13th International Congress
on Catalysis
SCI Rideal Travel Bursary Winner Elizabeth Willneff
PARIS, FRANCE - 11-16
JULY 2004
 Academics
and industrialists interested in several subspecialties of
catalysis attended the 13th International Conference on Catalysis
(ICC) in Paris. From the 2088 abstracts submitted from 65
countries, 169 oral communications and 1336 posters were selected
for presentation. It was impossible to attend such a phenomenal
number of presentations and therefore I focused primarily
on those related to my current areas of interest.
These included surface science on model and real catalytic
systems, spectroscopic methods for characterising these systems,
catalysis with gold and development of high-throughput systems
for synthesis and characterisation of solid phases. I also
visited industrial exhibitions on new equipment for high-throughput
experimentation.
In addition to visiting work presented by others, I presented
a segment of my own research on characterisation of supported
gold catalysts with X-ray absorption spectroscopy that I have
been working on over the last 3 years at a poster session.
This was the most challenging part of the conference because
with ca 300 posters being presented on the same afternoon
the conference venue was extremely crowded and warm. Nonetheless,
it was possible to have many stimulating discussions with
researchers, young and old, working in the same and related
field(s).
On a personal level, I found it interesting to observe the
different approaches to presenting oral and written (posters)
work. After attending so many presentations, I hope that at
future presentations of my own work I will be able to incorporate
the positive features of other people's work into my own and
eliminate my own bad habits. At large conferences in particular,
unless one is extremely influential in a field, anything but
a visually and/or acoustically clear presentation will leave
people disinterested.
Lastly, on a social level, I attended the Bastille Day fireworks
celebration outside the Eiffel Tower. Fireworks in the context
of the US 4th of July have marked summer for me until I moved
to Europe 8 years ago. The Bastille Day fireworks were more
spectacular than any I have seen and as such I will always
remember them. Merely standing at the Eiffel Tower was something
I would not have thought very realistic 10 years ago.
 All
of these experiences have given me a solid foundation from
which to meet several of my short-term goals. After completing
my last experiments, I will submit my doctoral thesis in November
this year. Afterwards I want to move on to a new position,
initially either academic or industrial, giving me the freedom
and responsibility to develop my research and career.
During this transition it is essential that I publish the
results of my work and plan on presenting an oral communication
at a significant international conference in the next year.
The overview of current research activities in the field of
catalysis I have gained by attending this conference will
be beneficial in realising these goals.
In the long term, I would like to establish myself in the
scientific community such that I can inspire young people
to pursue scientific careers and women post-PhD, in particular
those with children, to continue in them. Presenting a keynote
lecture would hopefully follow.
On this note, I would like to thank the Sir Eric Rideal Trust
for awarding me financial assistance towards attending this
conference. It is essential that young researchers attend
significant international conferences in order to understand
and appreciate the role their research plays in the broader
scientific community. My aspiration to carry out world-leading
research has only been strengthened by this experience.
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