News & Events
Third REFINE project meeting
Aachen, Germany
11 - 12 June 2025
In June 2025 REFINE had the third project meeting in which all the project developments have been discussed and plans for the next period were made.
More importantly, our hosting partner from RWTH prepared another workshop, bringing the consortium a step closer to defining the REFINE roadmap on solar fuels!
Our ambition is that our roadmap will be universally applied and bring solar fuel production closer to market applications. Follow REFINE and find out more about it.
More importantly, our hosting partner from RWTH prepared another workshop, bringing the consortium a step closer to defining the REFINE roadmap on solar fuels!
Our ambition is that our roadmap will be universally applied and bring solar fuel production closer to market applications. Follow REFINE and find out more about it.
REFINE project meeting in Aachen, Germany, 11-12th of June 2025
Maike (RWTH), James (OUH), Sarah (UiO) and Junjie (IFE) discussing roll out scenarios during the meeting workshop
Kimia (UoS), Martina (RWTH), Katrin (RWTH) and Paul (OUH) discussing roll out scenarios for solar fuels
Micah (UoS), Eva (RWTH) and Truls (UiO) in their team discussing roll out scenarios on solar fuels
Athanasios (UiO), Isabel (CIEMAT-PSA) and Wiktoria (RWTH) discussing roll out scenarios on solar fuels
Interaction with online participants that couldn’t be in Aachen physically
Lunch break
Aachen, Germany, June 2025
REFINE participated in the M3-S Conference in Toruń, Poland
27 - 30 May 2025
REFINE participated in the M3-S “Applied polymers, nanomaterials, membranes, and composites” Conference in Toruń, Poland, with three oral presentations and one poster contribution.
UiO and Athanasios Chatzitakis held an invited Plenary Presentation with the title “Advanced catalysts for electrochemical energy conversion”. This talk broadly covered activities for catalysts design in UiO, including developments within REFINE.
UoS and Micah Soriano presented the work entitled “Optimizing cobalt content of nanoparticle-supported catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER)”.
AUTH and Effrosyni Mitrousi presented her work on “Amorphous anodized porous titania as IrO2 substrates for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction”. In addition she presented a poster contribution with the title “Pt and Pt-Ni Catalysts Supported on Ti as HER Cathodes in Alkaline Media”.
We would also like to congratulate Effrosyni for receiving the Best Oral Presentation Award from the European Membrane Society (EMS), as well as for the Best Poster Presentation by Membranes (MDPI)! 🎉🎉🎉
UiO and Athanasios Chatzitakis held an invited Plenary Presentation with the title “Advanced catalysts for electrochemical energy conversion”. This talk broadly covered activities for catalysts design in UiO, including developments within REFINE.
UoS and Micah Soriano presented the work entitled “Optimizing cobalt content of nanoparticle-supported catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER)”.
AUTH and Effrosyni Mitrousi presented her work on “Amorphous anodized porous titania as IrO2 substrates for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction”. In addition she presented a poster contribution with the title “Pt and Pt-Ni Catalysts Supported on Ti as HER Cathodes in Alkaline Media”.
We would also like to congratulate Effrosyni for receiving the Best Oral Presentation Award from the European Membrane Society (EMS), as well as for the Best Poster Presentation by Membranes (MDPI)! 🎉🎉🎉
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland, where the M3-S Conference was held
Micah Soriano (UoS) presenting REFINE developments on OER catalysts
Effrosyni Mitrousi presenting REFINE developments on OER catalysts in M3-S Conference
Statue of Nikolaus Koperikus in Toruń, Poland, where he was born and lived
Panoramic view of Toruń, Poland
M3-S Conference poster with REFINE’s PI, Athanasios Chatzitakis as a Plenary Speaker
Group photo
Plenary talk by Athanasios Chatzitakis at M3-S Conference
Athanasios Chatzitakis with Prof. Anna Ilnicka, member of the organizing committee
Best poster presentation award for Effrosyni Mitrousi and her work on HER catalysts within REFINE
Best oral presentation award for Effrosyni Mitrousi’s talk in M3-S Conference and her work on OER catalysts within REFINE
Award ceremony with Effrosyni Mitrousi receiving the Best Oral Presentation Award by the European Membrane Society (EMS)
Award ceremony with Effrosyni Mitrousi receiving the Best Poster Presentation award by Membranes (MDPI)
REFINE hydrogen evolving catalysts studied at Diamond and MAXIV facilities under operando conditions
April and May 2025
In April and May 2025, the developed catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) were studied with X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) under operando conditions at both Diamond (UK) and MAXIV (Sweden).
New insights on the elemental states and structure of the developed materials have been enabled. These measurements have been generously supported by the group of Dr. Pablo Fernández from the Department of Physical Chemistry, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Centre for Innovation on New Energies (CINE), Brazil.
The PhD candidate Rafael Vicente from UNICAMP led the measurements and the findings of these works will soon be made available.
New insights on the elemental states and structure of the developed materials have been enabled. These measurements have been generously supported by the group of Dr. Pablo Fernández from the Department of Physical Chemistry, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Centre for Innovation on New Energies (CINE), Brazil.
The PhD candidate Rafael Vicente from UNICAMP led the measurements and the findings of these works will soon be made available.
