On 25 September, the ALCEMIST team from NOVA University of Lisbon participated in the 2026 Noite Europeia dos Investigadores (European Researchers' Night) at the Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC) of the University of Lisbon! With a strong focus this year on sustainability, this was a great venue for us to present our work on processing of liquid crystal elastomers from sustainable materials and some of the ways we can use liquid crystal elastomers in sustainability applications.

photo credit: Lena Godinho

Tags: CLCEs

For the second workshop (and fourth official meeting) of the ALCEMIST project, we met at the University of Cambridge on 7 and 8 September 2026!

the almost complete ALCEMIST team, University of Cambridge

During this meeting, we updated everyone on the current progress in our ALCEMIST tasks and the plans we have for the next stages of the project.

During the workshop, we also had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Jaana Vapaavuori from Aalto University! She presented work on textile-based sensors and robotics (very neatly in the realm of ALCEMIST).

In addition to the scientific program, we also took advantage of the visit to Cambridge for discussions; for collaborations; to take in the sights; explore the campus and labs; and to have dinner at The Eagle, a famous pub known for being where James Watson and Francis Crick worked out the structure of DNA and the canonical amino acids.

Overall, it was a successful visit, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone's progress at the next meeting in Lisbon!

Tags: workshop