Innovation and creativity celebrated at the Science Matters: Creating the Future doctoral research conference

Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff

We were delighted to welcome Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff (University of Nottingham) as one of the keynote speakers

Research students from across the School of Science took the opportunity to showcase their research at the School's annual doctoral research conference. The day-long event, titled Science Matters: Creating the Future, also featured presentations by two distinguished keynote speakers, Loughborough University's Professor Baihua Li, an expert in AI and machine learning, and Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff (University of Nottingham), a global leader in the field of green chemistry.

The conference enabled doctoral research students to showcase their work

The research conference, which took place on Friday 31st March, saw twelve researchers give overviews of their research spanning chemistry, physics, mathematical sciences, mathematics education, and computer science, with research poster presentations displayed during lunch.

Prizes were also given for the best presentation and best poster, as well as the "Creating the Future" award, an esteemed recognition given to individuals who have demonstrated innovation and creativity in creating a better future. This award celebrates those who have contributed to shaping a brighter and more sustainable world.

Congratulations to the winners, who were as follows:

Best Poster Award: Xuetong Pei (Chemistry) - Homogeneous and Single-site Heterogeneous Catalysts for Guerbet Reaction

Best Presentation Award: James Madeley (Computer Science) - Internet-scale Testing: Large problems with Compact Solutions

"Creating the Future" Award: Yangfan Jiang (Physics) - Using AI methods to improve the performance of a gamma camera for medical imaging

Highlights of the day included the keynote speakers, Professor Baihua Li (who spoke about her work in the area of AI and machine learning for industrial automation) and Professor Martyn Poliakoff (addressing the issue of making chemistry more sustainable).

For an overview of the event, download the programme: Creating the Future programme.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made the day a tremendous success. Thank you also to our PhD students Wenjuan Zhou and Imoleayomide Ajayi who kindly volunteered to "live tweet" and took over the @LboroScience Twitter account for the duration of the conference.