Lancaster University’s Materials Science Conference, on March 22nd & 23rd, at Lancaster House Hotel, will showcase how the development of new materials, and their characterisation and use, is changing the way we live our lives. The conference will foster collaborations between academia and industry and celebrate the creation of Lancaster’s Materials Science Institute.

The conference will include keynote speakers from industry - including CIP Technologies, Hitachi, and DuPont Teijin Films UK - Lancaster University, the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and the EPSRC (The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). There will also be a wine reception at an exhibition of Lancaster’s research expertise, providing excellent networking opportunities.

Oleg Kolosov, Professor of Nanoscience at Lancaster University, said: “Materials science underpins success of all technologies and industry sectors and is a hugely important area of innovation and potential for economic growth of our society.

“This conference is an opportunity to highlight the commercial and societal benefits advances in materials science can bring, as well as to demonstrate Lancaster’s cutting-edge facilities and expertise in the field.”

On both Tuesday and Wednesday the conference will feature a series of short talks from academia, the public sector, and industry.

Conference talks will focus on four themes

• Photonics and nanostructures
• Quantum sciences
• Artificial materials
• Chemical and biological materials

Attendees will also get the chance to look around some of Lancaster’s cutting-edge facilities with guided tours of the Physics Department, including the new £4m class 100 and class 1000 clean rooms, the Chemistry Department and the new award-winning Engineering Department.

Materials science cuts across a wide range of product areas, including materials for more efficient data storage, computing and communications, solar panels, energy storage, printing technology, filtration membranes, coatings and sensors and new highly efficient medicines.

The multidisciplinary Materials Science Institute unites chemists, physicists, engineers, computer scientists, environmental scientists, biologists and medical researchers, designers and social scientists, covering all development stages from modelling a new material, through material creation and identification, to using the material to create new objects or devices.

Lancaster’s Materials Science Institute is a truly multidisciplinary research centre that will act as the bridge between highly theoretical materials research, experimental material science and practical applications. The institute will build on the world-leading research excellence of science and technology departments at Lancaster University and work closely with external businesses and organisations to deliver real-world solutions and provide economic growth.

For more information and to book places visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/materials-science-institute