The annual CDT Winter Showcase recently took place from 2–3 February, bringing together students from University College Dublin and the University of Nottingham to discuss impactful and transformative science that will help make chemical processes more sustainable. 

The event featured CDT Cohort 9 and final-year PhD students from Dublin, who presented their research and reflected on the progress of their doctoral work. Meanwhile, Cohorts 10 and 11, along with students from University College Dublin, presented posters highlighting their ongoing research and future research plans. The University of Nottingham’s Vice Chancellor – Professor Jane Norman attended the poster session on the first day and it was great to show her the achievements from our CDT students.

Across the two days, a series of invited speakers showcased exciting science from the wider research community. Day 1 opened with Prof. Dr. Miriam Unterlass (University of Würzburg), who delivered an engaging talk on drawing inspiration from early Earth chemistry to harness water for automated and sustainable materials synthesis.

 The day concluded with a plenary lecture from Steve Swallow (AstraZeneca), who focused on sustainable API manufacturing and shared real-world industry examples demonstrating how greener, more efficient processes are being implemented at scale.  

Day 2 began with Michael Meier (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), who discussed the sustainable modification of cellulose to enable its use as a viable thermoplastic.

The final invited talk was delivered by Tanja Narancic (BiOrbic, University College Dublin), who highlighted the power of microbial cell factories in driving more sustainable biomanufacturing an excellent way to close both the day and the Winter Showcase 2026.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to and helped make this year’s Winter Showcase such a success. Congratulations to our prize winners:
Talks: 1st Prize - Alexander Sterling | 2nd Prize - Toby Maccormack
Posters: Pekka Korhonen's Prize - Katie Gilbert | 2nd Prize - Alexander Uner
A special shout-out was also given to the social media team and networking team for their continued promotion of the CDT and for showcasing the impactful science being conducted at the university.

Congratulations to all an outstanding showcase of impactful and inspiring science!