Panel A Retreat 2023

Panel A: Retreat 2023

The third scientific retreat of Panel A (Theoretical/Computational Chemistry and Functional/Sustainable Material) took place at Schloss Hotel Zeillern, in Zeillern (Lower Austria) March 20-22.2023 and was successfully organized by:

Ellen Backus (Physical Chemistry)
Chiara Luna Onorati (group Peter Lieberzeit)
Mirela Encheva (group Ellen Backus)

Students and PIs enjoyed two and half days of intensive scientific exchange including project presentations, inspiring discussions and fun team building activities.

Here you find the highlights of the 2023 Panel A retreat. Pictures were professionally covered and kindly provided by Peter Lieberzeit.

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Panel A invited three guest speakers:

Maria Ibáñez (IST Austria, Ibánez lab), Solution-Processed Thermoelectric Materials: Seeking Low-Cost and High-Performance Materials; Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)

Gerald Auböck from Silicon Austria Lab, Non-linear and Ultrafast Spectroscopies – Instrumentation and Application

Michele Reticcioli (Computational Materials Physics, University of Vienna), Polarons and the Surface Reactivity of Oxides: Recent Results and Novel Computational Approaches

Upon arrival and after lunch time, the retreat started with an ice-breaker event called Human Bingo, in which the participants got to know each other in more detail.

In the afternoon a debate round with various topics (Homo digitalis, technology to save the world, animal testing, euphoric drugs, cryptocurrencies, mathematics, ChatGPT, plastic, fundamental research vs applied research) was held and was very well received among the participants.

The days ended with interesting poster sessions and bowling at the hotel.

The program was rounded up by spending free time playing a treasure hunt in which different teams combated and the candy team Galaxy B (Lorenz Grünewald, Miquel Garcia Lleó, Gerald Auböck, Florian Jörg, Nadja Katharina Singer and Martin Buessle) was the winner team! Congrats!

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DoSChem student organziers of the retreat: Chiara Luna Onorati (group Peter Lieberzeit) and Mirela Encheva (group Ellen Backus)

Debate round with the following topics:

Homo digitalis, overinformation or desinformation?

How to save the world, better technology or better people?

Should cryptocurrencies be encouraged or banned?

Is mathematics created or discovered?

Artificial Intelligence (e.g. ChatGPT), a key to progress or a threat to humans?

Fundamental research vs applied research, which one is more relevant?

Best talk and poster awardees with organizer Ellen Backus

winner group "Galaxy B" of the treasure hunt

Ellen Backus with two of the speakers: Michele Reticcioli (Computational Materials Physics, University of Vienna) and Gerald Auböck from Silicon Austria Lab

Best talk

Madlen Reiner (Theoretical Chemistry; Marquetand group), Simulating NH3 photodissociation trajectories including rare events using nonadiabatic forward flux sampling

Best poster day 1:

Claudia Iriarte Mesa (Inorganic Chemistry, Kleitz group), Morphology-dependent interaction of silica nanoparticles with intestinal cells unravelling the effect of mucus and clathrin-mediated mechanisms

Best poster day 2:

Severin Polonius (Theoretical Chemistry, González/Mai group), When monopoles are not enough: taking the restrained electrostatic potential fit to the multipolar level