SCHEMA Hub autumn conference returns to the University of Oxford

The SCHEMA Hub Autumn Conference 2026 welcomed around 150 researchers, industry leaders, and early-career scientists for two days of discussion and collaboration at the University of Oxford’s new Life and Mind Building – a £200 million teaching and research facility that opened in October 2025.

Held on 14-15 September, the conference highlighted the Hub's commitment to building links with leading international researchers and industry, while developing future leaders in chemistry and chemical engineering. We welcomed delegates from across the UK and beyond, blending scientific talks, industry engagement, and career development.

Day One

The conference opened with a welcome from Hub Director Professor Charlotte Williams, followed by a keynote lecture by Professor Katalin Barta from the University of Graz. The Barta group’s research addresses scientific challenges that enable the transition from a linear industry dependent on fossil raw materials to an industry based on renewable resources. Katalin’s keynote was titled: “Embracing complexity in renewable resources: A Molecular Approach to Circular Economy". SCHEMA researchers then took the stage and presented the following talks:

• Ella Clark from the University of Oxford: Sustainable plastics and elastomers
• Yuan Gao from the University of Bath: New NMR methods for understanding and controlling the polymerisation in flow

After lunch, the conference continued with a second keynote delivered by Professor Andrew Livingston MBE from Queen Mary University of London. Andrew leads a research group of 20 PhD students and PDRAs, with interests in membranes for molecular separations in liquids and the development of chemical processes using these membranes. SCHEMA researchers then took the stage and presented the following talks:

• Dr Marcel Hidajat from the University of Liverpool: Co/CeO₂-ZrO₂ Catalyst for Sustainable 1,5-Pentanediol Production from Biomass-Derived Feedstock
• Dr Aniruddha Nag from the University of York

Day Two

The second day opened with Dr Cathy Dwyer from Drochaid Research Services who presented on the topic “A Career in Industrial Catalysis” in which Cathy provided an industrial perspective and highlighted some of the experiences and leadership skills she had developed throughout her career in the chemicals industry. Currently, the Managing Director of Drochaid Research Services, she previously spent over 20 years at the South African petrochemical company Sasol, including roles as Technology Manager for the Chemicals Business and Vice President: Science Research. Her expertise spans homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis and process chemistry across the chemicals and energy sectors, with a strong focus on sustainability and circularity, and she has a passion for mentoring the next generation of scientists. SCHEMA researchers then took the stage back-to-back and presented the following talks:

• Dr Michael Higham from Cardiff University
• Layal Halawy from Cardiff University: Optimising CuO-ZnO-Al2O3 catalyst design for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

Following the mid-morning tea break, we welcomed a keynote by Professor Aaron D Sadow from Iowa State University and the Ames National Laboratory whose main areas of research are organometallic chemistry and catalysis.

Closing and prizegiving

The conference closed with our Director Prof Charlotte Williams and Co-Director Professor Matthew Davidson handing over the poster and speaker prizes. The poster prizes were kindly sponsored by different Royal Society of Chemistry journals:
 
- RSC Green Chemistry Prize: Elsa Brudy Rigollet
- RSC Sustainability Prize: Sophie Barber
- RSC Mechanochemistry Prize: Katie Roberts

The speaker prizes were kindly sponsored by Angewandte Chemie and awarded by Angewandte Chemie Editor Jake Holmes to Layal Halawy from Cardiff University and Dr Yuan Gao from the University of Bath.

Thank you to our sponsors and exhibitors: Angewandte Chemie, Apollo Scientific Ltd, Asynt, EPSRC, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Teledyne Technologies Incorporated.