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18 th International Conference on Electroanalysis (ESEAC 2020/2022)

2023; Wiley; Volume: 35; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/elan.202300115

1521-4109

Rasa Pauliukaitė,

bioluminescence and chemiluminescence research

The 18th International Conference on Electroanalysis ESEAC 2020 was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic and finally took place in Vilnius this year on 5–9 June 2022 at the Life Sciences Centre of Vilnius University. FTMC was also a co-organiser. The International Scientific and Organising Committee of the conference was made up of electroanalysts from different countries: Jiři Barek (Czech Republic), Anastasios Economou (Greece), Elena Ferapontova (Denmark), Christine Kranz (Germany), Alexander Kuhn (France), Rasa Pauliukaite (Lithuania) - Chair of the Committee, José Pingarron (Spain), Wolfgang Schuhmann (Germany), and Joseph Wang (USA). Despite the pandemic of recent years, the scientific level of ESEAC 2022 was, as always, absolutely high. Although the conference itself was devoted to electroanalysis, there were also presentations on batteries, spectroscopy, laser surface processing, etc., as all of these are related to the development and research of autonomous electrochemical sensing systems. This conference was small in terms of the number of participants, which was influenced by both the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A total of 140 researchers from 23 countries attended the conference. On the instructions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, representatives of the Russian Federation were not allowed to attend events in Lithuania. Unfortunately, the plenary speakers were unable to travel due to the current situation and all their presentations were broadcast remotely. Some of them gave their presentations after midnight in their country‘s time. The participants enjoyed 4 plenary presentations: by Prof. Sauliaus Juodkazis (Australia) “Infrared spectroscopy: fingerprinting spectral range, resolution, sensitivity”; by Prof. Lanqun Mao (China) “In vivo electrochemistry: from electrocatalysis to sensing”; by Prof. Shelley Minteer (USA) “Enzymatic bioelectrocatalysis for energy and synthesis applications”; and by Prof. Patrick R. Unwin (UK) “Up close: new ways to see electrodes and electrified interfaces”. There were also 7 keynote presentations by world-renowned scientists: Prof. Eric Bakker (Switzerland), Prof. Susana Inés Córdoba de Torresi (Brazil), Prof. Dermot Diamond (Ireland), Prof. Ritu Kataki (UK), Prof. Gediminas Niaura (Lithuania), Prof. James F. Rusling (USA), and Prof. Jan Vacek (Czech Republic). In addition, there were 13 invited lectures presented by most of the scientists closely associated with the ESEAC community: Prof. Christopher M.A. Brett (Portugal), Dr. Victor Diculescu (Romania), Dr. Samo Hočevar (Slovenia), Prof. Lars Jeuken (UK), Prof. Anthony Killard (UK), Prof. Christos Kokkinos (Greece), Prof. Christine Kranz (Germany), Prof. Fred Lisdat (Germany), Prof. Rodrigo Munoz (Brazil), Prof. Arūnas Ramanavičius (Lithuania), Prof. Wolfgang Schuhmann (Germany), Prof. Manel del Valle (Spain) and Dr. Edita Voitechovič (Lithuania). In addition to the above-mentioned invited presentations, there were 41 oral and 73 poster presentations by both young and experienced electroanalysts. 5 exhibitors attended the conference. ESEAC 2022 offered more opportunities than usual for young researchers to participate more actively. One of these opportunities was to give a short poster presentation of up to 3 minutes in front of an audience. And one novelty is when keynote speakers prepared a poster presentation and presented it to PhD students and recent PhDs, where young researchers could have a personal talk with professors without fear. Participants had to fill in a questionnaire to evaluate the professors′ presentations. In addition to the scientific part, ESEAC conferences have a long tradition of getting to know the culture of the host country and informally establishing new contacts with each other. ESEAC 2022 was no exception. The