Triple symposia discusses latest research on novel materials

China’s Fudan University and the University of Wollongong recently held a joint symposium in Shanghai, China.

It was the 5th International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) international symposium on novel materials and their synthesis, together with the 19th international symposium on fine chemistry and functional polymers and the 3rd symposium on power sources for energy storage and their key materials.

Co-chairmen, Professor Yu-Ping Wu from Fudan University and Associate Professor Guoxiu Wang from UOW invited more than 400 participants to attend these international joint symposia. This included 300 international distinguished guests and over 20 representatives of industries from more than 30 different countries.

Among these were UOW’s plenary speaker Institute of Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) Director, Professor Shixue Dou; along with keynote speaker Professor Xiaolin Wang and PhD student Hao Liu also from ISEM. Associate Professor Guoxiu Wang also gave the opening address and a keynote speech.

The Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1988, Professor Robert Huber, gave a plenary speech with the title “Proteins and their Structures at the Interface of Physics, Chemistry and Biology”.

The triple symposia covered a broad spectrum of materials science, chemistry, biochemistry, and physics.

In particular, the symposia also had a focus on renewable energy storage and conversion. There were presentations on the latest advances on rechargeable batteries, hydrogen storage, fuel cells and solar cells.

Overall, organisers said the symposia proved to be a great success as it served as a high level platform for participants of different backgrounds to communicate and establish a bond of scientific collaboration and innovation.

Fudan University is one of the highly ranked universities in China and through this latest joint international conference UOW has now established a close collaboration.

Last reviewed: 2 November, 2009