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Conference Recap: Frontiers in Photochemistry, Mexico 2018

By: Gemma

Frontiers in Photochemistry Conference
Cancun, Mexico, 18th - 21st February 2018

This new conference on the Frontiers in Photochemistry took place in Cancun, Mexico from 18 to 21 of February 2018. The significance of this meeting was evident from the many high-level speakers it attracted and the lively discussions during each session.

The meeting was chaired by Maria Abrahamsson, associate professor at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden and Amanda Morris, associate professor at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, US.

The speakers at the meeting represented all corners of the world and included the following senior scientists as speakers: Shane Ardo (University of California, Irvine, US), Julia Weinstein (University of Sheffield, UK), Ksenija Glusac (University of Illinois at Chicago/Argonne, US), Prashant Jain (University of Illinois, US), Oliver Wenger (University of Basel, Switzerland), Matthew Fuchter (Imperial College London, UK), Jeffrey Rack (University of New Mexico, US), Felix Castellano (North Carolina State University, US), Curtis Berlinguette (University of British Columbia, Canada), Claudia Turro (Ohio State University, US), Luis Mario Baraldo (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina), Alexis Ostrowski (Bowling Green State University, US), Frank Quina (University of São Paulo, Brazil), Michael Wasielewski (Northwestern University, US), Naomi Ginsberg (University of California, Berkeley, US) Jier Huang (Marquette University, US), Joseph Hupp (Northwestern University, US), Dongho Kim (Yonsei University, South Korea), Eric Vauthey (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Zhi-Heng Loh (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), James Gardner (Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden), Henrik Ottosson (Uppsala University, Sweden), Igor Alabugin (Florida State University, US), Malcom Forbes (Bowling Green State University, US). In addition, the two chairs also decided to give several doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows the opportunity to talk at the meeting. It was not an easy task for the jury to select three short talk awardees - Marija Zoric (University of Illinois at Chicago), Steven Sartor (University of Colorado at Boulder) and Victor Gray (Chalmers University of Technology).

The meeting was very interactive and with a lively discussion after each talk, sometimes to the point that it was hard to stay on time. The science presented was extremely high-level, and many participants expressed a desire to come back in two years. The meeting also brought together scientists that typically don’t come together at other, more focused meetings and conferences and many new collaborations were discussed. The meeting is unique in its breadth of the scope and the participants it attracts. It does fill a need in the photochemistry community.

Things to improve for the next meeting include increasing the number of female speakers and session chairs, increasing the number participants, and increase the amount of sponsorship.

The meeting was expertly organized and supported by Fusion Conferences, Ltd.