The 2022 School of Chemistry Postgraduate Conference

The 2022 School of Chemistry Postgraduate Conference took place on the 15th and 16th of June. This was our first in-person chemistry postgraduate conference since the pandemic began.

The 2022 School of Chemistry Postgraduate Conference took place on the 15th and 16th of June. This was our first in-person chemistry postgraduate conference since the pandemic began.

The conference featured oral presentations from the third year PhD students and posters by the second year students, highlighting the wide scope and high quality of the research in the School. Discussions spanned the full range of chemistry, including: the transformation and degradation of volatile pollutants in the atmosphere; different approaches to drug discovery and development; new ways to sequester reactive catalysts in the solid state and in solution; and, the decontamination of chemical waste streams.

The event concluded with a plenary lecture by Professor Helen Sneddon, the director of the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York. Helen spoke about her experience promoting green practises in the pharmaceutical industry, using the environmental impact of common solvents as an example. The conference was followed by a staff-student ball.

Prizes for the best talks and poster presentations were voted for by the students and staff. The prize winners from left to right are: Alison McCorry (inset), Tom Dixon, Tom Prentice, Sarah Boyall, Shorog Alotaiby, Eleanor Hilton, Rachel Bocking and Andrew Griffiths.

The conference was organised by the School Director of Postgraduate Studies Malcolm Halcrow, and by Alex Massey and his colleagues on the Post-Graduate Student Committee. We are very grateful to the Society of Chemical Industry, LiCa Scientific, and Pfizer who sponsored the prizes.