September 19^th 2013 was a special day for young scientists in the Ruhr area. The 4^th “junges Chemie Symposium” (jCS-Ruhr) at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr had more than 50 participants who could exchange their latest results of research and their experience gained from their studies, projects, writing their Bachelor, Master or even PhD thesis and the challenges going along with this.

Twelve oral presentations were given in two sessions with topics ranging from organic chemistry, biochemistry, material design to interdisciplinary engineering attempts involving DNA controlled switches for microfluidic systems. The highly diverse topics of the talks gave a brief overview of the research other young scientists focus on and thereby pointed out the interdisciplinary problem sets and challenges we nowadays face. Further 27 participants presented their results in the poster session. Here, the presenters could answer questions in a nice atmosphere and discuss results with others. A competent jury of professors and next generation professors of the four involved campuses and specialized in different areas of research evaluated the presented work. The award for the best oral presentations was given to Bertrand Schweitzer-Chaput from the MPI für Kohlenforschung for his work on Brønsted acid catalyzed oxidative coupling reactions. Carolina Neudeck (MPI für Kohlenforschung) received the 1^st poster prize for her work on the incorporation of transition metal oxides in zeolites. Isaac Adjei Safo (RUB) was awarded for his work on the surface modification of Pt(111) single crystal electrode with Cu monolayer atoms with the 2^nd poster prize. The audience prize went to Jens Willwacher (MPI für Kohlenforschung) for his presentation on the total synthesis of leiodermatolide.

The highlight of this symposium was the plenary lecture of Prof. Ben L. Feringa: “Dynamic Molecular Systems, from Switches to Molecular Motors”. With this topic a great presenter and brilliant scientist opened interesting insights into the design of moving parts in the molecular range. Not only an animated molecular car but also molecular propellers fascinated the audience equally as well as putting the puzzle of these molecular parts together.

The scientific parts of the symposium were followed by coffee breaks and a conference BBQ after the plenary lecture in a relaxing atmosphere of the new lecture building of the institute.

The two sponsoring companies Altana AG and Evonik Industries AG are two companies with a strong background in the Ruhr area. Represented with a stand, the two teams answered questions regarding their companies’ profile and explained the options for scientists to work at their production and research sites. This was a good opportunity to talk to people from industry and to get some insight into the application procedures and the companies themselves.

This event was organized by the regional JungChemikerForum of Dortmund, Bochum, Essen and Mülheim as active part of the young members of the learned society GDCh. After taking place at the universities in Bochum, Essen and Dortmund it was time to close the first cycle and host the symposium at the MPI für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim.

Overall, the 4^th jCS-Ruhr was a successful event to meet other scientists from the Ruhr area, to get insight into current research at the universities and other institutes, meet people from industry and follow the great plenary lecture of Prof. Ben L. Feringa. We are all looking forward to joining the next jCS-Ruhr in fall 2014 which will be held at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

_{Text: Jean Pascal Schulte, JCF Mülheim an der Ruhr (pschulte@kofo.mpg.de)}