Some of the most innovative and groundbreaking ideas come from collaborative efforts across disciplines. We at the YAE are a unique group of individuals from wide ranging disciplines, in our most scientifically productive phase of our careers, and potentially at a stage when we are actively seeking to look beyond the boundaries of our own niches. To harness this potential, this year’s member talk series has taken the form of ‘conversations’ between scientists to explore new avenues of collaborative thinking.

The first of this series showcases 2 such conversations. Please join us on the 29th April 2025 14.30 to 15.30 CET

Drs Gianvito Vile, Chao Zhang and Wolfgang Tress will be "Rethinking Chemical Manufacturing with Atomically-Precise Materials". This conversation will explore into how atomically-precise materials, such as single-atom catalysts and well-defined nanostructures, are enabling a new era in chemical manufacturing. The talk will highlight breakthroughs in selectivity, sustainability, and process integration, with broader implications for sustainable industry and society.

Drs Jan De Graaf, Emilian Mihailov and Scott Bremer will be discussing “Golden Age Lost? Social Mobility and Democracy in Contemporary Europe”. This conversation starts from social cohesion and democratic participation in contemporary European history, and ambitions to knit closer ties between Eastern and Western Europe. The three will explore shifting notions of democracy in Europe in relation to, among other things, grand societal challenges, freedoms, and how social life is organised in time.

(Image: Atomic clock - Andrew Brookes, National Physical Laboratory/SPL)

YAE member conversations – 2025