First Sino-German Young Scientist Symposium: strengthening cooperation with the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Giving young scientists a networking platform to exchange ideas while also providing useful information regarding the funding of future joint projects were the aims of the first “Sino-German Young Scientist Symposium”. The program consisted of various talks on “Interfaces: Construction, Characterization and Functionalization”. The event took place at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS), in Beijing, China, from November 9 - 13, 2016.
The symposium, organized by Prof. Dr. Dujin Wang and Prof. Dr. Jianjun Wang of the ICCAS and by Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Butt and Dr. Si Wu of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P), aimed to establish a network between young scientists researching at the two organizations. Divided into three parts, the event covered the following topics: the first panel was dedicated to the question of “how to construct functional interfaces” in which different researchers showed their approaches using polymers, interfacial self-assembly and surface patterning. The second panel discussed “how to best characterize interfaces” with various methods, such as scanning robe microscopy, X-ray scattering and reflection, light scattering and nonlinear optical techniques. In the last panel the focus was directed toward functional interfaces, including superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surfaces, as well as anti-icing, stimuli-responsive and biointerfaces.
In order to take this cooperation to the next level and provide a sustainable basis for exchange, a representative of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion, which was also the sponsor of the event, introduced the participants to the different funding opportunities given by the German Research Foundation and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
The symposium was established as a continuation of two earlier visits, one in 2015 when ten MPI-P scientists visited the ICCAS, and one in 2014 as the MPI-P welcomed seven ICCAS researchers in Mainz.
