Prof. Susumu Kitagawa, currently external advisor to Atomis and serving as director of iCeMS at Kyoto University, received the 2019 Emanuel Merck Lectureship in recognition of his research contributions in the area of porous coordination polymers (PCPs, or MOFs).

This prize was jointly established in 1992 by the German chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA and the University of Darmstadt, and is awarded to scientists for outstanding contributions to chemical and pharmaceutical research. The previous 16 recipients of the award feature several Nobel laureates, including Manfred Eigen, Jean-Marie Lehn, and Frances Arnold.