Spring SciX 2026 was held this year at the University of Exeter from 14 to 16 April.

Several of our group attended with presentations from Amy Colleran, Joe Stradling, Harriet Willett and James Simons, as well as Vinicius Pereira dos Anjos – who was on a study visit from the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

We are delighted that Harriet won one of the best flash poster prizes.  Congratulations Harriet!

We are also very proud that Amy talked in the Martin & Willis session and won the Martin & Willis prize.

The Martin & Willis Prize was initiated in 1994 in memory of the first two IRDG (Infrared and Raman Discussion Group) chairmen, Dr A. E. Martin (1950-1970) and Professor Harry W. Willis (1970-1990). The prize is awarded for the best presentation by a young spectroscopist (not necessarily a member of the IRDG) at the Martin & Willis Prize Meeting which traditionally run biennially and takes place the day before a full IRDG meeting.

This prize is highly competitive and it’s a huge honour for Amy, as well as our group, CMR and Liverpool – well done Amy!

This picture shows CMR at Spring SciX, with insets showing Harriet (LHS) and Amy (RHS) receiving their awards from Nick Stone (chair of the conference) and Chris Sammon (who chaired the Martin & Willis session).