17th Confocal Raman Imaging Symposium Achieves Record Attendance

WITec’s 2021 Confocal Raman Imaging Symposium, held in virtual format, attained record numbers of participants globally. Over 500 registrants signed up to view and discuss a field of 55 posters grouped under the topics: Advanced Materials Analysis; Environmental and Geo Science; and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Pharma Research. 

Delegates were treated to five featured talks presented by esteemed researchers, everyone was encouraged to offer feedback to determine the winner of the 2021 Best Poster Award, and more than 80 researchers registered to take part in virtual equipment demonstration sessions.

During the one-week virtual Symposium, participants were invited to explore the conference platform and on-demand oral presentations. A good starting point was the thorough introduction to Raman spectroscopy and microscopy provided by Professor Sebastian Schlücker (University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany). Professor Barbara Cavalazzi (University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy) described how she uses 3D Raman imaging in her work on microbial paleontology, including the detection of the oldest fossilised methanogens ever found. Professor Dominique Lunter (Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany) shared details of her investigations of skin penetration by pharmaceutical ingredients and the impact of penetration enhancers. WITec’s own Dr Ute Schmidt covered recent developments in studies of transition metal dichalcogenides and Professor Laurene Tetard (University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA) presented 3D Raman analyses of thermal barrier coatings in jet engines.

Along with the featured speakers, the 55 contributed posters provided a wealth of scientific content. In the end, one poster received the highest rating from fellow attendees and that honour belongs to Jessica Caldwell from the Adolphe Merkle Institute at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. She won the Best Poster Award for her contribution: Detection of Various Nanoplastics via Gold Nanoparticle-Based Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) Substrates. Together with Patricia Taladriz-Blanco, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser and Alke Petri-Fink, she explored one of the most resonant topics in contemporary science: the detection of micro- and nanoplastic particles.

WITec had previously offered equipment demonstrations onsite in their laboratories on the final day of the Symposium. This year morning and afternoon sessions were hosted online every day of the conference to accommodate over 80 registrants. WITec application scientists showed the instruments in action with demos of confocal Raman imaging, Raman-AFM, topographic Raman imaging, and Raman-based particle analysis coupled to a spectral database.

The 17th Confocal Raman Imaging Symposium flourished in its transition to a virtual event. Given recent disruptions, it was reassuring to see the spectroscopic imaging community persist in convening to share, discuss and celebrate new techniques and discoveries. WITec look forward to seeing everyone in person again when possible.

The 18th Confocal Raman Imaging Symposium will take place from 26th - 28th September 2022. Details including the list of invited speakers and reviews of previous symposia can be found on the Confocal Raman Imaging Symposium homepage.

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