|pmid=28397915|hdl=10044/1/45580|issn=2040-3364|doi-access=free|hdl-access=free}}
In 2018 Jelfs was awarded the Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry. She was also awarded an Imperial College London President's Award for Outstanding Early Career Research.{{Cite news|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/186453/outstanding-research-projects-people-recognised-2018|title=Outstanding research projects and people recognised in 2018 President's Awards {{!}} Imperial News {{!}} Imperial College London|work=Imperial News|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en-GB}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/186055/top-honours-three-imperial-chemists/|title=Top honours for three Imperial chemists {{!}} Imperial News {{!}} Imperial College London|work=Imperial News|access-date=2018-06-01|language=en-GB}} In 2019, she was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Chemistry.{{Cite web|title=Philip Leverhulme Prizes 2019 {{!}} The Leverhulme Trust|url=https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/philip-leverhulme-prizes-2019|access-date=2020-12-15|website=www.leverhulme.ac.uk}}