Graduate student Emma Durham explains her research at the posters session
Over 20 companies and funding bodies attended the first ever Chemistry Networks event, held in the Department on 29 September.
The event was opened by Head of Department John Pyle, who gave a broad overview of the department’s research, noting its excellent RAE/REF performances and touching on the breadth of its interests from the nano- to global scale.
The Chairs of the Department’s five Research Interest Groups (RIGs) then gave presentations about their areas of science, detailing the specific contributions of individual PIs or groups of PIs and the potential for practical applications in the future.
A drinks reception and poster session showcasing the work of graduate students and postdocs followed, which gave researchers, industry and funding body representatives the opportunity to discuss the science going on in the department in an informal and relaxed setting.
“As the leading Chemistry Department in the UK, our expertise attracts a lot of interest from both national and international industry,” said Dr Yolande Cordeaux, the department’s Knowledge Transfer Facilitator. “This event has brought together many of these interests and we hope over time that this will promote even more successful ways of meeting academic and industrial research needs, with the ultimate goal of developing practical applications which benefit society.”
Companies ranging from the large and well-established to small and medium sized took up the opportunity to find out more about the department’s large number of internationally recognised research groups who work in fields from molecular biology to geophysics, which align with a wide range of industry sectors.
“We intend to make this an annual event, in which we hope to provide our industry friends with the opportunity to get to know us better while also giving our students and postdoctoral workers the chance to present their work to both department members and visitors alike,” said John.
Event organisers: Yolande Cordeaux, Deborah Longbottom and the Graduate Social and Networking Committee.
See the RIG Chair presentations: