Lecture and seminars
2025
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14 May 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 14 May 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:00 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Tadeusz Rymarz, M. Sc.
‘Simulations and experiments towards data-driven control of biomass gasification process ’
Bartosz Fabjanowicz, M. Sc.
‘Challenges facing ultrashort pulse generation in the ultraviolet range’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Antoni Lis and Wiktoria Zacheja.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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13 May 2025
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In vivo optical imaging of photoreceptors’ response to light stimulation
- Sławomir Tomczewski (ICTER)
- ICTER seminar, IChF aula and online
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In vivo optical imaging of photoreceptors’ response to light stimulation
- Date: 13 May 2025, 16:00
- Lecturer: Sławomir Tomczewski (ICTER)
- Institution: ICTER seminar, IChF aula and online
- Place:
IChF aula and online
Zoom link (registration required)
Meeting ID: 917 9443 7885
Passcode: 754621
- Abstract:
In ophthalmic research and practice, psychophysical and electrophysiological methods are used to obtain information on visual function. Psychophysical tests are subjective as they rely on the answers from the subject detecting and visually processing the light stimulus. Visual electrophysiology tests measuring changes in electric potentials originating from retinal neurons are objective but also difficult to conduct due to the requirement for the installation of special electrodes on the subject. This talk will focus on optoretinography, a new, objective, non-contact optical method for measuring photoreceptors’ activity.
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7 May 2025
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Joint IPHT-IChF Doctoral Webinar
- online
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Joint IPHT-IChF Doctoral Webinar
- Date: 7 May 2025, 13:30
- Institution: online
- Place:
ZOOM link: https://zoom.us/j/5054340400
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
Joint IPHT—IChF Doctoral Webinar
May 7, 2025
13:30 Introduction
Session 1 (Chair: Francesco Bello)
13:35-13:55 Dennis Kirsch (IPHT, Jena): "Operating ultrafast thulium-doped fibre oscillators by the Mamyshev mechanism"
13:55-14:15 Jacek Sobków (IChF, Warsaw): "Quest for the perfect ultrafast fiber laser power amplifier"
14:15-14:35 Xinyue Wang (IPHT, Jena): "Structure–property analysis of micelles via correlated nanomechanical and spectroscopic methods"
14:35-14:45 ---break---
Session 2 (Chair: Tomasz Piros)
14:45-15:05 Karolina Skała (IChF, Warsaw): "Are atomically precise gold nanoclusters SERS platforms?"
15:05-15:25 Yisak Tsegazab Gerase (IPHT, Jena): "Amphiphiles in organic electronics"
15:25-15:55 Wiktoria Zacheja (IChF, Warsaw): "Impact of the localized surface plasmon resonance in gold nanorods on molecular photoswitching”
15:55 Closing remarks
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5 May 2025
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The Grignard reaction : why so challenging to model?
- Prof. Odile Eisenstein - a member of the French Academy of Sciences
- IChF, UW and PAN lecture, IChF Aula
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The Grignard reaction : why so challenging to model?
- Date: 5 May 2025, 11:00
- Lecturer: Prof. Odile Eisenstein - a member of the French Academy of Sciences
- Institution: IChF, UW and PAN lecture, IChF Aula
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25 Apr 2025
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Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar
- Piyush Sindhu Sharma (Team 18)
- online and conference room
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24 Apr 2025
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Dreaming Simulating Reactive Electrochemical Interfaces on the Mesoscale
- Jun Huang (Institute of Energy Technologies, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany, Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Germany)
- IChF Aula
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Dreaming Simulating Reactive Electrochemical Interfaces on the Mesoscale
- Date: 24 Apr 2025
- Lecturer: Jun Huang (Institute of Energy Technologies, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany, Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Germany)
- Institution: IChF Aula
- Abstract:
Simulating electron transfer at reactive solid-liquid interfaces under constant electrochemical potentials of the constituents (electrons, ions, solvent etc.) is crucial to understanding the formation, functional and failure of electrochemical devices, while it is largely still a dream to fulfill. Albeit being sufficiently accurate in decreasing breaking and formation of chemical bond at solid surfaces, existing methods based on Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) are unsatisfactory in system consistency, namely, simulating the open solid-liquid interface under grand-canonical conditions, as well as in scaling up the simulation due to its high computational cost. Herein, to improve the system consistency and computational efficiency, we develop density-potential functional theoretic (DPFT) schemes out of Kohn-Sham DFT, drawing upon ideas of orbital-free DFT, frozen density embedding theory, and tight-binding DFT. The DPFT transforms an all-atom, Kohn-Sham DFT description of the nonreactive electrolyte solution into a coarse-grained, field-based description, while retaining a Kohn-Sham DFT description for the reactive subsystem. In the absence of surface reactions, the solid electrode can be described using orbital-free DFT, reducing the computational cost further. On the conceptual level, the physical meaning of potential in DPFT is examined. Recent applications of DPFT to simulate EDLs with mesoscopic roughness and EDLs at supported nanoparticles will be introduced.
