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Joe Conferences

ICI Postgraduate Symposium a success

The Institute of Chemistry of Ireland Postgraduate Chemistry Research Symposium – Connecting young chemists in challenging times

[Press release] The inaugural Institute of Chemistry of Ireland Postgraduate Chemistry Research Symposium (ICI PCRS) took place on September 9th 2020, with over 150 registered delegates joining the conference over Zoom call throughout the day. This online event was designed to give postgraduates an opportunity to share their research results, in a year when most physical conferences have been cancelled.

Professor Celine Marmion, President of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland opened the event by thanking the organising committee for arranging such a varied programme in a very short space of time. Acknowledging that it has been a difficult year for postgraduate students, having been shut out of their universities for many months by Covid-19 restrictions, she thanked the organisers of the Symposium for quickly bringing together a new event in this challenging time to present an opportunity to postgraduate students to present their work and build their profiles. Professor Marmion launched the competition for this year’s ICI Postgraduate Award. The 2019 winner of the ICI Postgraduate Award Saoirse Dervin delivered her award lecture at the end of the day.

Flash and oral presentations by postgraduate chemists made up the bulk of the programme, organised into four thematic sessions, with topics ranging from medicinal and synthetic chemistry to supramolecular and analytical chemistry. In total 43 PhD students from all over the island of Ireland shared their work with their peers.

The symposium also hosted the first ever mental health seminar delivered at an Irish chemistry event. Delivered by Miffy Hoad of Mental Health Ireland, the two 30-minute sessions gave concrete methods on how to stay connected, reduce stress, increase mindfulness and cope with these unprecedented times.

The event design also included time for meaningful connection and networking, with breakout rooms used to allow small groups to meet each other and talk about the content of the 13 research posters on display.

Dr. Adele Gabba of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, who won the ICI’s Postrgraduate Award in 2018, delivered a unique and unforgettable career talk, bravely sharing both her personal successes and struggles, and outlining how this has influenced her and her career. Industrial chemists also delivered career talks to the assembled young chemists, including Will Gough & Yeliz Genc from GSK as well as by Dr. Patrick Kielty from Abbvie.

In total, 11 of Ireland’s top research institutions were represented in flash and oral presentations, with a number of international attendees also tuning in. Nine prizes were sponsored by the ICI, the European Young Chemists’ Network and Eurachem.

Lorna Conway from UCD, winner of the ICI Award for Best Oral Presentation said of the day: “I thought that it being online and free to attend made it very accessible. It meant taking less time out of the the working week to attend, which is always good. Not only was it great to see the vast range of interesting topics being researched by our fellow postgraduates, but it was also a wonderful opportunity to connect and network with our colleagues at such a strange time. ”

Fiona Gordon from NUI Galway, winner of the Eurachem Prize for Best Flash Presentation said: “The symposium was an excellently organised event provided by the ICI. It was the first conference I attended since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. The event provided me a great platform to share my research. It was nice to meet with PhD students in the different universities and see the diversity of chemistry research happening in Ireland! Overall it was a very enjoyable day. The organising committee did a fantastic job in making the event possible and running the event so smoothly”

A notable aspect of this symposium was that the organising committee was made up of postgraduate students nominated by various Third Level Institutions across Ireland, in order to represent the diversity of research interests in the country and create a unique event designed for postgrads and by postgrads. Dr Mark Kelada (ICI Young Chemists Representative) and Dr Joseph Byrne (NUI Galway) coordinated the meetings, which due to the current times, all, just like the event itself, took place over Zoom. The members of the committee, who chaired various sessions of the Symposium were: Colm McKeever (Maynooth University), Fionn Ó Fearghail (Technological University Dublin), Jessica O’Neill (Dublin City University), Lauryn Bracken (Athlone Institute of Technology), Lukas Hallen (Trinity College Dublin), Niamh O’Mahoney (University College Cork), Siobhán O’Flaherty (RCSI) and Syl Byrne (NUI Galway).

