UK Catalysis Hub Summer Conference 2025
On the 1st and 2nd of July 2025 the UK Catalysis Hub will host its annual summer conference and networking meeting. The Conference will take place at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire. The event will be a hybrid event so we will have the option to attend virtually for those who can’t attend in person.
The conference will start at lunchtime with a buffet lunch on the 1st and the main conference will conclude at lunchtime on the 2nd July. There will be a poster session on the evening of the 1st July and dinner by invitation on the evening of the 1 July, starting at approximately 19:30 GMT. Lectures continue until lunchtime on the 2nd. Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements.
Themes include: Digital Chemistry, Sustainability, Net Zero and Advanced Characterization.
Speakers include researchers from the Catalysis Hub and internationally renowned speakers and industrialists covering a range of topics in catalysis.
Speakers include:
Dr. German Sastre, ITQ
Prof. Donna Blackmond, Scripps
Prof. Michael Neidig, Oxford
Prof. Annemie Bogaerts, Antwerp
Prof. Ian Metcalfe, Newcastle
Dr. Carlos M. Fonte, Johnson Matthey
Prof. Stephen Wallace, Edinburgh
Programme:
1 July 2025
Session 1 – Digital Chemistry – Pickavance Lecture Theatre (R22)
Chair: Prof. Adrian Mulholland, Bristol
12:00 -12:05 – Welcome – Prof Charlotte Williams, Oxford
12:05 -12:45 – Keynote Speaker: Dr. German Sastre, ITQ – Computational insights into mxenes and zeolites as catalysts
12:45 -13:05 – Dr. Becky Greenaway, Imperial – High-Throughput Approaches for the Discovery of Molecular Organic Materials
13:05 -13:45 – Dr. Carlos M. Fonte, Johnson Matthey – From Electrons to Reactors: ab initio multi-scale simulation of methane oxidation over palladium oxide
13:45 -14:05 – Dr. Filip Szczypinski, Durham – Data-driven discovery in supramolecular chemistry
14:05 -14:55 – BUFFET LUNCH – COFFEE LOUNGE (R22)
Session 2 – Sustainability – Pickavance Lecture Theatre (R22)
Chair: Prof. Charlotte Williams, Oxford
14:55-15:00 – Introduction
15:00-15:40 – Keynote Speaker: Prof. Donna Blackmond, Scripps – Kinetic Profiles as a Diagnostic Probe of Complex Multi-Cycle Catalytic Reaction Networks
15:40-16:20 – Prof. Michael Neidig, Oxford – Down the Rabbit Hole: Illuminating the Organoiron Species Central to Chemical Synthesis
16:20- 16:40 – Dr. Kris Altus, York – Room Temperature Ethene to Propene (ETP) using a Cascade of Solid-State Molecular Organometallic Catalysts
16:40-17:00 – Frederica Butler, Oxford – Uncovering Structure-Activity Relationships in Sustainable Polymerisation Catalysis
17:00 -18.00 – Poster Session, Diamond Light Source Atrium
18:00 – Coach to The Crown & Thistle (pre-booked for 53pp)
19.30 – Dinner Invitation only: The Crown & Thistle, Abingdon
2 July 2025
8:30 -9:00 – Tea and Coffee, COFFEE LOUNGE (R22)
Session 3 – Advanced Characterization – Pickavance Lecture Theatre (R22)
Chair: Prof. Richard Catlow, Cardiff/ UCL
9:10 -9:15 – Introduction
9:15 -9:55 – Keynote Speaker: Prof. Annemie Bogaerts, Antwerp – virtually – Plasma catalysis: Knowledge gaps towards creating real synergy
9:55 -10:15 – Dr. Ines Lezcano Gonzalez, Manchester – Exploring the Impact of Cage Size and Framework Topology on Methanol-to-Olefins using Operando Spectroscopy
10:15 -10:35 – Dr. Linqun Kang, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion – Surface Nitrogen Transformation Pathways in Iron–Cobalt Ammonia Decomposition Catalysts Revealed by Operando Ambient Pressure X-ray Spectroscopy
10:35 -11:15 – Q&A on Equipment with Prof. Andrew Beale, UCL/Finden Ltd.
11:15 -11:35 – BREAK: Tea and Coffee, Coffee Lounge (R22)
Session 4 – Net Zero – Pickavance Lecture Theatre (R22)
Chair: Dr. Amanda Jarvis, Edinburgh
11:35 -11:40 – Introduction
11:40 -12:20 – Keynote Speaker: Prof. Ian Metcalfe, Newcastle – Engineering chemical reactor technologies for a low-carbon energy future
12:20 -12:40 – Dr. Josh Makepeace, Birmingham – Probing Li-N-H catalysts for ammonia synthesis and decomposition
12:40 -13:20 – Prof. Stephen Wallace, Edinburgh – Microbial Metabolites for Catalytic Hydrogenation
13:20 -13:40 – Dr. Rich Wingad, Cardiff – Conversion of renewable feedstocks to advanced synthetic fuels by homogeneous Guerbet catalysis
13:40 -13:45 – Closing Remarks
14:00 -14:45 – Buffet Lunch, Coffee Lounge (R22)
15:30 – Close
View and download the conference programme below:
Poster Abstracts:
Poster slots are now full. Poster prizes kindly sponsored by RSC journals Energy & Environmental Science, EES Catalysis and Catalysis Science & Technology.
