The Workshop (satellite event to the IMRC in Cancun) is planned as a “speed dating” / match-making event, to foster North/South collaborations. The objective is to match scientists having similar expertise and interests in materials and technologies for emerging renewable energy technologies, so that they can work together on joint projects and on co-supervision of graduate students.

The event is designed to build scientific and educational bridges across the Americas. Nevertheless, scientists from other regions (Africa, Asia, Europe) will also participate, thus broadening the scope.

Over 40 speakers from 16 different countries have confirmed their participation.

To foster collaboration, we will use the following format: Each speaker is requested to speak for ten (10) minutes about his/her research interests and expertise, followed by a ten (10) minute discussion, aimed at identifying scientists with similar interests and complementary expertise, as a starting point to develop joint research projects.

The workshop takes inspiration from the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage (MATECSS), launched by F. Rosei and a dozen colleagues at INRS in 2013. MATECSS constitutes a network comprising over 30 participating organizations in 22 countries, jointly building capacity and working collaboratively on emerging materials for renewable energy technologies.

Dates: August 11-12 (2023), immediately before the IMRC (Aug. 13-18). Cancun offers a warm and relaxing atmosphere and is a great location for this type of event. The workshop will be articulated into four half days of presentations; the planned venue is the JW Marriott in Cancun.

One of the aims of the workshop is to develop a regional network across the Americas, involving scientists with similar interests centred around a common theme (e.g. renewable energy technologies), or possibly several smaller, more focused networks (for example one on energy storage, another on solar fuels, etc.).

Keywords / list of topics:

• Renewable Energy Technologies
• Solar Technologies: photovoltaics, hydrogen production from water, solar fuels, solar windows
• Materials for Solid State Lighting
• Materials for next generation storage technologies: batteries, supercapacitors
• Energy materials