Last week, the 4th PhD Students’ Day (IV JDQ) was held, an event that continues to grow and establish itself as a key meeting point for young researchers. One of the major highlights of this edition was the participation, for the first time, of attendees from other Spanish universities—specifically from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the University of Burgos (UBU)—a significant step toward the national expansion and visibility of the event.
A program featuring leading voices in chemical research
The event featured a series of invited lectures delivered by renowned researchers:
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- Marcelino Agúndez Marcelino Agúndez (Instituto de Física Fundamental, CSIC), who delivered a fascinating astrochemistry lecture titled “Molecules in Space”.
- Marta Gil Marta Gil (Instituto de Química Avanzada de Cataluña, CSIC), whose participation was especially meaningful for the community, as she completed her doctoral thesis at CINQUIMA. She presented “A Journey through Organic Chemistry: Catalysis, Heterocycles and the Emerging BN Chemistry”.
- Mario Martínez Mario Martínez (GIR InnograinLab, UVa), who presented the lecture “Structures for Precision Nutrition: Toward Functional and Therapeutic Food”, focused on food chemistry.
- Ana Belén Pedrero Ana Belén Pedrero (Curia), who spoke about the challenge of transferring processes from the laboratory to industrial‑scale production in the pharmaceutical sector.
- Saul Vallejos Saul Vallejos (GIR Polymers, UBU), who debunked common myths about plastics with his talk “Polymers, Plastics and Other Fantastic Creatures”.
Marcelino Agúndez
The Central Role of the Doctoral Students
The core of the conference was formed by the oral presentations delivered by doctoral students, among them several members of research groups from IU CINQUIMA:
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- Kristian Peliz (SintACat): “Stereoselective Synthesis of Spirocyclopropyl Barbituric Acid Derivatives catalyzed by chiral sulfides”.
- Natalia Carrera: “Ultrapermeable N-Rich Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) for Efficient CO Separations”.
- Ana Jano (TESEA): “MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Approach for Lipid Profiling in Beehive Products”.
- Nerea Medrano (SintACat): “Divergent preparation of chiral cycloheptaazepines and cycloheptapyrroles by phosphine-catalyzed higher-order cycloaddition”.
- Kemi Fummi (TESEA): “Comparative Analysis of Chromatographic Techniques for Chiral Amino Acid Quantification”.
Kristian Peliz
The event also included a poster session with the participation of doctoral candidates and master’s students, among them young researchers from the institute: Jimena Mañanes, Javier Laguna, Sozan Abdullah, Lucía Quintero, Laura Pérez, Victoria Velázquez, Daniel Castrillo, and María Molinero.
Jimena Mañanes
Awards for the Best Contributions
The scientific committee awarded the prize for the best oral presentation to Juan Laforga (UAM), for his talk “Designing Functional Supramolecular Polymers from Subphthalocyanines”.
The award for the best poster was given to María Molinero (GIR SintACat – IU CINQUIMA) for her work “Reagent-Controlled Reactivity of Azaheptafulvenes: Sulfur Ylides vs. Alkyl α‑Bromoketones under Basic Conditions”.
A program powered by young researchers
The organizing committee was made up of doctoral students from the University of Valladolid, several of whom belong to the IU CINQUIMA, which also participated as one of the event’s sponsoring institutions.
We would like to express our gratitude to the scientific committee and to the Castilla y León Territorial Section of the RSEQ for their work in organizing this event, an initiative that promotes and highlights the chemical research carried out by young scientists. We also extend our thanks to the rest of the sponsoring institutions for their support and commitment to the advancement of science.
The countdown to the 5th JDQ starts now!
📸 You can see more photos from the conference on our new Flickr profile: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCNmRf