On September the 22^nd of 2011, the JCF groups from Bochum, Dortmund, Essen and Mülheim organized the second “junges Chemie Symposium Ruhr” (jCS-Ruhr). Like last year, the symposium offered young chemists from the Ruhr and surrounding areas, the opportunity to present their research to an interested group of people. The target audience for this event were interested, young researchers, from bachelor's graduates who wish to present the first results of their work, to nearly completed PhD students.

This year, the jCS-Ruhr in Essen and the organizers were able to welcome more than 70 participants with 45 poster presentations and eight presentations from various fields of chemistry. As in the previous year, the symposium was concluded by a plenary lecture, this year by Professor Dr. A. Rutger van Santen. With his presentation entitled "Catalysis, playing dice with molecules" he offered an interesting and revealing insight into the current catalysis research.

During the symposium, three poster prizes, a lecture award and an audience prize were awarded. The jury consisting of professors and doctors of the four participating universities presented the award for Best Presentation to Thomas Zoeller from Dortmund and the first poster prize to Stefan Minkler. The audience chose the poster from Lea Radtke as the best. Further poster prizes were awarded to Even Henrik Teller and Olga Biene-Mann by the symposium directors Ute Michel and Thomas Zoeller. The scientific program was rounded off with a few coffee breaks and a relaxing end to the plenary, with further discussions, food and drinks.