Abhijai (UiO), Rafael (UNICAMP), Micah (UoS), Effrosyni (AUTH) and Athanasios (UiO) outside the MAXIV facilities
MAXIV, Lund, Sweden
Mounting the electrochemical cell for operando XAS measurements
View from the control room at MAXIV
View from the measurement station at MAXIV
Rafael (UNICAMP), Effrosyni (AUTh), Abhijai (UiO), Micah (UoS) and Athanasios (UiO) at the end of the session at MAXIV
View of the electrochemical workstation at Diamond
View of the electrochemical cell under operando XAS measurements at Diamond
"Women leading the energy transition"
A REFINE event celebrating the International Women's Day and Female Leadership in Academia and Industry
7th March 2025
On Friday the 7th of March, the REFINE project, as well as SMN, celebrated the International Women’s Day with a very special event, which took place in UiO’s Science Library (Vilhelm Bjerknes hus).
We had the pleasure of having with us, our Dean, Prof. Solveig Kristensen, who opened the event, followed by presentations from five female leaders coming from the University of Oslo (UiO), SINTEF, Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) and Plataforma Solar del Almeria, University of Almeria, Spain.
Prof. Unni Olsbye, Prof. Anja Olafsen Sjåstad, Dr. Annett Thøgersen, Dr. Isabel Oller and Dr. Ragnhild Hancke, all shared their journey in academia and industry and how they became leaders.
In the last part of the event, Dr. Ragnhild Hancke (IFE) moderated a panel discussion, which shed more light on how they all became leaders in academia and industry and they all provided us with important insights on how to develop leading skills. These are not only for applicable to women, but to everyone.
In conclusion, times are changing, women develop a strong basis for leading research and innovation and are already shaping our Energy Future.
We had the pleasure of having with us, our Dean, Prof. Solveig Kristensen, who opened the event, followed by presentations from five female leaders coming from the University of Oslo (UiO), SINTEF, Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) and Plataforma Solar del Almeria, University of Almeria, Spain.
Prof. Unni Olsbye, Prof. Anja Olafsen Sjåstad, Dr. Annett Thøgersen, Dr. Isabel Oller and Dr. Ragnhild Hancke, all shared their journey in academia and industry and how they became leaders.
In the last part of the event, Dr. Ragnhild Hancke (IFE) moderated a panel discussion, which shed more light on how they all became leaders in academia and industry and they all provided us with important insights on how to develop leading skills. These are not only for applicable to women, but to everyone.
In conclusion, times are changing, women develop a strong basis for leading research and innovation and are already shaping our Energy Future.
A. Chatzitakis (PI) - Welcome speech
Dean Prof. Kristensen - Kicking off the event
Dr. Annett Thøgersen (SINTEF)
Dr. Isabel Oller (CIEMAT-PSA)
Dr. Ragnhild Hancke (IFE)
Prof. Anja Olafsen Sjåstad (UiO)
Prof. Unni Olsbye (UiO)
Panel discussion
Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion
Women Leading Research
In light of the upcoming Women’s Day (8th of March 2025), the REFINE project organizes a very special event in which six female leaders share their journey to lead research and innovation and their motivation behind it. Through this open to all event at UiO, we aim to discuss how further female contribution in science and innovation can shape our energy future. More details and the full program can be found here.
"Women leading the energy transition"
Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Oslo
7th March 2025
Thank you AUTh for two days of important insights on "Novel Electrode Materials for electrochemical energy conversion"
We would like to congratulate Prof. Sotiropoulos and the team at AUTh for organizing and delivering an excellent workshop and platform for discussions on “Novel Electrode Materials for electrochemical energy conversion applications”.
Key takeaways included the increasing importance of computational modeling in material design and of AI in combinatorial screening experiments, as well as the traditional but still ongoing challenges related to stability, cost-effective production and scalability.
The workshop highlighted the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together academics and researchers to explore real-world application prospects.
The Physical Chemistry Laboratory of the Chemistry Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, within the framework of the HORIZON (101122323) project, From Solar Energy to Fuel: A Holistic Artificial Photosynthesis Platform to produce Viable Solar Fuels (REFINE), organizes a two-day Workshop on «Novel Electrode Materials», on 18-19 February 2025, at a «ΚΕΔΕΑ» conference hall, including seminars by 12 invited speakers.
The Workshop should be of interest to members of the academic, research and industry communities active in the area of applied electrochemistry.
More details and registration (hybrid event with live streaming) can be found in the
workshop’s website. The program can be downloaded here.
We are very happy to announce the first workshop organized within REFINE on "Novel Electrode Materials"
We would like to welcome on board our PhD students:
- Isabel Espinoza (CIEMAT-PSA)
- Micah Soriano (UoS)
- Effrosyni Mitrousi (AUTH)
- Sarah Geo (UiO)
- Abhijai Velluva (UiO)
As well as post docs and research associates:
- Akepogu Venkateshwarlu (LU)
- Kimia Jafari (UoS)
- Eva-Maria Schomakers (RWTH)
- Wiktoria Wilkowska (RWTH)
Welcoming new colleagues
November 2024
REFINE has announced a PhD fellowship at the University of Oslo (UiO) related to catalyst materials to be developed in our water electrolyzer. Find the full announcement here.
27th June 2024 – Update: Applications are now closed.
Interested in working with us?
Oslo, Norway
07.05.2024
Let's Talk About Energy.
Oslo, Norway
02.05.2024
The co-PI of REFINE, Athanasios Chatzitakis, held a popular science talk regarding Energy titled «Can water be the coal of the future?», in which the overall goal of REFINE was advertised. The event «Let’s talk about Energy» was organized by UiO: Energy and Environment and took place in Oslo, Norway, on the 2nd of May 2024. You can download the presentation here.
