Charles Sturt University (CSU) Agricultural and Wine Sciences lecturer Dr Igor Novak has been recognised for his outstanding work in the field of science with the Croation Academy of Sciences and Arts Award. Along with a Croatian collaborator, Dr Novak has published 50 articles in international refereed chemistry journals in the last 10 years. “The award was given specifically for our work published in 2011, which deals with the relationship between the electronic structure and biological activity of the pesticides Atrazine, Bromoxynil and Organochlorine insecticides,” he said. “Our work described details of such activity at the molecular level and is the first of its kind where electronic structures of pesticides molecules had been studied experimentally.” Dr Novak was pleasantly surprised by the recognition. “I was surprised and very pleased by the award, especially since the award is mostly given to scientists working in Croatia.”