UK Catalysis Hub Summer Conference 2025
Event Summary
The UK Catalysis Hub’s Summer Conference 2025, held at Harwell Campus, launched Phase III with record attendance —over 120 delegates joined for two days of talks, posters, and networking.
The scientific programme was built around four key themes: Digital Chemistry, Sustainability, Advanced Characterization, and Catalysis for Net Zero. Highlights included keynote presentations from Prof. Donna Blackmond (Scripps), Prof. Annemie Bogaerts (Antwerp) and Prof. Ian Metcalfe (Newcastle), as well as cutting-edge contributions from early-career researchers such as Dr. Becky Greenaway (Imperial) and Frederica Butler (Oxford).
The first day was rounded off with a poster session hosted in the Diamond Light Source atrium and sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry journals Energy & Environmental Science, EES Catalysis and Catalysis Science & Technology, featuring 30 high-quality posters from PhD and postdoctoral researchers. Poster prizes were awarded to Amy Edmeades, Jack Heaton and Yongliang (Harry) Yan in recognition of their outstanding work.
The conference dinner on the first day featured an after-dinner talk from Roger Eccleston, Executive Director of National Laboratories at STFC, who spoke on the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the unique role of the UK Catalysis Hub in connecting researchers across sectors and facilities.
The event was a lively and inspiring showcase of the UK catalysis community — marking an ambitious and collaborative start to the next phase of the Hub’s work.
Speakers included:
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:
Click on the links below to watch recordings of the presentations.
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 - Watch recording
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 - Watch recording
15:40-16:20 – Prof. Michael Neidig, Oxford – Down the Rabbit Hole: Illuminating the Organoiron Species Central to Chemical Synthesis - Watch recording
16:20- 16:40 – Dr. Kris Altus, York – Room Temperature Ethene to Propene (ETP) using a Cascade of Solid-State Molecular Organometallic Catalysts - Watch recording
16:40-17:00 – Frederica Butler, Oxford – Uncovering Structure-Activity Relationships in Sustainable Polymerisation Catalysis - Watch recording
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 - Watch recording
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. - Watch recording
Download copy of Q&A slides on Equipment below:
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 - Watch recording
13:40 -13:45 – Closing Remarks
14:00 -14:45 – Buffet Lunch, Coffee Lounge (R22)
15:30 – Close
Poster Competition:
Poster prizes were kindly sponsored by RSC journals Energy & Environmental Science, EES Catalysis and Catalysis Science & Technology.