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23 Apr 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 23 Apr 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:00 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Antoni Lis, M. Sc.
‘Unexpected Bottlenecks in Nuclear Export: A Study of Kinetics and
Diffusion’
Tomasz Piros, M. Sc.
‘Hybridization of nucleic acids depending on the number and position of
mismatched base pairs’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Małgorzata
Przerwa and Maede Pajouhande.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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16 Apr 2025
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Spectroscopic light of nanoconfined water flow
- Prof. Mischa Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz
- Excellent Chemistry Lecture, Cluster 2, IChF Aula
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Spectroscopic light of nanoconfined water flow
- Date: 16 Apr 2025, 10:00
- Lecturer: Prof. Mischa Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz
- Institution: Excellent Chemistry Lecture, Cluster 2, IChF Aula
- Contact person:
Sylwester Gawinkowski
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16 Apr 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 16 Apr 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:00 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Małgorzata Przerwa, M. Sc.
‘Self-propelling optically heated Janus particles’
Maede Pajouhande, M. Sc.
‘Development of a high-throughput combinatorial microfluidics-assisted
3D bioprinter’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Patrycja Hejduk
and Momina Islam.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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15 Apr 2025
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Rabies virus infection of the mouse retina
- Anna Galińska
- ICTER seminar, IChF Aula and online
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11 Apr 2025
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Microbial Cells, Enzymes and Nanozymes as Bioanalytical Tools
- Nataliya Stasyuk (Team 6)
- Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
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Microbial Cells, Enzymes and Nanozymes as Bioanalytical Tools
- Date: 11 Apr 2025, 9:15
- Lecturer: Nataliya Stasyuk (Team 6)
- Institution: Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
- Place:
Online and conference room
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 986 5802 1858
Passcode: EvsAg/AgCl
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9 Apr 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
- See more
PhD Seminar
- Date: 9 Apr 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:30 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Patrycja Hejduk, M. Sc.
‘Spherical-cap polymer particles modified with selenium nanoparticles as
drug carriers’
Momina Islam, M. Sc.
‘Application of molecular imprinting polymers in electrochemical surface
plasmon (E-SPR) based sensing’
Julia Owczarska, M. Sc.
‘Molecularly imprinted polymers for antiviral drugs determination’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Sanat Kumar
Mahankudo, Natalia Dutkiewicz, and Veranika Kuzmina.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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2 Apr 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 2 Apr 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:30 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Sanat Kumar Mahankudo, M. Sc.
'Photophysics of atomically precise gold nanoclusters'
Natalia Dutkiewicz, M. Sc.
‘Harnessing the power of porphyrin complexes for generation and temperature-controlled release of singlet oxygen’
Veranika Kuzmina, M. Sc.
‘Studies of photoreactivity using NMR and spectroscopic techniques’
This session, supervised by Prof. Rafał Szmigielski, will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Karolina Saran, Sara Moczulska, and Weronika Rybińska.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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28 Mar 2025
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Impact of the surface plasmon resonance of gold nanorods on molecular photoswitching
- Wiktoria Zacheja (Team 4)
- Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
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Impact of the surface plasmon resonance of gold nanorods on molecular photoswitching
- Date: 28 Mar 2025, 9:15
- Lecturer: Wiktoria Zacheja (Team 4)
- Institution: Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
- Place:
Online and conference room
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 986 5802 1858
Passcode: EvsAg/AgCl
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26 Mar 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 26 Mar 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:00 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Sara Moczulska, M. Sc.
