Development
Exciton Science Seminars
Exciton Science delivered world-class development, education and training opportunities for members in 2022.
Highlights of these efforts included a first Annual Workshop since 2019, special research seminars, workshops targeting specific cohorts, and a full program of travel and conference attendance.
Members were able to visit colleagues in collaborators across Australia and internationally, renewing important working relationships interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and laying the foundation for continued positive impact in 2023 and beyond.
Annual Workshops
Exciton Science made up for lost time in 2022, hosting not one but two Annual Workshops. The previous edition of this large-scale gathering took place way back in late 2019.
In April we convened in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales for a week of research talks from members and guests at all levels of experience and seniority.
The cohort was privileged to hear from a new Associate Investigator, Professor Stefan Maier of Monash University, as well as representatives of all the Centre’s themes and platforms.
A highlight of the trip was an afternoon dedicated to bonding and team building. Activities included hiking, archery, golf, and a walk guided by representatives of the area’s traditional Indigenous.
The benefits of these renewed connections were consolidated during a second event in Lorne on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road seven months later.
On this occasion, we were able to invite many high-profile international representatives of relevant research fields and industries. Guests travelled from Germany, India, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Combined with carefully targeted workshops and tutorials, this afforded attendees (particularly students and junior researchers) invaluable insight into the opportunities and challenges they will encounter progressing their careers in academia and industry.
Quarterly Seminars
Exciton Science’s quarterly seminars, disrupted by COVID-19 for over two years, resumed with the Winter Seminar at Monash University in June. In addition to research updates, members took part in a combination of:
- project management training;
- finance training for company directors;
- a DECRA/Fellowship application writing bootcamp;
- equity, diversity and inclusion training session for navigating multicultural names;
- and an optimising respect in the workplace session.
The Spring Seminar took us to the University of Sydney in September, where attendees heard from invited speakers Tim Van Der Laan of CSIRO, who guided members through the initial steps towards commercalising fundamental research, and Australian National University’s Eliezer Estrecho.
In addition to research presentations and committee meetings, peer-to-peer tutorials in Python and LaTex were also offered, alongside an ARC Industry Fellowship information session.
The Spring Seminar
Associate Investigator Greg Scholes
Special Seminars
In March the Centre was privileged to hold an International Partner Seminar featuring our Associate Investigator Greg Scholes of Princeton University.
Addressing members during a visit to the University of Melbourne, Greg delivered a well-received talk titled ‘From synchronization to chemical reaction superpositions’.
Later in the year, we staged a Special Seminar Series in Physical and Excitonic Chemistry, featuring a diverse range of internal and external speakers.
Participants included:
- Jangmee Lee (University of Newcastle);
- Qianqian Shi (Monash University;
- Sara Miller (University of Otago);
- Carol Hua (Deakin University);
- Pu Xiao (Australian National University);
- Peter Sherrell (University of Melbourne);
- James Hutchison (University of Melbourne).
We are grateful for the participation of these talented researchers, who addressed topics ranging from plasmonic nanostructures, vibrational spectroscopy for pharmaceutical analysis, photochemical approaches to green fabrication of polymeric materials, and light interaction in photonic nanostuctures.