Deepening UK–Japan collaboration

We held the 7th UK–Japan Symposium at Burlington House, bringing together 115 scientists from over 40 institutions to discuss fundamental research advances in carbon nanomaterials.

These materials have many exciting potential uses, from more efficient energy storage to better drug delivery, but we can only develop these applications if we understand their chemical properties.

Professor Alexei Kornyshev, from Imperial College London, said: "Most of the talks were very interesting, and I established a number of new contacts, and perhaps new collaborations will come out of it. The more I deal with Royal Society of Chemistry the more I see what an amazing organization it is. There is no equivalent."

Delegates attended from across the UK and Japan Picture: © Embassy of Japan in the UK

As well as more established experts, delegates heard from some rising stars, and over forty early career researchers presented their work during an extended poster session.

Robert Parker, our Chief Executive, commented: "I was particularly pleased to see so many early career researchers talking part. Looking at the great work of our poster presenters, I feel very confident about the future of carbon nanomaterials research."

We held the event in partnership with the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ). For the first time, we also received support from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, allowing us to attract an even wider audience of researchers.

It was followed by a reception hosted by the Embassy of Japan to celebrate our close and long-standing partnership with the CSJ, and the even longer history of chemical collaboration between our two countries.

Aminu Rabiu, from The University of Manchester, was one of the four winners of our poster competition. "I very much enjoyed the symposium and would say it was very useful and was more than I expected", he said. "The talks were very interesting and inspiring, particularly listening to people who are expert in their areas talking passionately about their work. During the poster session I had the opportunity to interact with people doing related work and I must say the comments I got were very helpful."

The other poster competition winners were Shahab Ahmad, University of Cambridge, Kathrin Preuss, Queen Mary University of London, and Yvette Hancock, University of York.

It is our hope that the symposium will provide a springboard for tomorrow’s activities in this field and contribute to strengthen our friendship. We look forward to continuing our close partnership between CSJ and RSC reflecting our deep and long history. We strongly believe that further interdisciplinary research by materials scientists, chemists and physicists will find new fields both in fundamental studies and the development of applications.

The meeting in London was so stimulating for me and I could get many connections through the meeting. I really look forward to joining other RSC symposium in the future.