‘Production of pharmaceutical and perfume intermediates by selective citral hydrogenation’
Weronika Julia Rybińska, M. Sc.
‘Selective hydrogenation of prenal (3-methyl-2-butenal) on Nickel-MOF derived catalysts’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Smith Pataraprasitpon and Huma Jamil.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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21 Mar 2025
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Synthesis of Novel Acceptors for Application in Organic Bulk Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells
- Julia Owczarska (Team 18)
- Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
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Synthesis of Novel Acceptors for Application in Organic Bulk Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells
- Date: 21 Mar 2025, 9:15
- Lecturer: Julia Owczarska (Team 18)
- Institution: Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
- Place:
Online and conference room
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 986 5802 1858
Passcode: EvsAg/AgCl
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19 Mar 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 19 Mar 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:30 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Smith Pataraprasitpon, M. Sc.
‘Computational Modeling of Cross-Beam Radiation–Matter Interactions’
Huma Jamil, M. Sc.
‘Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy for Diffusivity of Rhodamine in
Polyethylene Glycol’
Karolina Saran, M. Sc.
‘Neural tracing using AAV and modified rabies virus’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Paulina Musolf,
Marek Czarnota, and Maryia Piletskaya.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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14 Mar 2025
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Continual learning for analytical chemistry
- Emilia Witkowska-Nery (Team 12)
- Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
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13 Mar 2025
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Deciphering the Viral Entry
- prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Pyrć (Virogenetics Research Group, Małopolskie Centrum Biotechnologii, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Kraków, Polska)
- IChF Aula
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Deciphering the Viral Entry
- Date: 13 Mar 2025, 11:00
- Lecturer: prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Pyrć (Virogenetics Research Group, Małopolskie Centrum Biotechnologii, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Kraków, Polska)
- Institution: IChF Aula
- Contact person:
Jan Paczesny
- Abstract:
The final part of the talk will be dedicated to topics related to academic career development and will be primarily aimed at students, PhD candidates, and early-career researchers.
In 2024, the Council of the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) appointed Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć as the President of the Foundation’s Management Board. He will officially assume this position on September 1, 2025.
Attendance is mandatory for all PhD candidates.
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12 Mar 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 12 Mar 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:30 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Paulina Musolf, M. Sc.
‘Plasmon excitation in hybrid systems: Silver nanowires and fluorescent
dyes’
Marek Czarnota, M. Sc.
‘Polydispersity determination using NMR’
Maryia Piletskaya, M. Sc.
‘High-throughput custom systems for biomaterials screening and
biological analysis of centimetre-scale muscles’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Lucyna
Piórkowska, Tomasz Bednarek, and Jatin Yadav.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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5 Mar 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
- See more
PhD Seminar
- Date: 5 Mar 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Tomasz Bednarek, M. Sc.
‘The Anderson metal-insulator transition’
Jatin Yadav, M. Sc.
‘Lead-free perovskite solar cell’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Vaishali
Shrivastav and Ariba Aziz.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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26 Feb 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 26 Feb 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Vaishali Shrivastav, M. Sc.
‘Fabrication and Polishing of Nanoelectrodes for Scanning
Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM) and Voltammetry’
Ariba Aziz, M. Sc.
‘Photogeneration of hydrogen at the polarized interface between two
immiscible electrolyte solutions with electron donor recycling’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Leon Jurkiewicz
and Bartosz Kamiński.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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20 Feb 2025
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Metal-Organic Frameworks as Photocatalysts for Solar Fuels Production
- Prof. Hermenegildo Garcia, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain
- IChF Aula and online
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Metal-Organic Frameworks as Photocatalysts for Solar Fuels Production
- Date: 20 Feb 2025
- Lecturer: Prof. Hermenegildo Garcia, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain
- Institution: IChF Aula and online
- Place:
IChF Aula and online
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 910 3088 5169
Passcode: 453676
- Abstract:
Prof. Hermenegildo Garcia, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain has published over 900 research articles with current H index of 134 (GS) and has supervised over 50 PhD. He has been in the list of Highly Cited Researchers since this list started in 2014 and has received the Spanish National Research Award in 2021, the Rey Jaime I award in 2016, and the Spanish Royal Chemistry Society in 2011. He is thee recipient of the 2025 Ryland He is mer award given by the North American Chemical Society. He is elected member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Science and of the Spanish National Research Agency.