Organising committee of the ICI Postgraduate Chemistry Research Symposium. Top row: Fionn Ó Fearghail (Techological University Dublin), Dr Mark Kelada (ICI Young Chemists Representative), Colm McKeever (Maynooth University), Lukas Hallen (Trinity College Dublin);  Middle row: Jessica O’Neill (Dublin City University), Syl Byrne (NUI Galway), Dr Joseph Byrne (Honorary Research Lecturer, NUI Galway), Lauryn Bracken (Athlone Institute of Technology); Bottom row: Siobhán O’Flaherty (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), Niamh O’Mahoney (University College Cork)

Prof. Celine Marmion, President of the ICI said: “On behalf of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland, I would like to congratulate the symposium organising committee for bringing together our Irish postgraduate chemistry community at a time when many conferences are either being cancelled or deferred as a result of the Covid pandemic. This virtual symposium provided PhD scholars across Ireland with a unique opportunity to showcase their cutting edge research, forge new collaborations and build their professional profiles.  A particular strength of the symposium was that it was led by postgraduates for postgraduates. The quality of the research and the tangible enthusiasm of the postgraduate scholars on the day were clearly evident for all to see. ”

A survey was carried out on the day, where 71% of attendees said they would be interested in joining a new professional network targeted at young chemists, in order to continue to connect with and support their peers across the island on an on-going basis. As a result of this level of support, the Council of the ICI approved the establishment of the Irish Young Chemists’ Network at their meeting on October 1st 2020. This network will be launched formally in the coming weeks and will build on the success of the Symposium in future years.

-ENDS-

The full list of those who won prizes at the Symposium is as follows:

ICI Oral Presentation Prize:  Lorna Conway (UCD)
Eurachem Flash Presentation 1st place prize:  Fiona Gordon (NUIG)
EYCN Flash Session 1 Prize: Danielle Curran (UCD)
EYCN Flash Session 2 Prize: Iñigo Iribarren Aguirre (TCD)
EYCN Flash Session 3 Prize: Alex Horan (UCD)
Eurachem Flash Session 4 Prize: Caytlin Boylan (MU)
ICI Peoples Choice 1st Place Poster Prize: Ciara-Ruth Kenny (CIT)
ICI Peoples Choice 2nd Place Poster Prize: Aoibhín A. Cullen (DCU)
ICI Judges’ Choice Poster prize: Sophie M. Connolly (DCU)

Prize winners from the Symposium

About the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland (ICI)

The Institute of Chemistry of Ireland is the professional body representing chemists in Ireland. Its members are chemists who satisfy the requirements of the Institute with regard to qualifications and experience. The Institute promotes the study of chemistry, sets professional standards and organises lectures, meetings and social events for its members. It offers advice and comment to Government in areas relevant to the profession. Irish Chemical News, the official journal of the Institute is published twice yearly. The Institute of Chemistry of Ireland promotes excellence in chemistry through a series of competitions and awards for chemists at all career stages from 2nd level students onwards. More information is available at www.chemistryireland.org

Joe Publications

New organocatalysis paper in OBC

In new research, carried out in University of Bern, we have shown that triazolium iodides are excellent catalysts for the oxidative coupling of benzylamines, due to a synergistic cation/anion effect, with iodide acting as I−/I2 redox manifold and the triazolium cation facilitating the iodine reduction and concomitant substrate oxidation. Oxygen was is the terminal oxidant for this process.

The article is available at: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0OB01472A (Open access in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, Themed Collection: Catalysis and Biocatalysis in OBC)

The research emerged from the dual interest in the Albrecht group in catalysis and the use of triazolium salts – typically as precursors to organometallic complexes. Joe followed up on some unexpected catalytic activity of triazolium iodides with a series of experiments and control experiments to determine the origins of the reactivity, the role of atmospheric oxygen as terminal oxidant, the importance of the iodide/iodine redox couple and the accelerating effect of the triazolium ion. We hope this work will inspire others to look at the role of heterocylcic compounds in other processes catalysed by iodine.

Joe Conferences, Presentations

Karolina presents project at ICI Postgraduate Symposium

Karolina presented a flash talk about her research at the 1st ICI Postgraduate Chemistry Research Symposium with two very colourful slides describing her project.

