Our kickoff

On Tuesday, 20. August 2019 during EuropaCat 2019 in Aachen, Germay, we kicked-off our activities by introducing YEuCat to a full audience. Approximately 150 young professionals got inspired by the enthusiasm and passion of Alice Soldà, former chair of the European Young Chemists’ Network (ECYN). Afterwards, our invited guests from academia, industry, publishing, and consulting shared their experiences regarding research, career, and personal development in a speed dating format. At the end of the day, more than 20 young volunteers from universities, research institutes, and companies from all over Europe joined the YEuCat team.

During the next days of the conference, we formed teams, gathered ideas, set goals, and created action plans for the coming year. Finally, all the teams shared their ideas in a successful joined session, after which we celebrated with a nice lunch in the sun.

Overall, the kickoff was a great first step for YEuCat and we formed a group of young enthusiastic individuals that will continue building YEuCat in the future to unite young generations in catalysis. We invite you to contact us if you want to be part of our network and to #getactive with us!

Read how our guests experienced our kickoff

Alice Soldà

"I truly believe in the tight connection between research and networking. Nowadays, we can make great science but if we are not able to share our ideas we do not contribute in shaping a more sustainable future. I was pleased to see how many people got involved at the end of the week and I wish all the best for the future of YEuCat.”

Lukas Buelens

"After having presented my PhD research at EuropaCat in 2017, I was thrilled to join the YEuCat event at EuropaCat 2019 and share the experience of my first 6 months at Ayming with the next wave of PhD graduates in catalysis."

Stijn Dekeukeleire

"The large attendance and active participation during an original and inspiring speed date session with young professionals made the YEuCat kick-off event a success and clearly shows its potential to act as a catalyst towards a lively community of young researchers."

Sandra Gonzalez Gallardo

"It was my pleasure to be there and talk to so many young scientists about scientific publishing as a career path, and about the process that led me to making the decision to leave academic research. I did enjoy the YEuCat session very much."