What do photodynamic therapy, tailored nanoparticles and antibiotic synthesis have in common? They were a few of the topics discussed at the 2011 Chemistry Research Colloquium held on Tuesday 12 July.

The event showcased the breadth of research activity in the School of Chemistry. PhD students and Post-doctoral Research Associates presented 15 lectures and 50 posters illustrating the development of synthetic methods, improved catalysts, access to new molecules and greater understanding of the functional properties of a range of systems. The KeyNote lecture ‘Catalytic Promiscuity – Rules and Tools’ from Dr Florian Hollfelder, University of Cambridge, continued this theme with an elegant illustration of how microfluidics, fluorescence spectroscopy and catalysis can be combined to search for new ensembles of architectures. The high quality of all presentations stimulated much discussion. This continued well into the evening where over refreshments prizes were awarded to Girgis Obaid, Lydia Sousa and Dr Sabine Grüschow for their talks and to Elizabeth Jacobs, Antoine Abou Fayad and Dr Sophie Marritt for their poster presentations.