12 Oct 2012
John Greenwood received a Rideal Travel Bursary to attend the 244th ACS meeting, held in Philadelphia, USA from 19-23 August 2012
John writes: My oral presentation was entitled Ordered growth of upright melamine species on Ni{111}: A study with scanning tunnelling microscopy and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy. The talk described the motivation of my group's work; specifically the desire to fabricate two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks for the purpose of enantioselective catalysis. I discussed various systems that had been successfully investigated.
The majority of the talk focused on melamine adsorption on Ni{111}, in an effort to understand the behaviour of an amine nucleophile species on a catalytically-active surface. The work has been published in two separate papers in the Journal of Physical Chemistry, with two more papers close to submission. I found that answering questions from academics about my research was rewarding, and it was great to meet others interested in my work. The discussions proved to be invaluable for future studies.
There were many renowned academics in the field of surface science at the symposium. Among these included: Dr C Sykes, Prof B Willis, Prof R Opila, and Prof A Teplyakov, all of whom gave fascinating talks on the latest research in their respective academic fields. The symposium covered a broad range of research topics, including photovoltaic studies, carbon-based materials in nanoelectronics, and covalent reactions on surfaces. This last topic was of particular interest to my own research, and the talks presented provided insight and new ideas.
During the conference I was able to attend many excellent presentations on a diverse selection of scientific research areas. These have provided new ideas for the enhancement of my own research. Hearing the latest developments in my field, plus receiving encouragement from leading professionals has motivated me enormously, and convinced me to carry on in academia. I aim to follow the research of the most relevant presentations in my own work, and keep in contact with academics I have met to discuss future studies.
My research group has been very interested to learn of my experiences and contacts at the ACS. I hope my beneficial trip will convince others to attend international conferences, and, by so doing, meet a wider research community and reach a large audience to discuss their own research breakthroughs.
I would like to thank SCI for granting me the Rideal Travel Bursary. The ACS conference has been a fantastic experience in which I was able to meet many world-class researchers and learn of their latest research, as well as present to them my own research conducted throughout my PhD. The diverse content covered throughout the conference has provided me with invaluable information, and hopefully will be of great use for my future research.
John Greenwood
St Andrews University
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