Charl talking in Prague … and James winning a poster prize!

James and Charl are in Prague attending the Functional Nanomaterials 2015 conference, held at the Department of Chemistry, Charles University.  Charl might have given an invited keynote lecture, but …

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James won the second prize for his poster entitled “Two-Dimensional Self-Assembly of Oligo(aniline)s: a Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study”! Well done James!

Yaozu (and Irrum and Eugenie!) leaving Bristol

It was a sad occasion when we said goodbye to Yaozu, who is about to head back to China.  Hard to believe that the two years have passed so quickly!  We said goodbye in true FRG style … by having a meal at Cosmo!

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We also took this opportunity to say goodbye to Irrum (who spent 6 very productive  months in the FRG) and Eugenie (who spent 6 weeks in the FRG)!

We hope to see all of you back soon again, and look forward to continued contact and collaborations!

Dongsheng Liu visiting Bristol

A good friend and colleague from the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University in Beijing, Prof Dongsheng Liu, is visiting the FRG.  Dongsheng spent two days interacting with members of the FRG and talking to other colleagues in the BCFN and the School of Chemistry.

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He also gave a overview of some of the new developments in his laboratories! Great to have Dongsheng here in Bristol! Charl and colleagues from the BCFN will see Dongsheng (and colleagues) in September in Beijing for ChinaNano 2015.

Nara Institute of Science and Technology

As the final visit of his trip to Japan, Charl spent a very enjoyable day at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, just outside Nara.  He was hosted by Prof Kawai and colleagues from the Laboratory for Photonic Molecular Science. Charl had a number of very interesting discussions about their exciting science, and potential future interactions before and after his talk in the afternoon.

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Prof Kawai and colleagues (professors Nakashima, Nonoguchi and Yuasa) treated Charl to an exquisite meal at a restaurant that specialises in Japanese mushroom delicacies!

Kansai University

Charl spent a day at Kansai University, kindly hosted by Prof Fumio Sanda at the Polymer Design and Creation Laboratories.  Except for interesting discussions with faculty members, Charl also spent the afternoon with Prof Sanda’s students, where they presented their latest (and very exciting) results! Charl ended the afternoon by giving a talk (before a delicious dinner in downtown Osaka!).

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Japan in the summer…

Charl is currently in Japan, visiting Prof Kazuo Akagi (in Kyoto, and former PhD supervisor of Kazu in the FRG) to discuss future Bristol-Kyoto interactions.  The visit so far has been very productive, including meeting Dr Reiko Oda (from Bordeaux), who gave a fascinating talk on chirality in amphiphilic systems.

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The day of interactions was celebrated … with Japanese green-tea-containing beer, whilst learning about the famous Kyoto Gion Festival.

Charl will still be visiting Prof Fumio Sanda (Kansai University) and Prof Tsuyoshi Kawai (Nara Institute of Science and Technology) before returning the Bristol at the end of the week.

Heliotropic Sun-Tracking Cornish Mallow…

The inspiration of Dicker’s research project, sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust, is the sun-tracking movements of the Cornish Mallow.

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Dicker, a joint PhD student with Prof Paul Weaver and colleagues from ACCIS, recently posted this Youtube time-lapse video of his prized Cornish Mallow’s laboratory activity!

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Professor Charl F. J. Faul

Congratulations Prof. Charl on your recent promotion to full professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Bristol!

Charl started at the University of Bristol in 2005 as a lecturer and reader in materials chemistry.  Thanks to all of his hard work and the work of group members, past and present, his recent application for full professorship has been successful!