IRTG Annual Meeting Volkach 2024:

From February 12 to 15, 2024, the OPTEXC Annual Meeting brought together researchers from the IRTG consortium at the University of Bayreuth and partner institutions of the University of Melbourne and Monash University for four days of collaboration and knowledge-sharing. The event kicked off with doctoral researchers presenting their latest findings, followed by an insightful tutorial led by Prof. Stephan Kümmel on „Good Scientific Practice“.

Day 2 (February 13) featured a highly anticipated session with Prof. Jürgen Köhler and Prof. Paul Mulvaney who delivered a joint talk on “Training on Excitons in Nanostructured Systems”. After lunch, participants engaged in an interactive workshop titled “Communication & Presentation in the Academic Context”, expertly facilitated by Orlando Schenk from Golin Wissenschaftsmanagement, equipping attendees with tools to enhance their scientific outreach.

The momentum continued on Day 3 (February 14) with a keynote by Prof. Mukundan Thelakkat, who explored “Organic and Hybrid Semiconductors: Structural Tuning Towards Applications”. Doctoral researchers then showcased their progress across diverse projects, after which Prof. Harald Oberhofer led a hands-on Research Data Management Training.

On the final day (February 15), the spotlight remained on PhD candidates, who presented their innovative work in a series of concise talks. The meeting concluded with farewell remarks from IRTG spokespersons, celebrating the productive exchange of ideas and skills.

Throughout the event, the blend of scientific rigor, professional development and cross-border collaboration underscored OPTEXC’s mission as an International Research Training Group (IRTG) dedicated to preparing doctoral researchers for a joint PhD program.