The UPDICE consortium met on the 18th of February at the University of Bristol to discuss progress on Work Packages 2 and 3. There was a great turnout from all four partner institutions and many positive updates were highlighted during the meeting.
PDRAs from the UPDICE group met at the University of Bristol in February to take part in a presentation skills workshop, delivered by Island 41. The bespoke training focused on how to present with confidence, alongside skills such as vocal projection and engagement with Q&A sessions. The group then held one of their quarterly meetings where they presented research updates.
Over 70 people attended our second Women in Photochemistry Symposium, held on Wednesday 5 March at UCL. Nanna Holmgaard List (Stockholm, Sweden/Birmingham, UK), Marina Kuimova (Imperial College London) and Martina Havenith (Bochum, Germany) talked about their research and shared insights into their career paths, including challenges they have faced and overcome, and they gave valuable tips for the aspiring early career researchers in the audience.
The symposium was timed to be in the week before International Women’s Day 2025 (Saturday 8 March) and was a joint UCL Chemistry and EPSRC UPDICE Programme Grant event, with additional support from the RSC Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group and the IOP Molecular Physics Group.
A large number of UPDICE group members attended the RSC Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group meeting in Leicester at the beginning of January. Talks and posters were presented by several of our PGR students and PDRAs.
PDRAs from the UPDICE group met at Oxford University for a 2-day meeting which comprised presentations, discussion and a training session on narrative CV writing. Presentations focused on recent work and the PDRAs were able to highlight opportunities to collaborate across groups.
Congratulations to UPDICE PDRA Susannah Bourne-Worster, who has recently started a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the University of Durham. Susannah worked with Professor Graham Worth during her time with the UPDICE Programme Grant, and also took on the voluntary role of PDRA representative. We wish Susannah all the very best in her new role!
AtmoSpec is an automated tool to simulate the photoabsorption cross-section of atmospheric volatile organic compounds, developed by Dr. Daniel Hollas (Curchod group, Bristol). You can learn more about AtmoSpec in this recently published article in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, and it is available for download from GitHub.
Dr Tom Oliver has started his Leverhulme International Fellowship visit to Los Angeles. The fellowship will allow him to pursue fundamental studies of solvated electrons- a critical species in radiation damage, redox chemical transformations and charge-transfer in biology. He will also pioneer new spectroscopic techniques to unravel the complex and deleterious photoionization reactions of aromatic amino acids and DNA after absorption of ultraviolet light. As part of the fellowship he will work at University of California, Los Angeles with Prof. Benjamin Schwartz, and at the University of Southern California with Prof. Stephen Bradforth.
Through dedicated efforts and a commitment to enhancing laboratory efficiency, the UPDICE Programme Grant is proud to announce that all partner institutions’ laboratories have achieved LEAF accreditation, with UCL and Oxford attaining Gold status, Bristol Silver and Imperial Bronze. The Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) programme motivates academics and lab managers to enhance efficiency by implementing practical steps to improve sustainability. Participants work through a series of criteria to achieve Bronze, Silver, or Gold certification, whilst also estimating the carbon and financial savings generated by their efforts.
The UPDICE team would like to congratulate our Co-Investigator, Basile Curchod, in achieving a promotion to Professor. A very well-deserved acknowledgement of his contributions to the University of Bristol!