On April 15th, 2025, researchers gathered in Rotterdam to celebrate the 10-year journey of the Multiscale Catalytic Energy Conversion (MCEC) research center — a decade of interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and innovation. MCEC is a Gravitation Program, which has been funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) with financial support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.

The Final Symposium was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on MCEC’s scientific journey, the milestones we’ve achieved, and the vibrant community we’ve built along the way.

The afternoon was filled with inspiring talks by the MCEC principal investigators:

Bert Weckhuysen, Albert van den Berg, Mathieu Odijk, Detlef Lohse, Hans Kuipers, Emiel Hensen, and Alfons van Blaaderen.

Also, two MCEC alumni shared their journeys beyond the MCEC program and how their experiences shaped their careers:
Jeroen Vollenbroek – Former PhD at the University of Twente and Utrecht University, and now Assistant Professor at UMC Utrecht, and Researcher at the University of Twente
Penbe Merve Durubal – Former PhD at Eindhoven University of Technology, and now CFD Engineer at CelSian