Progress Meeting at LIKAT
About
The 4th Workshop of our DFG-funded Research Unit FOR5538 was held from February 9th to 11th, 2026, at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT Rostock) , under the outstanding organization of Dr. Christoph Kubis and his team. The event strengthened the impressive progress of the strong continuity of the Research Unit, bringing together researchers from all subprojects for a dynamic, forward-looking and highly interactive exchange. The program began with an excellent overview of the project by Prof. Dr. Kai Sundmacher , setting the stage for three highly engaging and productive days. We then continued with outstanding scientific presentations from each subproject, demonstrating significant progress and exciting new results.
On the second day, we were honored to welcome distinguished speakers: Prof. Dr. Robert Franke (Evonik Oxeno / Ruhr University Bochum), Dr. Johannes Panten (Symrise) , Dr Gerhard Mestl (Clariant), and Dr. Clemes Minnich (S Pact) . Their talks provided valuable insights into bridging academia and industry and greatly enriching our scientific discussions and fostering strong networking opportunities. The final day was dedicated to discussions among researchers focusing on collaboration, exchange, and future joint activities.
Engaging coffee discussions throughout all three days encouraged meaningful interdisciplinary exchange and generated new ideas across the entire research unit. These informal yet highly productive conversations strengthened cross-project synergies.
A dedicated session on the project's Research Data Management (RDM) plan reinforced our commitment to sustainable, transparent, and FAIR data practices, ensuring long-term scientific impact and harmonized data flow between subprojects within heterogeneous teams.
Big thank you to Dr. Christoph Kubis Dr. Fairoosa Poovan , Chunhong Wei, Nicole Auerlich and the entire LIKAT team for the excellent organization.
Venue
Leibniz Institute for Catalysis eV,
Seminar room HS1 (R. 1.311); Albert-Einstein-Straße 29A, 18059 Rostock
(Google Maps)
Schedule
The workshop's program can be found below, while the entire event's program can be accessed as a PDF here .
|
8:45 am |
Opening / Introduction to Research Unit IMPD4Cat Prof. Dr. Kai Sundmacher, Spokesperson IMPD4Cat. |
| 9:15 am | Creative Tensions: Bridging Academic and Industrial Research Prof. Dr. Robert Franke, Evonik Oxeno, Ruhr University Bochum |
| 10:30 am | Coffee break |
| 10:50 am | Selected processes for aroma chemicals involving multiple steps Dr. Johannes Panten, Symrise |
| 12:05 am | Lunch break (at LIKAT) |
| 1:15 pm | "Vision without Execution is Hallucination" (TA Edison): Effective Strategies for Scale-Up of Heterogeneous Catalysts with a Successful Showcase, the development of Oxymax E for Linde's EDHOX-process Dr. Gerhard Mestl, (Clariant) |
| 2:30 pm | Coffee break |
| 2:50 pm | Spectroscopic PAT: Boosting chemical process development Dr. Clemes Minnich, S-Pact |
| 4:05 pm | Tours Labs / Technical Centre |
| 5:30 pm | Closing |
Event organizers
Coordinator: Nicole Auerlich.
Assistant coordinator: Chunhong Wei, M.Sc.
Assistant coordinator: Dr. Fairoosa Poovan .
Event chair: Dr. Christoph Kubis .