conference started with a meeting of the participants at Vilnius Town Hall (Figure 1), where they were welcomed by the Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, chemist Prof. Ramūnas Skaudžius, and the President of the Academy of Sciences Prof. Juras Banys. Guests enjoyed informal networking with one-bite snacks and a glass of wine. The VU student folklore ensemble “Ratilio” presented Lithuanian folk costumes, national folk songs typical of different regions and finally invited the scientists to dance Lithuanian dances together. On the first day of the scientific presentations, the conference participants (Figure 2) were greeted by the Directors of the Life Sciences Center and the Center of Physical Sciences and Technology - Prof. Daumantas Matulis and Prof. Gintaras Valušis, respectively, as well as the member of the local organising committee Prof. Gintaras Valinčius. who wished them interesting presentations, great questions, and new opportunities for cooperation. Prof Anthony Killard passed the greeting words on behalf of ESEAC President Prof. Malcolm Smyth. On the evening of June 6, “Go Vilnius” gave the participants the opportunity to get to know the Old Town of Vilnius. Conference opening ceremony at the Town Hall in Vilnius. Conference photo at the venue. The biggest cultural event was the excursion to Trakai on the afternoon of 8 June. The guests visited Trakai Castle, explored its rooms (Figure 3), and listened to the lecture “Trakai in Lithuania and Lithuania in Trakai” given by the laureate of the Lithuanian National Science Prize, historian, Prof. Darius Baronas. After the lecture, in one of the old rooms of Trakai Castle, various flavours of kibbins and natural broth were served to get acquainted with Karaite cuisine. The participants walked around the city centre and at the appointed time were ferried by boat to the other side of Lake Galvė, to Užutrakis, where they visited the Užutrakis Manor and enjoyed a gala dinner at the café “Fransua”. During the dinner, the participants were entertained by a string quartet from the National Opera and Ballet Theatre. The organisers are very grateful to the Trakai District Municipality and UAB Bioanalisės sistemos. Excursion to the Trakai Castle. The young scientists took part in several competitions: 1) the Best Poster Presentation Prize, awarded by the journal Micromashines (MDPI); 2) the Best Oral Presentation Prize, awarded by the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (Springer), and 3) the Best Oral Presentation Prize for a 3-Minute Poster Presentation, awarded by UAB Bioanalisės sistemos. In addition, the students had the opportunity to evaluate the presentations of the professors, for which the organisers also provided prizes of Lithuanian souvenirs. The prizes for the Best Poster Presentation went to Rafael Trivella Pacheco da Silva (Brazil) – 1st prize (Figure 4); Vytautas Žutautas (Lithuania) – 2nd prize; and Fiona Moore (UK) – 3rd prize. The winners of the Best Oral Presentation prizes were Katarina Novčić (Czech Republic) – 1st prize; Colm McKeever (Ireland) – 2nd prize. The winners of the Best Oral Presentation prizes for the 3-Minute Poster Presentation were Alexandros Lazanas (Greece) – 1st prize; Marta Vegas Garcia (Spain) – 2nd prize, and Anca Aldea (Romania) – 3rd prize. Awards during Gala Dinner in Užutrakis, café ‚Fransua‘. Among the professors, Dermot Diamond won the most – 4 prizes (Best of the Best; Best Group Leader; Most Experienced Scientist; Professor the Students Wanted to Meet in Person) and Erick Bakker with 3 prizes (Most Serious Answer; Shortest Answer; Best Team Leader). Jiři Barek, Christopher M.A. Brett, and Alexander Kuhn received 1 prize each, for the Most Preferred Dissertation Board Member, the Funniest Answer, and the Most Interesting Presentation, respectively. As usual, this Special Issue of Electroanalysis is devoted to ESEAC 2020/2022. The next ESEAC 2024 will be organized by Fred Lisdat and Christine Kranz in Ulm, Germany. The Local Organizing Committee expressed great thanks to all sponsors, volunteers, “Creativa” and all participants for the successful conference.