8 Apr 2014
I was very grateful to be awarded a Rideal Travel Bursary to travel to Dallas, USA, to attend the 247th ACS National Meeting & Exposition from 16 - 20 March 2014, Baharan Karamzadeh reports.
The conference was organised by ACS and attended by more than 4000 scientists from all over the world. As I am working in the field of surface science, I mostly attended the Colloid and Surface Chemistry symposium.
I was given the opportunity to present my work titled 'Copper Underpotential Deposition on Au(111) Confined by a Hydrogen Bonded Honeycomb Network' in the poster session, showing a part of the research I have carried out during my PhD. The poster session was well received and I was given suggestions by other scientists working on similar fields and using the same kind of techniques, which provided some inspirational ideas for my research. The highlight of the conference for me was getting a job offer from a very well-known group.
Overall, the quality and the level of the talks given were very high, and covered a wide range of topics from nanoparticles to polymers, from single molecules to supramolecular networks and switchable systems. A very interesting talk was given by Prof John Polanyi, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his research in chemical kinetics.
During the whole conference the environment was friendly, allowing scientists to approach each other easily to discuss science and share their experiences.
As a young scientist, this conference has broadened my horizons in the field of surface science and given me a valuable opportunity to learn more about the latest research being carried out in my field with other groups. I'm sure this visit will benefit my research in the future and it has brought me many useful contacts.
I would like to thank the RSC and SCI for granting me this travel bursary, which made it possible for me to take part in this conference, which was the most useful one I have attended so far.
Baharan Karamzadeh
University of St Andrews
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