Once again, the DoSChem students have exceeded expectations by organizing the fourth edition of the International Student Symposium, held on September 12th and 13th, 2024.

The event had a perfect balance of academic rigor, networking opportunities, engagement with future career paths, and provide a platform for young scholars to share ideas, and engage in critical discussions.

This year, our event took place at UZA II (lecture hall 3) surrounded by osteological and mineral collections, creating an atmosphere of the Natural History Museum.

The opening remarks were made by Christian Becker, DoSChem Head of the school for 4 years and one of the founding members, who took an emotional farewell. Starting 01.10. 2024 he takes his new assignment as the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry.

DoSChem Student Symposium was kindly supported by Thermo Fisher Scientific.

This year we were honored with the presence of Prof. Shana Sturla (ETH Zurich), Prof. Johannes Messinger (Uppsala University) and Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn (ISIS, University of Strasbourg). The three keynote speakers not only delivered motivating and entertaining talks but also interacted warmly with our students, further enriching the symposium's atmosphere.

During two comprehensive days, we enjoyed 14 student talks and 72 poster presentations which were a clear testament to the hard work and high standard level of the research performed at our faculty and school. The thoughtful division of the poster sessions (2 parts) allowed everyone to enjoy and fully engage.

Introducing the Career Afternoon was a fantastic initiative of our student representatives. The opportunity for students to meet potential employers, receive CV advice, and interact with industry professionals from Life-Science Karriere Services, Agrana, Astra Zeneca, Proxygen, Boehringer Ingelheim and Thermo Fisher was a major draw, with industry partners eager to remain involved. Madeleine A. Ehweiner, as a Process Chemist at Thermo Fisher, delivered an insightful talk focused on the development of robust chemical syntheses and production processes, which are crucial for manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients for clinical trials or commercial use. Her expertise gave students a clearer understanding of the career paths available at Thermo Fisher to them after their studies.

Congratulations to the organizing committee for their excellent planning and innovation!

We captured the highlights of our DoSChem event within the picture gallery and bullet points outlining best talks, poster awards and attendant keynote speakers below. 

Pictures were professionally covered by David Loibnegger and Claude Molitor, please give them credit if you intend to publish them elsewhere. We will make a link with all contributions available shortly. 

We are happy to know if there are student volunteers who want to top this event next year!