Understanding Iron & Friends!

From 03.-05.09.2024 the symposium “Understanding Iron & Friends”, organized by the CRC 1487, took place in the Wilhelm-Köhler-Saal in Darmstadt. Various contributions from Germany and abroad provided impulses on the extent to which iron can be influenced by the environment and which challenges still need to be overcome.

Over three days, there were a total of eight sessions focusing on different topics. The symposium was opened by Prof. Robert Schlögl, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and holder of an honorary doctorate from TU Darmstadt, who spoke about what sets iron apart from precious metals. Other contributions addressed various fields of application in the area of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis or magnetism and presented spectroscopic methods that are particularly suitable for determining the properties of iron – even under changing environmental conditions.

In addition to the lecture program, a poster session provided an opportunity for in-depth discussions. The best posters were awarded prizes: Congratulations to Jannik Mehmel (1st place), Dr. Chandrajeet Mohapatra, Pascal Theis, Zihan Zhang, Lingmei Ni and Kaltum Abdiaziz (all 2nd place)!

The participants were each able to take away their own “lessons learned” from attending the symposium, for example: Iron is very reactive when taken out of its comfort zone! Iron is a versatile (and challenging) element! Combine applications to allow synergies from different perspectives! But questions about how to control the desired reactivity of iron while maintaining dynamic stability also remained unanswered and could be starting points for new investigations and collaborations.

Social events were also a must at the symposium: To show the guests the beauty of Darmstadt, a city tour was offered from the city center to the Unesco World Heritage Site Mathildenhöhe. To encourage networking, the conference guests met for a cozy conference dinner on the second evening.

Motivated and with many new ideas and contacts, the CRC members are now entering the final phase of the first funding period. Thanks to all the guests who have contributed more to the understanding of “Iron & Friends”. And always remember: just as catalysts are dynamic during reactions, scientists should also remain dynamic – to make the unexpected possible!