On 30 September, the Department of Physics will host the second annual Winton Symposium at the Cavendish Laboratory on ‘Materials Discovery’.

We are delighted to welcome world-leading scientists to Cambridge to explore some of the recent breakthroughs in materials research, and how they may have an impact on societies needs in the future

Dr Nalin Patel, Programme Manager for Winton Programme

This year’s focus on ‘Materials Discovery’ will bring together leading scientists from around the world, revealing unexpected breakthroughs in a wide range of subjects from electronics to life sciences.

Attendance is free, and with last year’s inaugural ‘Energy Efficiency’ event drawing a large audience of researchers and industrialists from a range of disciplines, the event promises to be popular - so pre-registration is essential.

This year’s sessions for the one-day symposium will be:

Session I

Professor Chris Wise, designer of the award-winning London 2012 Velodrome, will open the symposium by focusing on sustainability in the engineering industry. Exploring current thoughts on demand reduction, the global problem of shrinking resources and an expanding population, Wise will discuss how these issues can inform innovative building design.

Session II

From great structures to the microscopic, graphene Nobel prize-winner Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov from the University of Manchester will explore the world of ultrathin films and their unexpected properties. This will be followed by Professor Paul Alivisatos, Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the pioneers in the field of nanocrystals, who will address the design of these minute structures and reveal their practical applications.

Session III

Professor Jason Chin from the Cambridge/MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology will delve into the building blocks of biological world. Despite their complexity, Chin will show how these structures can be manipulated to create new forms of functional materials, and share his research into the production of artificial genetic code. Professor Daniel Fletcher from University of California, Berkeley, who has been studying the mechanics and dynamics of cell movement, will look at the self-organisation of biological structures.

Session IV

Finally, two leading scientists with backgrounds in chemistry will cover their latest breakthroughs. Professor Ben Feringa from the University of Groningen has designed a wide range of synthetic materials, and will talk about his leading research in the field of 'molecular motors'. Professor George Whitesides, one of the leading material scientists of his generation and Professor at Department of Chemistry at Harvard University will discuss his multi- disciplinary research with applications ranging from biology to microelectronics.

Dr Nalin Patel, Programme Manager for Winton Programme, said: “We are delighted to welcome world-leading scientists to Cambridge to explore some of the recent breakthroughs in materials research, and how they may have an impact on societies needs in the future.”

For more information, please contact Dr Nalin Patel: nlp28@cam.ac.uk; 01223 760302

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