UK Catalysis Hub Summer Conference 2026

Event Summary

The UK Catalysis Hub summer conference took place on the 17 and 18 of June 2026 at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire. Thank you for joining us. It was wonderful to bring so many different people and disciplines together. 

Congratulations to Andrea Folli, Cardiff University on winning the 2026 RSC Applied Catalysis Award. 

We had a packed poster session with three poster prize winners! 
Odhran Cruise, University of Leeds
Amy Edmeades, Central Laser Facility 
Thomas McGuire, University of Oxford 
The Poster prizes are kindly sponsored by RSC journals Energy & Environmental Science & EES Catalysis.

The scientific programme was built around four key themes: Digital Chemistry, Sustainability, Advanced Characterization, and Catalysis for Net Zero. 

Speakers included researchers from the Catalysis Hub and internationally renowned speakers and industrialists covering a range of topics in catalysis.

Speakers include:

Dr., Giuseppe Bagnato, Lancaster University - Reaction Engineering for Net Zero - watch recording
Prof., Céline Chizallet, IFP Energies Nouvelles - Modelling reaction mechanisms at the atomic scale in industrial Brønsted acidic zeolite catalysts: balancing accuracy with real-world representativity - watch recording
Dr., Arunabhiram Chutia, University of Lincoln - Probing surface interactions: From π-metal coupling to metal-oxide interfaces - watch recording
Prof., Paula Diaconescu, University of California, Los Angeles
Prof., James Durrant, University of Oxford
Dr., Florence Hardy, University of Manchester
Assoc. Prof., Rebecca Ingle, University College London
Prof., Alice Larkin, University of Manchester
Dr., Richard Lewis, Cardiff University - Hydro-Oxy: Sustainable Routes to Global Chemicals Through In-Situ H₂O₂ Synthesis - watch recording
Prof., Frank Leibfarth, University of North Carolina
Dr., Clare Megarity, University of Manchester
Prof., Audrey Moores, McGill University
Dr., Bastian Skjelstad, University of Oxford
Prof., Xuning Li, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) - The Unique Role of Mössbauer Spectroscopy in Probing Single-Atom Catalysts - watch recording

Thanks to our speakers, sponsors and everyone who attended.