Sponsored by the Canadian Council of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC)
The CCUCC Chemistry Doctoral Award is presented to recognize outstanding achievement and potential in research by a graduate student whose PhD dissertation in chemistry was formally accepted by a Canadian university in the 12–month period preceding the nomination deadline.
View the Terms of Reference (EN and FR) and List of Past Winners
The 2026 winner of the CCUCC Chemistry Doctoral Award is:
Tess Lamer
University of Alberta
Tess grew up in northeast Edmonton, Alberta, where she spent much of her youth playing team sports. She earned her B.Sc. in Biochemistry (Hons.) from the University of Alberta in 2019, where she first developed her interests in medicinal chemistry and enzymology in Professor John Vederas’ lab. Tess enjoyed her three years in the group so much that she decided to stay on for a Ph.D., tackling diverse projects including synthesis of dipeptide-based antivirals against SARS-CoV-2, solving NMR solution structures of bacteriocin peptides, and characterization of amino acid racemase enzymes. She particularly enjoyed collaborative projects and is a co-author on more than 20 publications from her Ph.D. Her work has been recognized with awards such as the Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s), Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, and Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship.
After completing her Ph.D., Tess spent the summer traveling across Asia, where she became a certified rescue diver. She then joined Professor Jörn Piel’s lab at ETH Zürich as a postdoctoral researcher, diving into the world of peptide biosynthesis and exploring new classes of biosynthetic enzymes. Outside the lab, she enjoys skiing in the Alps, Italian wine, and the occasional 2 a.m. wakeup to watch the Edmonton Oilers.