Keynote
speakers
Wim Noorduin
Focus sessions
An overview of our focus sessions can be found below. For your convenience you can also download the detailed programme which contains all speakers including focus and parallel sessions.
Extra title
13:20h – 14:05h
RNA: from fundamental insights to therapeutic applications
Chair:
Roy van der Meel (TUE)
Speakers:
Wim Velema (RU), Pieter Vader (UUMC)
Room:
Brabantzaal
COVID-19 mRNA vaccine development has demonstrated RNA therapeutics’ remarkable potential. This has been made possible by ground-breaking discoveries related to RNA structure, function, and immunogenicity. At the same time, the development of lipid nanoparticle technology has facilitated the clinical translation of RNA for therapeutic applications. Apart from the use of RNA as therapeutics, cellular RNAs can themselves be targeted with next generation drugs to treat currently ‘undruggable’ diseases. Exciting discoveries of the function and structure of cellular RNA driven by the chemical sciences are accelerating the development of small-molecule RNA modulators. This session will feature examples of state-of-the-art developments regarding fundamental insights in determining RNA structures and innovative nanotechnologies enabling RNA therapy.
Dutch user organisation for accelerator-based light source: Kick-off
Chair:
Elias Vlieg (RU)
Speakers:
F. Martinez-Criado (ESRF), Moniek Tromp (RUG),
Britta Redlich (RU)
Room:
Beneluxzaal
Synchrotron and Free Electron Lasers provide unique tools to characterise the structure, electronics and behaviour of matter at the atomic and molecular level. Using photons, the position and motion of atoms in condensed and living matter can be followed, and the structure of matter in all its complexity can be revealed, from buried interfaces to electronic transitions to fast structural changes in magnetic materials and proteins. Dutch synchrotron and free electron laser facilities are at ESRF and FELIX in Nijmegen. The closure of the Dutch Belgian Beamline, has put pressure on the availability of advanced X-ray scattering and spectroscopy techniques for the Dutch science community. The Netherlands is however still member of the ESRF. In this focus session we want to (i) demonstrate the different options for access to these techniques at ESRF and elsewhere, (ii) demonstrate the new exciting possibilities of the upgraded ESRF with novel impact in a range of (different) fields, (iii) discuss ways to strengthen the Dutch user community and its competitiveness for experiment time at international accelerator-based light sources (synchrotrons and FELs) by introducing the new User organisation DUALiS, (iv) discuss national large scale research facility initiatives towards a Dutch Analytical Platform.
Water-based dynamic covalent chemistries: molecules, techniques, materials
Chair:
Julieta Paez (UT), Rienk Eelkema (TUD)
Speakers:
Sophie Beeren (TU Denmark), Hagan Bayley (Univ. of Oxford), Rienk Eelkma (TUD)
Room:
Auditorium
Dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) is attracting increasing attention, offering an interesting alternative to the traditional approaches based on ‘static covalent” and ‘dynamic non-covalent’ bonding. DCC is applied in several research fields of chemistry, for example, for the synthesis of small bioactive compounds and porous materials, for controlled delivery of therapeutics, for fabrication of re-processable polymeric networks with a circular economy perspective, for adaptable biomaterials for healthcare, and in systems chemistry. Thereby, the development of novel DCCs that carry out under mild aqueous conditions is of particular interest to expand the DCC toolkit towards environmentally friendly and biological applications, both at the molecular and materials levels. In this focus session, recent advances in the area of water-borne DCC will be highlighted, spanning from fundamental understanding of new DCCs within combinatorial chemistry, through novel single-molecule techniques for characterizing DCCs under close-to-physiological conditions, up to the use of DCCs for molecular engineering of responsive materials for healthcare applications. The aim of this focus session is to demonstrate new opportunities offered by DCCs and to favor fruitful discussion among members of diverse communities, ultimately leading to the crossover of DCC between research areas of chemistry.
Sensing catalytic reactions with light: chemistry meets physics
Chair:
Esther Alarcon Llado (AMOLF), Eline Hutter (UU)
Speakers:
tbd, Atsushi Urakawa (TUD), Charuseela
Ramanan (VU), Freddy Rabouw (UU), Andrea Baldi (VU)
Room:
Room 63/64
Catalysts have the potential to drastically lower the temperature needed for chemical reactions, and hence contribute to a greener industry. However, the selectivity of catalytic reactions is a major problem resulting in lots of waste. This session focusses on the combination of physics and chemistry to provide spectroscopic fingerprints of reactive species in chemical reactions as they proceed in space and time. Prof. Redlich will present on catalytic processes studied in the gas phase with free-electron laser infrared spectroscopy. Prof. Urakawa will present how operando spectroscopy can be used to develop novel heterogeneous catalysts with reduced energy usage. Dr. Ramanan will give a talk on the use of light instead of heat to drive chemical reactions, and photophysics of such reactions. Dr. Andrea Baldi will present on super-resolution imaging of catalytic reactions. Finally, dr. Rabouw will give a presentation on local temperature sensing of catalytic reactions using temperature-dependent photoluminescence characteristics of lanthanides. Hence, this session with 5 pitches followed by discussion brings together a broad range of expertise, with a diverse line-up of excellent speakers who will make a highly motivating and dynamic session. This session will foster national collaborations between physicists and chemists on improving catalytic reaction to reduce the industrial energy footprint.
