The 114th General Assembly of the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry (Bunsentagung) with the main topic “Solvation Science” was held from May 14 – 16, 2015 at the Ruhr-University Bochum. The four-member scientific organization committee, headed by Dominik Marx, consisting exclusively of RESOLV Principal Investigators, Martina Havenith, Karina Morgenstern and Martin Muhler, compiled an attractive program to bring experts in the field of Solvation Science together. Five parallel lecture sessions encompassed topics from fundamental science to applications, both in experiment and theory, thereby trying to bridge all relevant length- and time-scales.
The conference started on Thursday afternoon with the opening ceremony in the RUB Audimax, followed by a public testimonial lecture held by Prof. Stefan Hell, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry in 2014. Several interested citizens from the city of Bochum also attended this lecture. The participants and speakers of the Bunsentagung got together on Thursday evening to enjoy the generous welcome dinner in the RUB Mensa.
Each morning and afternoon session on Friday and Saturday began with a plenary lecture in the RUB Audimax, held by Mark A. Johnson (Yale University, USA), Damien Laage (École normale supérieure, Paris), Irit Sagi (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), and Angelos Michaelides (University College, London). The plenary lectures were followed by five parallel sessions on different topics, held in the RUB Audimax and the conference center. During these sessions, full lectures were given by Heather Allen (Ohio State University, USA), Ferdi Schüth (MPI für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim), Teresa Head-Gordon (University of California, USA), Robert Franke (Evonik Industries, Marl), Ulrike Diebold (TU Wien), Thomas Kühne (Universität Paderborn), Mark E. Tuckerman (New York University, USA), David Manolopoulos (University of Oxford, UK), Song-I Han (University of California Santa Barbara, USA), Dirk-Peter Herten (Universität Heidelberg), Kramer Campen (Fritz-Haber-Institut, Berlin), and Marc Koper (Leiden University, NL). Please see here for an overview of the complete program.
On Friday, the conference was accompanied by an industrial exhibition in the foyer of the conference center. On the same day, the female attendees of the conference came together for a Women’s Networking Lunch, where the discussion was stimulated by an introductory talk from Prof. Martina Havenith. In line with the gender concept of RESOLV, child care was offered during the conference, located directly at the conference site. On Friday evening, the day finished with two poster sessions, including poster dinners in the RUB Audimax foyer. Delicious food and gentle live music during the dinner and poster session made the way for stimulating discussions in a relaxing atmosphere.
On Saturday, the conference continued until the late afternoon, providing highlights such as a funding symposium, where three German funding organizations and the European Union presented their funding opportunities, and the “Karriereforum” where scientists at early stages of their careers got a forum to discuss and exchange information about career-related issues. The conference ended with the award of 12 poster prizes in the closing ceremony.
More than 600 participants took part in the Bunsentagung. A total of 133 scientific talks and more than 320 posters were presented. Ten companies and organizations presented themselves at the industrial exhibition and even more supported the conference by a financial donation. The Ruhr-University Bochum and the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV provided substantial organizational and financial support for the conference. Four honors and prizes of the German Bunsen Society were awarded during the conference. Please see below for a selection of impressions from the Bunsentagung 2015.
The scientific contribution of the conference in the area of Solvation Science was supported by a peer-reviewed Please read more about the Topical Issue of the journal “Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics” with the title "Solvation Science", guest-edited by the four scientific organizers under the guidance of Karina Morgenstern. The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the RUB published a brochure about its research activities coordinated by Martin Muhler. The German Bunsen Society reported on the conference, the main topic of Solvation Science and the conference site in Bochum in their monthly magazine.