Had a great time attending PhotoIUPAC 2026 last week in Zagreb! Here’s a wee picture from the conference dinner, where we enjoyed a fantastic four course meal amongst good academic chatter.

Plenary speaker kicking off PhotoIUPAC 2026 is Nobel Laureate David MacMillan! Unfortunately had to endure some teasing about Scotland in the World Cup from the Chair in his introduction 😢

What do you get for a Scientific Editor who likes board games? The Publish or Perish Game, obviously! Now just to recruit some academics for a game night…

Thank you E-MRS and Strasbourg!

Robert Hoye is awarded the Paul Siffert Award! You can check out Robert’s recent publication in Matter here: www.cell.com/matter/fullt...

Second choice would’ve been Jaws, but might need to visit Long Island for the full experience of that one…

My book of choice for Hawaii was Jurassic Park - a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean was an ideal setting, and of course, who doesn’t love dinosaurs! 🦖

Mahalo Honolulu and MRS Spring for a fantastic conference! Great science, great people, great location! 🌴🌺🥥 A personal highlight of mine was the conference lū’au with a traditional feast and performers demonstrating the different dances from across the islands (especially the fire dancers!).

First up, our Plenary Speaker Kazunari Domen! #S26MRS

Had a great time on Friday celebrating my PhD supervisor, @gemmaloudavies.bsky.social, as she was awarded the RSC and SCI McBain Medal! 🥇 Congrats again Gemma!

Happy Holiday Season from Team Matter! @cp-matter.bsky.social #Matter

There’s worst ways to spend an evening after a cancelled train (well, all the trains really).

Coming back from a fantastic few days exploring Belgium. Got a pal doing his PhD at KU Leuven, so took the opportunity to explore the surrounding cities and Christmas markets! 🎄🧇 Visited Gent, Leuven, Bruges and Brussels, not bad for my first trip to Belgium.

On a separate note, Tuesday evening was absolutely unbelievable… Scotland qualified for their first World Cup in 28 years! (I was a mere toddler last time so have zero memories). To experience that game in person in my hometown was just out of this world! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Wonderful evening being back @School of Chemistry University of Glasgow for their Chemistry Alumni Panel! We shared some insights in how our undergraduate degree led us to where we are now in our careers, 7 years on (crazy to acknowledge that!). @uofgchem.bsky.social

Tried a restart but yeah seems to be big issues!

University of Glasgow was looking spectacular (spooktacular? 😉🙄) last night! @uofglasgow.bsky.social

My ~spooky season~ book of choice this year is Ghost Story by Peter Straub. Just over 60% through, and thoroughly enjoying it! Well written and exceptional eerie elements!

I was very fortunate to attend Omar Yaghi’s talk at the University of Birmingham back in April 2024! (Although I believe it was on COFs…)

Spent an invigorating summer-turn-autumn weekend at Loch Lomond. A highlight was visiting the Hot Tottie, alternating between the roasting sauna and a dip in the ice-cold loch! 🔥❄️

A few weeks ago we went to the Hokus Pokus Alchemy Lab at Kings Cross and it was amazing! A truly scientific experience in every drink! And the apothecary decor is on point. Highly recommend 🧪⚗️🔮

Had a great time in Edinburgh for MC17! Caught up with some old faces and met plenty of new ones too. A most enjoyable week!

MC17, let’s go!

Merci Strasbourg! A delight as always.

Space-themed social event last night was a lot of fun, star of the show (excuse the pun) was obviously baby ET!

Really great and comprehensive talk by Zhong Lin Wang about his work on TENGs for sustainable energy and AI.

Plenary session about to kick off!

And so it begins*… *A little later for me than others

Cracking few days up North 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