Dr Graetzel, father of solar cells, to give conference at UAB

19/05/2015

The Fifth Doctoral Sessions in Chemistry this year will once again include the participation of renowned international experts, among them Dr Michael Graetzel, who will offer a conference entitled “Energy Beyond Oil” on Thursday 28 May at 5 pm.

Dr Graetzel, director of the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), developed in 1991 the solar cells which bear his name and which are already being applied to mobile devices and integrated into buildings by substituting conventional construction materials such as roof tiles or windows.

Michael Graetzel was the first to use mesoscopic materials in energy conversion systems, particularly in solar cells, lithium batteries and photoelectrochemical devices which decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen through the use of sunlight. With almost one thousand papers and over 50 patents, his works have been cited some 134,000 times, placing him among the ten top chemists of the world.

One day before, on Wednesday 27 May at 3 pm, a conference will be given by Thierry Billard, Director of Research of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France and president of the Centre Commun de RMN at the Institut de Chimie et Biochimie, Université de Lyon. Dr Billard, expert in biomedical and pharmacological chemistry, will offer a conference on the “CF3S group: Why such an interest? How to introduce it onto molecules?”

On Friday 29 May at 11:30 am, Samuel Sánchez, voted best Spanish researcher under 35 by the MIT Technology Reviews journal and winner of the Princesa de Girona 2015 Award, will also give a conference. He will be speaking on “The ‘Fantastic Voyage’: back where everything started”.

Dr Sánchez, who earned his PhD in Chemistry from the UAB, researches nano and micro robots, devices which can transport drugs into cells, destroy pollutants, and analyse fluids. in vitro they have demonstrated an ability to reach cancer cells and release drugs within the cells.

The UAB Doctoral Sessions in Chemistry aim to strengthen the ties future PhD graduates will have with the professional world and foster their entrepreneurial spirit, while at the same time serve as a place where to present cutting edge research conducted around the world, thanks to the participation of important guest speakers. This year some thirty students from the PhD programme will be participating in the sessions and will also display the scientific projects they are working on.

The conference is open to the general public. All those interested in attending must register by sending an email to the Department of Chemistry at gestio.postgrau.quimica@uab.cat.

More information: Fifth Doctoral Sessions in Chemistry Programme