Louise Oldham (Imperial) awarded funds to attend the n7th International Symposium on Solar Fuels and Solar Cells, China

Thanks to the Solar Chemicals Network Travel Award, I was able to attend the 7th International Symposium on Solar Fuels and Solar Cells in Dalian, China. It was my first time giving an oral presentation at an international conference, and I also had the opportunity to present a poster on my spectroscopy studies of metal oxide photoanodes for solar water splitting. This led to some thought-provoking and helpful conversations with other scientists, which have given me lots to think about in terms of my ongoing research. It was also great to hear presentations from some of the leading scientists in the solar fuels field. I was able to meet with some of my research collaborators in person for the first time, leading to many insightful discussions about data and future projects. I particularly enjoyed networking with other early career researchers from a range of institutions and finding out more about how other research groups function. It was exciting spending time with so many researchers who care about the same fundamental research challenges as I do, and the conversations I had have left me more motivated than ever going into the final stages of my PhD. It was a great opportunity to develop my own science communication skills and I am very grateful to the Solar Chemicals Network for making this experience possible.

Ewan McQueen (University of Strathclyde) attends the RSC Photophysics and Photochemistry ECR Meeting with help from an SCN travel award

I attended the RSC Photophysics and Photochemistry Group (PPG) Early Career Meeting 2024 at the University of Sheffield in the UK. At the conference, I had the opportunity to present some of my PhD research in the field of artificial photosynthesis utilising a collaboration between our research group at the University of Strathclyde (led by Dr Sebastian Sprick) and at the Tokyo institute of Technology and Hiroshima University (led by Prof. Osamu Ishitani). This work involved the use of hybrid photocatalyst materials based on conjugated polymers as organic semiconductors and binuclear metal complexes as molecular catalysts for highly efficient visible-light-driven CO2 reduction to formate. It was a brilliant opportunity for me to communicate photocatalysis research to the PPG community, in which the fundamental principles of the high catalytic activity are underpinned by favourable intrinsic photochemical processes.

It was excellent to hear about the breadth of research undertaken in the photochemistry/photophysics community. Amongst many fantastic talks, some of the highlights included talks on 2D-IR spectroscopy, Terahertz spectroscopy, energy storage materials, photoelectrochemical water splitting, thermally activated delayed fluorescence in OLED applications and finally upconversion mechanisms in solar cell devices. Hence, it was nice to represent artificial photosynthesis in amongst these other very interesting research areas.

It was also very useful to hear the invited speakers discussing career paths to the community in an open panel discussion, whilst networking with other ECRs in the photo(electro)catalysis field stirred up great ideas for future project plans. On reflection, the conference was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Artem Khobnya (Imperial) reports on his attendance at the 75th ISE meeting in Montreal, funded with the help of the SCN travel award

The 75th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry in Montreal Canada was the first large conference I attended outside of Europe and it was an incredible opportunity for my career and personal growth. It was very exciting to see and talk to many of the academics that I have read about and who’s research has provided many ideas for my own PhD. It was an excellent chance for me to engage in networking and make contacts with people in my field. I was able to expand my scientific knowledge through the many interesting talks I attended, both relevant for my research and unrelated to my field. I also had the privilege of giving an oral presentation, I received several insightful questions and comments which will help with designing my next experiments and writing up papers. Overall, the conference was very motivational and inspirational for me because it was amazing to meet so many people from around the world who are in a similar position to myself.

On a more personal note, I really enjoyed sightseeing in Montreal and getting to experience the local culture through live music, wall paintings and spectacular views of the city from Mount Royal and waterfront.