2nd International Workshop CATCOSY 2026 on July 2nd, 3rd 2026 in Pisa, Italy
Following the success and building on the experience of the 1st International Workshop CATCOSY 2024, we plan to hold a 2nd International Workshop CATCOSY 2026 as a transversal workshop led primarily by WG3 members, but also of interest for WG1 and WG2 members. As in CATCOSY 2024, we will primarily address subnanometer-to-nanometer transition metal and metal-oxide (photo-/electro-)catalysts, and the understanding of their unique structure/relationship properties. We will convene the top expertise within the COSY network on the experimental synthesis and characterization via microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, and on advanced theoretical modeling of these fascinating systems. The topics will be related to the most critical catalytic processes facing modern society: achieving a neutral carbon cycle, via small molecule activation in both reduction of inert species (CH4, CO2, …) and degradation of noxious compounds in e.g. wastewater treatment, as well as for hydrogen production. Our goal is to design highly performant, long-lived, selective, affordable, and sustainable (photo-/electro-)catalytic materials via a detailed atomistic understanding and predictive modeling of their structure and dynamics, achieved through the investigation of realistic as well as ideal, prototypical systems. Themes such as cluster/support interactions, cluster-cluster interactions, photo-induced activation and reactivity, various forms of IR, UV-vis and X-ray spectroscopies, fluxional behavior also due to Jahn-Teller and pseudo-Jahn-Teller distortions, non-adiabatic effects, charge state, and the experimental monitoring and theoretical description of all these phenomena will be targeted in the Workshop.
The program will feature invited and contributed 25-minute lectures, and 15-minute hot topic presentations by young researchers of the COST Action, motivating representation of YRIs and ITCs, and attendance, poster presentations and flash poster presentations on the selected themes. The workshop will include a round table discussion, likely providing a platform for deeper discussions and an exchange of ideas among participants.
Confirmed invited speakers:
Sylvie Bégin-Colin, Strasbourg, France
Giuseppe Brancato, Pisa, Italy
Chiara Cappelli, Pisa, Italy
María Pilar de Lara-Castells, Madrid, Spain
Wolfgang Ernst, Graz, Austria
Claudio Evangelisti, Pisa, Italy
Riccardo Ferrando, Genova, Italy
Alessandro Fortunelli, Pisa, Italy
Juan Carlos Hernández Garrido, Cadiz, Spain
Arturo Manuel Lopez Quintela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Yoshie Murooka, Liverpool, UK
Laurent Piccolo, Lyon, France
Stefan Vajda, Prague, Czechia
The scientific sessions will start on July 2nd (morning) and end on July 3rd (afternoon). The meeting will be celebrated at the Hotel Repubblica Marinara in Pisa, Italy (https://www.hotelrepubblicamarinara.it) and is registration-free.
Anyone interested, please register within May 10th 2026 at:
https://forms.gle/bS9q8DHoVZoCXnXa8
A very limited number of COSY travel grants especially for younger ITC participants is available.
Organizers:
Alessandro Fortunelli, María Pilar de Lara-Castells, Stefan Vajda
Local Organizing Committee:
Thantip Roongcharoen, CNR-ICCOM, Pisa, Italy
Alessandro Fortunelli, CNR-ICCOM, Pisa, Italy