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19 Feb 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 19 Feb 2025, from 2 PM to approx. 3:00 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Leon Jurkiewicz, M. Sc.
‘Microfluidics assisted ultra-precision printing of granular hydrogels
for throughput drug screening’
Bartosz Kamiński, M. Sc.
‘Illuminating antimicrobial defense: Quantum dot hydroxyapatite
nanoparticles with light sensitivity and antimicrobial properties’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Lucyna
Piórkowska and Milena Gumkowska.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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18 Feb 2025
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How chemistry can benefit from artificial intelligence
- Prof. Paweł Wawrzyński, NCBR IDEAS
- IChF Aula
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How chemistry can benefit from artificial intelligence
- Date: 18 Feb 2025, 10:00
- Lecturer: Prof. Paweł Wawrzyński, NCBR IDEAS
- Institution: IChF Aula
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14 Feb 2025
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Exploring the Electroanalytical Performance of Tailored 3D-Printable Composite Electrode
- Prof. Jacek Ryl (Gdansk University of Technology)
- Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
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Exploring the Electroanalytical Performance of Tailored 3D-Printable Composite Electrode
- Date: 14 Feb 2025, 9:15
- Lecturer: Prof. Jacek Ryl (Gdansk University of Technology)
- Institution: Friday Morning Electrochemistry seminar, online and conference room
- Place:
Online and conference room
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 986 5802 1858
Passcode: EvsAg/AgCl
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6 Feb 2025
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Single-Atom Catalysis for Greener Chemical Processes
- Prof. Gianvito Vile, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- IChF Aula
- See more
Single-Atom Catalysis for Greener Chemical Processes
- Date: 6 Feb 2025
- Lecturer: Prof. Gianvito Vile, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Institution: IChF Aula
- Place:
IChF Aula and online
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 967 4320 7167
Passcode: 168794
- Abstract:
Prof. Gianvito Vile, Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He has received several awards for his research, including the ETH Medal, the Dimistris N. Chorafas Award from the Weizmann Institute of Sciences, the Felder Award from the pharmaceutical company Bracco, and the ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council. He is the coordinator or partner of several European grants (among those, SAC_2.0, GreenDigiPharma, SACforCO2, MERGE, and SusPharma), Italian grants (PRIN, PRIN PNRR), and other industrial projects. He is also expert evaluator or panel member for several national or international scientific foundations. Gianvito has been elected Fellow of the Young Academy of Europe, a pan-European academy of 200 top young scientists and scholars from every discipline, supported by Academia Europaea.
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31 Jan 2025
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Scanning tunneling microscopy of monolayer organic films
- Prof. Alexandr Marchenko, Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Seminar of the Team 7, Conference room
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Scanning tunneling microscopy of monolayer organic films
- Date: 31 Jan 2025, 11:00
- Lecturer: Prof. Alexandr Marchenko, Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Institution: Seminar of the Team 7, Conference room
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29 Jan 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
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PhD Seminar
- Date: 29 Jan 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:00 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Behdokht Hashemi Hosseini, M. Sc.
‘Synthesis of Chitosan-Lignin Catalysts for Sono-photocatalytic
Reactions: The Role of Sonication and Isotropic Solvents’
Dominik Korol, M. Sc.
‘Not only for text and images: inkjet printing of electrodes and its
application in chemosensing’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Gunjan Tiwari
and Klaudia Staśkiewicz.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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23 Jan 2025
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Imaging infections using label-free Raman spectroscopy
- Prof. Ute Neugebauer, Leibniz IPHT, Jena, Germany
- IChF Aula
- See more
Imaging infections using label-free Raman spectroscopy
- Date: 23 Jan 2025, 13:00
- Lecturer: Prof. Ute Neugebauer, Leibniz IPHT, Jena, Germany
- Institution: IChF Aula
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22 Jan 2025
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PhD Seminar
- IPC PAS Auditorium
- See more
PhD Seminar
- Date: 22 Jan 2025, from 2:00 PM to approx. 3:30 PM.
