Welcome to the "Molecules @ Surfaces" winter school!
Surfaces define the boundary of all kind of objects, made of both soft and hard matter, from the macro- to the nanoscale. Their "talking" with molecules from the surrounding environment often rules relevant functional properties. These functions are as diverse as in the case of devices for air and water purification, heterogeneous catalysts for the sustainable production of energy and chemicals, implanted biomaterials or injected nanocarriers of signals and drugs, or the origin of biomolecules in space. On such a basis, the importance of surfaces and of their interaction with molecules has been recognized since a long time as a central topic in many fields of chemistry and material science. The actual possibility to achieve new breakthroughs in many fields strategic to mankind, like food&water, health or sustainable growth, is based on advances in our knowledge and engineering of surface-molecule physical and chemical interactions.
This is the field targeted by the "Molecules@Surfaces" school, the 2016 winter edition of the series of courses organized by the Physical Chemistry Division of the Italian Society of Chemistry. this time featured also with an international character, including the auspices of the Physical Chemistry Division of the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS). The school will take place from January 31 to February 5 in Bardonecchia, near Torino (North-West Italy), one of the ski resorts of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.
"Molecules@Surfaces" offers to PhD students and Post-Docs updated “tools” for acting as relevant scientific players in surface-related materials science and technology. Participants will be actively involved in lectures given by established experts, covering a comprehensive path from fundamental aspects to cutting-edge applications, based on both experimental and modeling approaches (with lab activities). Details can be found in the “Topics” section. The program includes the presence of industrial researchers, the possibility for participants to present their on-going research activities (also in an ISBN coded Abstract Book), an overview of relevant H2020 and complementary EC research funding actions, ...and specific sessions on the surfaces of the Bardonecchia ski-slopes !