Silvia Elsa Braslavsky (born April 5, 1942 in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
) is an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
chemist.
She is the daughter of educationist and biochemist Lázaro Braslavsky, and the sister of
Cecilia Braslavsky, educationist and erstwhile director of the
International Bureau of Education
The International Bureau of Education (IBE-UNESCO) is a UNESCO category 1 institute mandated as the Centre of Excellence in curriculum and related matters. Consistent with the declaration of the decision of the 36th session of the General Confer ...
of UNESCO. She has two daughters, sociologist
Paula-Irene Villa Braslavsky
Paula-Irene Villa Braslavsky (born 1968) is a German-Argentine sociologist. She is a professor of general sociology and gender studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and president of the German Sociological Association.
Care ...
and Carolina Klockow.
Braslavsky has worked extensively in the domain of
photobiology Photobiology is the scientific study of the beneficial and harmful interactions of light (technically, non-ionizing radiation) in living organisms. The field includes the study of photophysics, photochemistry, photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis, vis ...
and she is a specialist in experimental photooptoacoustics. She was senior research scientist and Professor at the
Max Planck Institute for Radiation Chemistry (now renamed ''Bioinorganic Chemistry'') until her retirement in 2007.
Scientific career
Braslavsky read chemistry at the
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...
but left Argentina after the
"night of the long batons". While being a research assistant in
Santiago de Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
she defended her PhD at the University of Buenos Aires. Following temporary positions at
Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
(1969-1972), the
National University of Rio Cuarto, Argentina (1972-1975), again Penn State (1975) and the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
in Edmonton, Canada (1975), she moved to the Max Planck Institute for Radiation Chemistry in Mülheim, Germany (1976), where she stayed until her retirement in 2007.
Functions
Braslavsky holds numerous official positions in the scientific field of chemistry. Since 2000 she is the chair of the
IUPAC
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...
subcommittee on photochemistry. Since 2006 she is a corresponding member of
CONICET and is a member of the international scientific advisory committee of INQUIMAE (Institute for Chemistry of Materials, Environment and Energy). Currently, she is chair and main organiser of the 16th International Conference on Photobiology, to be held in Cordoba, Argentina in 2014.
Since 2010 she is a member of the representative panel of the RCAA (''Red de Científicos Argentinos en Alemania'', i.e. the Network of Argentine Scientists in Germany).
Honours and awards
This is selection of her honours and awards:
* 1998 first women to be awarded the Research Award of the
American Society for Photobiology The American Society for Photobiology (ASP) is a scientific society for the promotion of research in photobiology, integration of different photobiology disciplines, dissemination of photobiology knowledge, and provides information on photobiologic ...
.
* 2004 Elhuyar-Goldschmidt price of the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
chemical society.
* 2008 first woman to be awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from the
Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain.
* 2011 “Raíces” Prize by the Minister of Science (MINCYT) in Argentina in recognition of her engagement for the scientific cooperation between Argentina and Germany.
* 2013 Honorary Professor at Universidad Nacional de la Plata, Argentina and distinguished visiting professor Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina
* 2016 Dr. honoris causa Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
* 2017 European Society of Photobiology, Medal “for outstanding and sustained contributions to the science and promotion of Photobiology”.
* 2019 International Union on Photobiology, Finsen Medal for “Lifetime Achievement in Photochemistry and Photosensory Biology” (Barcelona).
* 2019 International Photoacoustic and Photothermal Association (IPPA). Senior Prize (Moscow).
* 2020 Corresponding Member (Académica) of the Argentine National Academy of Sciences (ANC, Córdoba, Argentina).
* 2020-21 European Photochemical Association (EPA). “Photochemistry Ambassador” for “Service to the Photochemical Community”. International Congress on Photochemistry, Geneva, 2021. The EPA established the Award in 2018 to recognize outstanding service to the Photochemistry/Photophysical community. This prize is delivered every two years.
Partial bibliography
* "Time-Resolved Photothermal and Photoacoustic Methods Applied to Photoinduced Processes in Solution", S.E. Braslavsky, G.E. Heibel, ''Chem. Rev.'' 92, 1381-1410 (1992).
doi: 10.1021/cr00014a007
* "Effect of Solvent on the Radiative Decay of Singlet Molecular Oxygen a(
1Δg)", R.D. Scurlock, S. Nonell, S.E. Braslavsky, P.R. Ogilby, ''J. Phys. Chem.'' 99, 3521-3526 (1995).
doi: 10.1021/j100011a019
* '"Glossary of Terms Used in Photochemistry'", 3rd Version (IUPAC Recommendations 2006), S.E.Braslavsky, ''Pure Appl. Chem.'' 79, 293-461 (2007).
doi:10.1351/pac200779030293
* '"Glossary of Terms Used in Photocatalysis and Radiation Catalysis'" (IUPAC recommendations 2011) S.E. Braslavsky, A.M. Braun, A.E. Cassano, A.V. Emeline, M.I. Litter, L. Palmisano, V.N. Parmon, N. Serpone, ''Pure Appl. Chem.'' 83, 931-1014 (2011).
doi:10.1351/PAC-REC-09-09-36
References
External links
Homepage at MPGComplete list of publications
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130722225822/http://www.photobiology2014.com.ar/ Homepage of 16th International Congress of Photobiology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braslavsky, Silvia
Argentine biochemists
1942 births
Living people
Women biochemists
Argentine women scientists
Argentine Jews
Argentine people of Polish-Jewish descent
Jewish chemists
University of Buenos Aires alumni
People from Buenos Aires
Argentine expatriates in Germany
20th-century women scientists
21st-century women scientists