She thoroughly enjoyed attending the event as a whole and would like to congratulate all the speakers and organisers for a fantastic job bringing postgraduate scientists in Ireland together even in these times, when sharing and exchanging knowledge in traditional ways is very challenging if not impossible.  She is looking forward to next year’s event!

Joe Conferences, news

Call for abstracts for ICI Online Postgrad Symposium

In light of many cancelled events this summer, postgraduate students have missed out on opportunities to share and discuss their research with others. The Institute of Chemistry of Ireland Postgraduate Chemistry Research Symposium has been launched in a bid to address that. Joe and Mark Kelada (ICI Young Chemists representatives) are co-chairing a committee of postgraduate volunteers from various Irish third-level institutes in organising this event, scheduled to take place on Wednesday 9 September 2020.

Abstracts for oral presentations, flash talks and poster presentations are invited before 26 August 2020. See more details at: http://iciPostgraduateResearchDay.wordpress.com.

Joe Awards, Conferences, Presentations

Lindau Online Science Days

The Lindau-Nobel Laureate Online Science Days event was hosted online to replace the annual meeting on the island of Lindau in Germany, as a result of the Coronavirus crisis. Those who were scheduled to attend this year’s Interdisciplinary Meeting were invited, as were attendees of previous Lindau meetings. The result was an engaging programme of events over three 12-hour days (in order to accommodate people in various time zones). Topics included diversity in the sciences, climate change, the economic impact of the pandemic, and green chemistry, among many others.

Joe asking Nobel Laureate Prof. Noyori about different solvents used in ‘green’ catalysis.

Joe had the chance to engage directly with Prof. Ryoji Noyori about questions of homogeneous organometallic catalysis – a topic he investigated during his postdoc in University of Bern – and solvent choice for green chemistry. This direct communication with Nobel laureates went on all through the event and was a unique opportunity.

On Wednesday, the top-ranked projects from the “Implementing the Lindau Guidelines” category of the Sciathon contest were invited to present their projects on the main stage and look for further support. Joe and Natalia Jiménez (University of Chile) represented Team Elmiger, and won the 3rd place prize. Watch the Sciathon Results presentation here: https://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/videos/38750/2020-osd-sciathon-results-lindau-guidelines/meeting-2020

Joe and Natalia Jiménez presenting their Sciathon project results on the Science Days Main Stage

Hopefully, the scheduled 70th Lindau-Nobel Laureate Meeting will take place in 2021 and there will be a chance to attend in person.

Read the Lindau-Nobel blog entry on the “Implementing the Lindau Guidelines” Category.

Joe Presentations

CÚRAM Centre Webinar

Joe was invited to present an online seminar by Prof Abhay Pandit, the Director of the CÚRAM Centre for Medical Device Research. Prof Pandit is one of the collaborators from CÚRAM involved in the group’s SIRG project. Joe gave a presentation titled: “Sweetness and light: a journey towards diagnostic tools based on luminescent glycoclusters”, where he explained to a multidisciplinary audience how his prior research interests led towards the current research programme that the Byrne Group is investigating. There was some good discussion after the seminar.

Joe Awards, Outreach

Lindau Sciathon: “Anansi Webinars” (3rd Place)

A new platform for sharing details of online seminars, and a call to “open the doors of seminar rooms worldwide” was the proposal of Team Elmiger, a group which Joe joined to compete in the inaugural 48-hour Sciathon contest, taking place as part of the Lindau “Online Science Days 2020”.

Team Elmiger meeting over Zoom to work on their project

The team of scientists and economists from around the world wrote a report and made a video over the course of the weekend about the importance of connecting the world to inspiring research talks. In particular, they highlighted the value of harnessing the shift to online events, which has been a consequence of the Coronavirus crisis, to invite researchers from the developing world to attend seminars in leading universities. The team built a prototype website to demonstrate how this could be achieved, and set out a plan about how this could be developed in future to create a more open and connected world. The team was a collaboration between researchers in the developed and developing world, and a clear example of the strength of bringing diverse people together, which is key to the vision of the Lindau-Nobel Foundation.

A panel of international judges awarded Team Elmiger the 3rd Prize in the Category “Implementing the Lindau Guidelines“.

