Republic of Ireland Catalysis Society (RICS)

Connecting Catalysis Research

The RICS Networking Platform brings together researchers working across the broad field of catalysis throughout the Republic of Ireland. The platform connects expertise spanning experimental and theoretical catalysis, creating opportunities for interaction between researchers in chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, materials science, and related disciplines. It has established links with EFCATS (The European Federation of Catalysis Societies) and IACS (The International Association of Catalysis Societies). The current Republic of Ireland EFCATS council members are Gillian Collins and Matthias Vandichel. RICS encourages Irish catalysis researchers to support the conferences organized by the National, European and International Societies; the next ones are;

Irish Catalysis Society 2027, end of May 2027, to be announced
Europacat 2027, 29 August to 3 September 2027, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 'Multiscale Catalysis'
ICC2028, The 19th International Congress on Catalysis, 25 June to 30 June 2028, Kyoto, Japan.

RICS also supports the yearly ISE (The International Society of electrochemistry) conference and yearly organized national events, because of plently of electrocatalysis-related themes; the next ones are;

ISE2027, 78th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, 5 September to 10 September 2027, Glasgow, UK.
Yearly RSC early career satellite symposium 2027, to be announced (e.g. Event: 2026 Satellite ECR Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry - UCD School Of Chemistry)
Other relevant events will be added on a regular basis

A central aim of RICS is to bridge different approaches, length scales, and perspectives in catalysis. This includes connecting fundamental understanding from spectroscopy, surface science, and ab-initio modelling with catalyst synthesis, kinetic studies, reaction engineering, and reactor-scale applications. By bringing experimentalists and modellers into closer dialogue, the network encourages complementary approaches to understanding catalytic materials and processes.

RICS provides a shared platform for researchers across Irish universities, research institutes, and associated organisations to exchange knowledge, develop collaborations, and identify common scientific challenges. Through this multidisciplinary network, we aim to strengthen connections within the Irish catalysis community while supporting research that spans the full spectrum from fundamental molecular-level insight to practical catalytic processes and technologies.

EFCATS Council members for the Republic of Ireland:

Gillian Collins

Gillian is Associate professor in Sustainable Materials at the School of Chemistry, University College Cork, and research group leader

Gillian's research focus is on the synthesis of catalytic nanomaterials, heterogeneous catalysis, surface functionalization and circular plastics (https://research.ucc.ie/en/persons/gillian-collins/).

Research focus: design and synthesis of catalytic nanomaterials.

Materials: nanoparticles, alloys, oxide-supported nanostructures and 2D materials.

Matthias Vandichel

Matthias is group leader Materials and Catalysis Modelling Group, Research Ireland Principal Investigator, FRSC

Matthias leads a multidisciplinary research team focusing on Materials & Catalysis Modeling (macatamo-group.com).

Research focus: Electronic Structure Calculations, Computational Catalysis, applications of kinetic modeling and Monte Carlo methods to study reaction networks and adsorption phenomena, High Performance Computing.

Materials: heterogeneous material interfaces, crystalline porous materials.

More info: PURE