Sensing and digitalization for a sustainable chemical industry
Chair:
Henk-Jan van Manen (Nouryon)
Speakers:
Jeroen Jansen (RU), Martijn Fransen (Malvern
Panalytical & MinacNed)
Room:
Parkzaal
The transformation towards Smart industry or Industry4.0 goes hand-in-hand with the collection of a large number of different parameter, both chemical as well as physical. This wealth of data can be exploited for various aims that go beyond the purpose(s) that they were originally collected for and might for example be used the build actionable models for sustainability parameters as well. Another avenue is to become more predictive about sample quality as a result of instrument performance. This sessions will show examples of how such models are constructed and what chemical and mechanistic input is needed in order to end up with useful models. It will also address some fundamental questions about the data and models, such as: how can we trust the sensor data and the models that originate from them? And where lies ownership or responsibility for the data and models?
13:40h – 14:25h
Co2 capture and utilization
Chair:
Matteo Monai (UU)
Speakers:
Ann-Sophie Farle (Skytree), Paula Abdala
Macarena (ETH Zurich), Mariana Cecilio de Oliveira
Monteiro (LEI)
room:
Brabantzaal
The ambitious goals of the energy transition call for multidisciplinary, region-specific approaches to tackle the global challenges that we are facing associated with the rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. While there is no silver bullet to curb CO2 emission, scientists, industry and society recognize the need for a greener energy mix, coupled with the capture of CO2 from the atmosphere (direct air capture) or from point sources (e.g. chemical industry), and the utilization of captured CO2 through thermo- and electrocatalytic conversion. Ideally, we want to create a carbon neutral cycle that operates under industrially relevant conditions, while still meeting our future energy demand. In this focus session, we will look at the different stages of such a carbon- neutral energy cycle. We look at the source of CO2 (direct air capture or point sources from the chemical industry), the conversion mechanisms of CO2 through thermo- and electrocatalytic hydrogenation reactions, as well as the implementation of these reactions on an industrial scale. This will provide a full picture of the necessary steps that scientists, industry, and society have to take to reach the energy transition goals in 2030.
A new era in (structural) biology – Impact of structure prediction using AI methods
Chair:
Anastassis Perrakis (NKI)
Speakers:
Sameer Velankar (European Bioinformatics
Institute)
Room:
Beneluxzaal
The success of new structure determination methods and AlphaFold is revolutionising structural biology and bioinformatics. The abundance of experimental and predicted structure models have the potential to transform both basic and translational research in life sciences through new and unforeseen opportunities for more imaginative experiments and approaches for understanding how macromolecular structure and dynamics define the chemistry that governs the function of cells and organisms. I will describe the status and plans for AlphaFold DB and its early impact on life-science research, and highlight the exciting opportunities offered by these changes, in protein design, drug discovery, and deciphering the chemical basis of complex macromolecular machines that govern cellular function.
Quantum computing for quantum chemistry
Chair:
Lucas Visscher (VU)
Speakers:
Ariana Torres-Knoop (SURF), Matthias de Groote
(Boehringer Ingelheim), Emiel Koridon (CWI)
Room:
Auditorium
Many questions in chemistry field relate to electronic energies and therefore require an explicit quantum mechanical description. While computational chemistry has matured, the treatment of systems where the motion of the electrons is strongly correlated is still challenging and the necessary accuracy may be unreachable. Examples are found in photochemistry, where a balanced description of both ground and excited electronic states is needed to model the chemical process, and in homogeneous catalysis by transition metal complexes where multiple accessible spin states need to be included. The simulation of such challenging systems is considered to be one of the most important applications of quantum computers. There are several efforts in developing and improving quantum algorithms for simulating time evolution and calculation of ground and excited energies, as well as non-adiabatic coupling terms, many of which have already been proven to work in small systems. In this session, we want to give researchers a perspective of what is possible with quantum computing technology in the field of chemistry. We want to do so by (1) presenting an overview of the existing quantum computing methods, (2) showing example applications and (3) presenting the general direction in the field.
Chemical immunotherapeutics
Chair:
Martijn Verdoes (Radboudumc)
Speakers:
Jorieke Weiden (EPFL), Willem Mulder (RU)
Room:
Room 63/64
The immune system is regulated by an intricate network of cell types with their own set of precisely organized molecular receptors linked to signaling cascades and feedback mechanisms. For a good reason. Deregulation of these molecular balances is at the basis of cancer as well as autoimmunity. This focus session highlights the field of chemical immunology which aims to design and synthesize molecules and chemical strategies to study and manipulate the immune system in health and disease. To manipulate the immune system in the desired manner, multiple specific molecular buttons have to be pushed in the correct order at the right time. Herein lies an interdisciplinary chemical challenge. For example, whereas classical approaches to manipulate the adaptive immune system are aimed at using antigen-presenting cells as molecular messengers, alternative strategies are being developed to activate antigen-specific killer T cells directly using polyisocyanopeptide based immunofilaments. To these semiflexible submicron-sized polymers, specific T cell activating biomolecules are conjugated resulting in robust T cell activation in mice. Furthermore, innate immune cells can be manipulated with novel nanoimmunotherapeutics to achieve long-term therapeutic benefits in detrimental diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases as well as to prevent organ rejection after transplantation.
Van Arkel award ceremony of the KNCV section soft matter
Chair:
Katja Loos (RUG)
Speakers:
tbd
Room:
Parkzaal