See the video below:

Anansi Webinars reportDownload REPORT (PDF)

Joe Conferences

Online Seminar Series

Joe is organising an Online Seminar Series in NUI Galway’s School of Chemistry. The programme for this series of lectures is given below, and many of the talks will be open to the public. Links will be shared on the School’s Events page in the days before the lecture. Seminars are hosted on Microsoft Teams group “NUI Galway Chemistry Seminar Series”. With most normal activities in research labs shut down for a period of months due to the Coronavirus Lockdown, and conferences canceled for the summer, these seminars offer us a chance to engage with exciting research from around the world.

The weekly seminars take place on Fridays at 12 noon (Irish time), unless otherwise specified. Contact Joe directly for more details.

PROGRAMME OF SPEAKERS (currently confirmed)

DateTimeSpeakerAffiliation
22 May12:00Chris HawesKeele University (UK)
29 May15:00*Grace Morgan*UCD Dublin (IE)
5 June12:00Syma KhalidUniversity of Southampton (UK)
12 June12:00Kurt HoogewijsNUI Galway (IE)
19 June12:00Carmen GalanUniversity of Bristol (UK)
26 June16:00*Keary Engle*Scripps Institute (USA)
3 July12:00Jelena StojadinovicMembrasenz (CH)
10 July12:00Jean-Louis ReymondUniversity of Berne (CH)
17 July12:00Nathalie WeickgenanntAngewandte Chemie
Joe Awards, news

Joe and Adele selected to attend Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting

Joe and our colleague Adele Gabba, both from NUI Galway’s School of Chemistry, have been selected to attend the prestigious meeting of Nobel Laureates and emerging scientists from around the world in 2021. The pair will represent Ireland at the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on the island of Lindau in Germany.

From the NUI Galway press release: Dr Byrne and Dr Gabba will join a selected group of 660 outstanding early-career scientists from 101 countries, who will meet with 68 Nobel Prize winners in the fields of chemistry, medicine and physiology, and physics. Selection to attend this week-long meeting offers a once-in-a-career opportunity to share their research and ideas with Nobel laureates and a wide network of future scientific leaders.

Dr Joseph Byrne is an Honorary Research Lecturer in the School of Chemistry, who is in the first year of a Science Foundation Ireland Starting Investigator Research Grant project, developing luminescent glycoconjugate materials for detection of bacterial infections.

Dr Adele Gabba recently graduated with a PhD in Chemistry and currently works as a research assistant in the group of Professor Paul Murphy, School of Chemistry at NUI Galway. She will begin a prestigious Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship in MIT in the coming months.

Dr Gabba and Dr Byrne were among six scientists nominated by the Irish Research Council (IRC), before going through a rigorous international selection process, through which only half of nominees were ultimately invited to attend. They will receive a grant from the Irish Research Council to enable them to attend the meeting, which takes place from 27 June-2 July 2021. The meeting was scheduled for this summer, but due to the outbreak of COVID-19, it has been postponed until 2021, while an interactive online programme of events will take place this year to fulfil the Lindau Foundation’s mission ‘Educate. Inspire. Connect.’

Joe said:

“This meeting is unique in putting the most ground-breaking scientists of recent decades and early-career researchers around the same tables for a week. With little-to-no distraction from the outside world, it is ideal for transferring ideas and sharing challenges between generations and countries as well as different disciplines. I am looking forward to building new relationships with other chemists, but also biochemists, physicists, medical scientists, who I could collaborate with to tackle challenging scientific questions of international relevance in the future.”

Adele said:

Dr Gabba said: “Being selected to attend a Nobel Laureate Meeting is a small life dream come true! I have been certainly looking forward with immense excitement for June, so I have to confess the news of the postponement for COVID-19 came along with a bit of disappointment. Despite my childlike eagerness, I think the organising committee took the right decision. I am sure all attendees will see that waiting and, most of all, the reason behind it, as an opportunity to reflect deeply on the importance of bringing together researchers with a different background in an interdisciplinary meeting. Problems that impact our society are mostly extremely complex, we will succeed in solving them only if we put our brains and best efforts together.”