The past year has been interesting, to say the least. With travel off the table, conferences, knowledge sharing, and collaboration has moved into the online world. We all share the enthusiasm that follows when we are able to come together to solve problems, share ideas, and talk about the future of our research. So despite the limitations of COVID-19, we are pleased to have been able to continue investing in an important relationship for Sêr SAM though our sister group based at the University of Potsdam, whose expertise are in the Optoelectronics of Disordered Semiconductors.
On 25 November 2020, 30 researchers from both the Sêr SAM group and the University of Potsdam spent the day attending a virtual symposium titled “Swansea-Potsdam Symposium on Electronic Processes in Organic & Perovskite”. The symposium was organised by Dr. Ardalan Armin in conjunction with Prof. Paul Meredith (Sêr SAM), Prof. Dr. Safa Shoaee (Potsdam) and Prof. Dr. Dieter Neher (Potsdam). After an introduction and update from both groups, we discussed publications, new technique developments, and future endeavours. We shared stories about the changes we have all made in order to adapt to living and working during the pandemic, and both groups happily reported that they have been highly productive and successful during this time.
Throughout the day, members of both groups gave informative talks about their current projects followed by question and answer periods and general discussion. Speakers included the following group members:
From Sêr SAM, Swansea University:
· Stefan Zeiske
· Nasim Zarrabi
· Oskar Sandberg
· Christina Kaiser
· Drew Riley
· Wei Li
From the University of Potsdam:
· Lorena Perdigón-Toro
· Nurlan Tokmoldin
· Phuong Le
· Francisco Peña-Camargo
· Martin Stolterfoht
Each presentation was extremely engaging and informative. The symposium resulted in enlightening discussion, idea sharing, and the possibility for further collaboration among individual group members.
If you would like to learn more about the Potsdam group and how you can get in touch with them, click HERE and HERE. We sincerely hope that we will all be in the same room for next year’s symposium, but until then, please enjoy a photo from our last in-person gathering held in 2019 at the Morgan’s Hotel in Swansea.