- Institution: IPC PAS Auditorium
- Place:
A weekly PhD seminar will be held in the IPC PAS Auditorium on Wednesday.
- Contact person:
Robert Kołos
Head
Doctoral Studies, IPC PAS
- Abstract:
In the programme:
Gunjan Tiwari, M. Sc.
‘Co-assembly of magnetic nanoparticles and amino acid architecture using
Langmuir-Blodgett trough experiment’
Klaudia Staśkiewicz, M. Sc.
‘Characterization of bacterial biofilm growth using microfluidic devices’
Wojciech Mazurkiewicz, M. Sc.
‘An antifouling study of surface-modified carbon fiber microelectrodes
against dopamine oxidation byproducts’
This session will be chaired jointly by the PhD students Habibollah
Atigheh, Abhishek Viswanath, and Julia Maciejewska-Komorowska.
Everybody is most welcome to attend (the Thesis Supervisors in particular!)
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21 Jan 2025
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A molecular view at interfaces - emulsion and catalysis
- Prof. Ellen Backus, University of Vienna
- Excellent Chemistry Lecture - Cluster 2, IChF Aula
- See more
A molecular view at interfaces - emulsion and catalysis
- Date: 21 Jan 2025, 11:00
- Lecturer: Prof. Ellen Backus, University of Vienna
- Institution: Excellent Chemistry Lecture - Cluster 2, IChF Aula
- Contact person:
dr Sylwester Gawinkowski
- Abstract:
Interfaces are important areas where reactions are taking place or where interactions on the molecular level determine the energetics. However, often it is difficult to obtain molecular level information from an interface, as the surrounding bulk molecules overwhelms the signal from the few interfacial molecules. In this talk we will discuss how sum frequency generation spectroscopy (SFG) can be used to obtain molecular level information of interfaces. Sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy is a technique capable of retrieving vibrational information of selectively interfacial molecules even if bulk amounts of liquid are present. Here, we will discuss two recent highlights of our work.
In the first part of the talk we will aim to understand the molecular scale interactions of a switchable emulsifier comprising poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA). This emulsifier forms stable oil/water emulsions at pH > 10, but the emulsion becomes unstable at pH < 3 due to droplet aggregation. Using SFG, we study the PMAA/PEGMA polymer deposited on an aqueous subphase. We find that at pH 2.5, both MAA-EG H-bonds and MAA = MAA cyclic dimers contribute to droplet aggregation in the emulsion. In contrast, at pH 11.5 deprotonation and solvation of the PMAA component lead to a polymer restructuring forming a negative shell around the droplets, electrostatically stabilising the emulsion in alkaline conditions.
In the second part of the talk will follow the dynamics of water molecules at the TiO2-water interface after photoexcitation with UV light. A critical step in photocatalytic water dissociation is the hole-mediated oxidation reaction. Using femtosecond time-resolved SFG spectroscopy we could obtain molecular-level insights into the mechanism of this complex reaction under realistic conditions. Following the generation of holes at the surface immediately after photoexcitation of the catalyst with UV light, water dissociation occurs on a sub-20 ps timescale. At both pH 3 and 11, we observe the conversion of H2O into Ti-OH groups and the deprotonation of pre-existing Ti-OH groups. This study provides unique experimental insights into the early steps of the photo-induced dissociation processes at the photocatalyst-water interface.
Ellen Backus obtained her PhD in 2005 at Leiden University in the Netherlands. After a PostDoc at the University of Zurich, she moved back to the Netherlands for an independent PostDoc position at AMOLF in Amsterdam. In 2012, she joined the Molecular Spectroscopy department at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research as a group leader. Since 2018 she is professor for physical chemistry at the University of Vienna and leading the Ultrafast and Nonlinear Spectroscopy group. The overall research goal of her group is understanding the structure, relaxation dynamics, and reactivity of soft matter at interfaces and in bulk on the molecular scale.