Every year in spring, RESOLV’s members come together for this retreat that offers the opportunity of talking about the latest developments in Solvation Science, exchanging research experiences, discussing future goals and projects, and networking.
Looking into the future of Solvation Science
RESOLV spokesperson Martina Havenith kicked off the event and opened the stage for a series of interesting talks and inspiring discussions. The first invited guest, Prof. Andrew Zahrt from the University of Pennsylvania (USA), shared his insights on “Machine Learning for Solvent System Engineering”. The second guest speaker, Prof. King Kuok Hii from the Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment in Singapore, highlighted another aspect of Machine Learning: the Collection of Hi-Fidelity Data. And the talk of guest speaker Prof. Robert Franke from Evonik unfolded ways of “Bridging Chemistry and Process Engineering in the Industrial C4 Petrochemical Sector”.
Unconscious bias in research and science
Why unconscious bias matters in research and science was topic of the lecture given by guest speaker Anne Graefer. Anne holds a doctorate in media and cultural studies and has spent ten years researching stereotypes, prejudices, and emotions. Her presentation took a closer look at the origin of unconscious bias, typical forms in research contexts and anti-bias strategies for scientists.
Awards for the best PhD 2025 and the best posters
In addition to these inspiring talks by the invited speakers, the next generation of ambitious solvation scientists presented their latest research findings.
Doctoral researchers from our integrated Graduate School Solvation Science and RESOLV postdocs presented their masterpieces in the form of talks and posters to the entire RESOLV community, sparking lively discussions.
Dr. Guanqi Qiu from Max Planck Institute für Kohlenforschung gave her introductory presentation as new RESOLV member and ECR group leader.
Dr. Julian Löffler received the “RESOLV Promotionspreis 2025”, a prize that is awarded every year to the best PhD. Dr. Klaus Engel, member of the RESOLV Advisory Board and member of the RUB University Council, handed over the prize.
The retreat was concluded by the award ceremony for the three best posters being presented during the evening poster sessions on Day 1 and 2: Maximilian Gstettenbauer (first), Mahima Pilania (second) and Dr. Nore Stolte (third).