E-MRS 2012 SPRING MEETING
Dr Marina Resmini and Dr Paolo Bonomi from The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary, University of London presented two posters and one oral communication at the largest and most exciting European Materials Research Society E-MRS2012 Spring Meeting that was held on from the 15th to the 18th May 2012 in Strasbourg, France. Dr Paolo reported his experience: When my supervisor, Dr Resmini, told me that I would attend and present a poster at the E-MRS Spring meeting in May in Strasbourg, France, I was really happy to have the opportunity to spend three days away from the laboratory in a city that I had never visited before. So I checked out the conference and city on the internet and was very impressed by the conference programme as well as the city. Strasbourg is truly an enchanting city, full of surprises hidden around every corner. I could easily spend a few days here, just discovering hidden nooks and crannies. We also had a gorgeous weather with temperatures around 20°C during the three days. Although a bit chilly in the evening, it was still lovely to walk along the river. During these two years working in Dr Resmini’s group at Queen Mary, University on London, I had the chance to attend a few conferences in Europe and around the world, but I was really surprised by the huge number of people attending the E-MRS Spring meeting. Over 3000 people from around the world attended the conference. I had the opportunity to meet and discuss science with scientists from Europe but also from Mexico, Japan and the USA. It was really an outstanding opportunity for networking, especially during the poster presentation sessions that were well attended. I presented my poster “Modulation of imprinting efficiency in nanogels with catalytic activity in the Kemp elimination”, from my research funded by the European Commission for the IRMED project, which lead to interesting questions and discussions. The conference organization was perfect, but also incredible was the level of the scientific programs, talks and workshops. I had a deep overview on materials and their utility for tissue engineering and on new methodologies to prepare antibacterial surfaces for a variety of applications. Even if the field of the research was not close to my work (imprinted polymers), I found interesting tips that can be useful for analyzing my polymers. On the last day of the conference Dr Resmini gave an interesting talk on the work that she has been doing at the School of Biological & Chemical Sciences on the improvement of the molecular imprinting technique to prepare synthetic catalysts. I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Resmini and the European Commission for giving me the chance to attend such a high profile scientific event, and I hope to be able to attend the next meetings.