On Wednesday 10^th September, staff and postgraduate research students from across Lancaster’s Chemistry Department united for a fantastic day of research presentations, speed talks, posters, and prizes.

The event, which was hosted in LUMS West Pavillion, welcomed research staff and students – as well as a range of industrial partners – to network and learn more about each other’s areas of research. The day consisted of a series of presentations from PhD students and postdoctoral researchers on their particular area of expertise, flash talks from a selection of 1^st year PhD students, research posters, as well as the Industrial Advisory Board Meeting for industrial partners of the Department.

In a new addition for this year, the conference also featured a panel discussion for “careers outside of academia”, where industry partners from companies such as AstraZeneca, CK Group, Cambridge Display Technologies, and Quantum Base came to speak with PhD students about the alternative career paths available to them upon the completion of their doctorates.

As in previous years, various parts of the conference encouraged a competitive element, with monetary prizes (sponsored by a range of the Department’s partners) awarded to the academics deemed to have excelled within their particular categories. This year’s prize winners (and associated prize sponsors) were:

• PhD Flash Talks (Lancaster Chemistry Department): Oliver Corrigan
• 2^nd Year Poster Prize (Shimadzu) – Paula Miquel Fosco
• 3^rd Year PhD Talks (Royal Society of Chemistry) – Andrew Stocker
• Postdoctoral Research Associate Talks (CEM Corporation) – Dr Rebecca Spicer (Leverhulme Early Career Fellow)

Second year prize winner Paula Miquel Fosco said of the day: “I had a really good time at the meeting; it was fun hearing about all the exciting research my colleagues in the department are working on. I also gained a lot from the career panel, which provided some great advice and perspectives to consider for the future. Overall, it was a really positive experience. I would also like to thank all the sponsors for their generous support, and in particular Shimadzu for sponsoring my poster prize. It was a real honour to receive it.”

On the success of the event, Director of Research Professor John Griffin commented: “As usual, I was really impressed by the quality of the presentations and the breadth of research represented. I also felt that the career panel discussion covered a lot of interesting aspects about non-academic careers, which are less often discussed in university Chemistry Departments. "I am really grateful to the external panel members for sharing their perspectives so candidly and positively, and to our sponsors for contributing to the presentation prizes. I am already looking forward to next year’s event!”