GERSEQ44 Conference Brings Together more than 200 Electrochemistry Specialists in Leioa

From July 3 to 5, more than 200 international specialists in electrochemistry gathered at the 44th Meeting of the Specialized Group in Electrochemistry of the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ). BCMaterials and the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) organized the conference under the acronym GERSEQ44.

The event hosted more than 100 oral presentations and more than 80 posters as an update on the latest advances in areas such as materials electrochemistry, electroanalysis, molecular and fundamental electrochemistry, bioelectrochemistry, and electrochemical process technology and engineering. Two of the main topics of the contributions were energy generation and storage and environmental electrochemistry, areas included in the 5th E3 Mediterranean Symposium, a biennial event that this year was held within GERSEQ44. The Symposium, which attracted a good number of scientists from Italy, brought extra internationality to the congress.

A successful conference

“The Meeting and Symposium have been a true success due to the number of attendees and the quality of the works presented. The event has given BCMaterials the opportunity to show the important work we do in electrochemistry. For example, in fields such as the miniaturization of electrochemical sensors for healthcare uses, environmental monitoring, etc. We are sure that, thanks to GERSEQ44, we will establish new and important collaborations in the field of electrochemistry,” says Senentxu Lanceros-Méndez, BCMaterials Scientific Director.

On the other hand, Javier del Campo, Ikerbasque Research Professor at BCMaterials and president of the GERSEQ44 Organizing Committee, highlights: “We have had great plenary speakers, such as Richard Compton, emeritus of the University of Oxford; Nuria García-Aráez, professor at the University of Southampton, and Francesco Paolucci, leader of the electrochemistry group at the University of Bologna. However, the rest of the presentations have shown a fantastic level and we believe that the the new generation of young researchers who have participated, assures sucession.”

The starring role of young scientists

GERSEQ44 offered an important role to new researchers. A clear example of this were the 'Antonio Aldaz' award for outstanding doctoral theses as well as the 'Young Talents' prizes. The first award went to Sara Santiago, from the Complutense University of Madrid, while the ‘Young Talents’ awards went to Sara Barja (UPV/EHU) and Paula Sebastián-Pascual (Royal Institute of Technology of Sweden).

During the event, the defenses of the Master's final projects and the PhD thesis projects of the “Electrochemistry” program were also carried out. Science and Technology”, coordinated by the Specialized Group. The results of the defenses were very positive.