👨‍🎓#PhD in my group @edinburghchem.bsky.social via E5 DTP Nature-Inspired and Computationally-Informed Design of #Clay-#Biochar Systems for Heavy Metal Remediation 🌍 Supervised by Margaret Graham, Ondrej Masek & Valentina Erastova Apply: e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item... Deadline: 14 Dec 2025

🌍👨‍🎓#PhD: Design of #Biochar for #Sequestration of Emerging Pollutants via E5 DTP @edinburghchem.bsky.social Supervised by Valentina Erastova and Ondrej Masek Apply: e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item... Deadline: Sun 14 Dec 2025

Having missed Andrey Kalinichev’s talks this summer at both Goldschmidt and International Clay Conference due to overlap of our parallel sessions, it is great to finally catch up at small but scientifically charged @cecamevents.bsky.social in Vienna @bokuvienna.bsky.social

Talk at @cecamevents.bsky.social at @bokuvienna.bsky.social by recently defended Dr Hannah Pollak on ClayCode - software she developed during her PhD at @edinburghchem.bsky.social Download from: github.com/Erastova-group/ClayCode Paper: doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00987

Another successful PhD viva in the group 🍾 Congratulations Dr Hannah Pollak!

Extra special day in the group @edinburghchem.bsky.social y’day Congratulations to Dr Audrey Ngambia🎓 for a brilliant PhD defence! Thank you for joining my group & trusting me as very new PI that we can make these pesky biochar models - we did it thanks to your dedication and hard work🍾

Congratulations to our PgT students of @edinburghchem.bsky.social for completing their studies! I am extra happy to see that students undertaking #compchem projects - Yifei and Samuel (our group) - have won awards for best taught part and best project talk! 🏆🥳

Yesterday we were visited by Ellen Porter, Commissioning Editor of Philosophical Transactions A of the @royalsocietypublishing.org, to discuss real hurdles of #publishing in #science with our #PhD & #PostDoc at @edinburghchem.bsky.social @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social

Excellent informative talk by Sarah Stewart about her PhD work at the International Clay Conference in Dublin @cmg-minsoc.bsky.social @minersoc.bsky.social

The workshop "Advancing biochar molecular models – from experiments to model construction and application" has started in Lausanne! After a short welcome by CECAM and the organisers, V. Sierra Jimenez, C. M. Grottola & P. Giudicianni have kicked off today's program. ➡️ www.cecam.org/workshop-det...

Ready to start our @cecamevents.bsky.social workshop on #biochar #modeling www.cecam.org/workshop-det...

Final day of our team on @theukca.bsky.social Iceland trip. Thanks to Pam for amazing videos! www.instagram.com/reel/DKNDlYw...

Nature’s careers team spoke to a dozen scientists who have been laid off from US federal agencies and from universities because of federal funding cuts in the past two months. #Academicsky 🧪

Another day in Iceland in a video - Thanks Pam for making these memories for us! www.instagram.com/reel/DKDBluT...

Another day from @theukca.bsky.social Iceland trip www.instagram.com/reel/DJ46gJG...

I have a badge and, therefore, I am working

Another day video of @theukca.bsky.social Iceland expedition, made by crafty Pam www.instagram.com/reel/DJv33ri...

Home 🖤

After a fantastic week in Iceland with @theukca.bsky.social it is time to head home

Suddenly found yourself wanting to build a snowman in May? Sure thing - welcome to northern Iceland ☃️ where you can do it in day light 24h a day!

Off the beaten track onto þjóðfell for permafrost samples with @tastrobiologist.bsky.social ⛏️🗻 Our last day in Iceland on @theukca.bsky.social trip, next group arrives on Monday

Absolutely delicious glacier water from Fornastaðafjall

In the lab again

Another great day sampling with @tastrobiologist.bsky.social and Pam @theukca.bsky.social ⛏️

Productive day collecting clays on prebiotic Earth. Inevitably left a couple of foot prints for astrobiologists of the future

Another hard day at the office. Starting the Iceland trip with @theukca.bsky.social

My bestest friend 🖤

Still a few places left on our workshop in June!

Been sent into a pond for water testing. No crocs🐊 here, just turtles🐢 (at least they said so).

Wizard level of hiding 🦒🌳

If anyone is wondering - team @edinburghchem.bsky.social is here to work, even if it looks like a holiday retreat and the conference is like a wedding venue

Wearing off my [whole one hour of] jet lag in J’burgh

Team @edinburghchem.bsky.social touristing around rights after landing in Johannesburg

Such an interesting seminar today by Martin McCoustra at @edinburghchem.bsky.social

If you are interested to learn more on what molecular modeling can do to support origin of life research, the recording of my lecture "Computational Chemistry – Space & Time Travellers Tool" at the @vwscc.bsky.social is now on Zenodo: zenodo.org/records/1493...

Advancing biochar molecular models – from experiments to model construction and application 4-6 June, Lausanne, CH This is the first-ever @cecamevents.bsky.social workshop dedicated to the emerging field of #biochar molecular modelling - please circulate! www.cecam.org/workshop-det...

📢We are organising a super exciting session at the 18th International Clay Conference in Dublin, 13-18 July dedicated to the role of #clays in #astrobiology 🪐 To register & more info here: icc.aipea.org/icc-03/ please share!

Absolutely fantastic and very important **I Belong in Chemistry** event at @edinburghchem.bsky.social tonight. Great inspirational speakers! Thank you for organising #stem #womeninscience #WomenInSTEM @rsc.org

I never knew that particle on a ring can be this exciting 🙊 Thank you Igor Roncevic from @manchesterup.bsky.social for such interesting talk today at @edinburghchem.bsky.social

Here is the latest episode of Tartan Tardigrade where Mia from UK Centre of Astrobiology interviews @andrewbissette.bsky.social , editor-in-chief of @cp-cellrepphyssci.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

The International Clay Conference, Dublin will host 4 pre-conference workshops. All workshops will take place on Sunday the 13th July 2025. Kaolin – Everywhere PDF-5+ & JADE Pro 1D Modelling of Clay Methods in Clay Science For full workshop details icc.aipea.org/workshops/ @minersoc.bsky.social

And upon this, my friends, my teaching is done till November🧘‍♀️🍹 [I still have labs, field trip, essays & exams to mark] Last 4 wks have been 11 contact hrs weekly of new material; 4 courses simultaneously +hosting #RAPC +talk at @vwscc.bsky.social Whatever doesn’t kill you, tries again next year!

Looking forward to our session at #ICCDublin25 dedicated to the role of minerals in the abiogenesis

On thin ice, but still skating. With universities starting the year in financial straits, the sector must tread carefully, writes @sarahr100.bsky.social. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

How far can nonadiabatic simulations go with proper initial state sampling? We comment on the strategies in the recent Accounts of Chemical Research paper pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... #NonadiabaticDynamics #SimulationScience #compchem @insilphotochem.bsky.social @pubs.acs.org

☺️very kind words from @andrewbissette.bsky.social Editor-in-Chief of @cp-cellrepphyssci.bsky.social in the Editorial celebrating the 5th anniversary of the journal www.cell.com/cell-reports... It was a pleasure working with you on our unusual format papers. I look forward to more science to come!

Appropriately enough, one of the two highlights I picked was working with @erastova.bsky.social on back-to-back biochar papers www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Many interesting sessions at the International Clay Conference icc.aipea.org/sessions-list, incl. ours on the role of layered minerals in the origin of life. Plz share, apply and I look forward to seeing you in Dublin! @cmg-minsoc.bsky.social @oolen.bsky.social @astrobiology.bsky.social

Thank you for hosting!