Solar conference for young scientists by young scientists
On April 24-26, the first international solar fuels conference ISF-1 Young for young scientists was held at the Ångström Laboratory. Some 140 doctoral students, postdocs, master students and guests gathered to exchange ideas and establish collaborations to advance the field of solar fuels. The conference preceded the larger International Solar Fuels Conference at Uppsala Consert and Congress on April 26 - May 1.
At Ångström, the poster exhibition extended well beyond Siegbahnsalen and testified to the amount of research specialisations present. ISF-1 Young was organized by three doctoral students in different fields of chemistry at Ångström: Christoph Howe in microbial chemistry, Sonja Pullen in artificial photosynthesis and Mohammad Mirmohades in physical chemistry.
“What’s so important about this conference, and its main purpose, is that we have gathered biologists, chemists and physicists who are all working towards the same goal”, said Sonja Pullen. “Some work on plants and algae, others work with artificial molecules. But everyone has the same idea of utilizing sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into chemical fuel”.
Mohammad Mirmohades added:
“Since this is the first solar fuels conference where both natural and artificial photosynthesis is represented, our aim is to increase communication between the fields and identify more ways to collaborate in order to reach our goal faster”.
About 90 foreign students were expected from the United States, Japan, China and a number of European countries. Uppsala University was represented by nearly 40 students. Ten professors, guests and exhibitors were also among the participants. ISF-1 Young broke new ground within the framework of the Consortium for Artificial Photosynthesis, founded in 1993 by Professor Stenbjörn Styring at the Department of Chemistry-Ångström, the initiator of the main conference.
Why a separate conference for young scientists?
“Many of these scientists have done exciting things and here they get a chance to present their research”, said Mohammad Mirmohades. “At large conferences, the established researchers get a lot of attention, which is important. But the downside is that few young researchers are listened to. Often, professors don’t have time to be in the lab and may not know what’s happening there. That’s why it’s important for us doing more practical work to make contact”.
The three organizers did not have time to hold lectures of their own during the pre-event; however, Sonja Pullen was going to speak during the larger Solar Fuels Conference. The programme at the young scientists' conference also offered participants the opportunity to visit Ångström’s laboratories to learn more about the university’s research and participate in workshops.
The conference took one year to plan and had been funded by Uppsala University and the Wennergren Foundations, The Solar Fuels Institute, Science AAAS, and Agrisera, a Swedish company specializing in antibodies and antibody production.
"We’re conducting a workshop with Agrisera in order to improve knowledge of developments in the biotechnology sector, in this case for fuels production”, said Christoph Howe.
It is also towards synthetic biology he and his co-organisers lean in their research– more specifically genetically modified cyanobacteria.
“The possibility to produce solar energy systems with nature-like structures has come a long way”, said Christoph Howe. “Technically, we can do it right now, but it’s not yet cost effective. We must first bring down the price to be able to compete with fossil fuels. In addition, we need to find more efficient ways to store energy. That's the big challenge”.
Anneli Björkman