This award provides partial support for nine U.S. scientists to participate in a workshop with Australian scientists on the topic of artificial photosynthesis. The meeting has been co-organized by Prof. Christa Critchley of the University of Queensland and Professor Robert Blankenship of Arizona State University, among others. It will be held January 13-14, 2003 in Sydney, Australia. In addition to reviewing the participants' ongoing relevant research, the workshop is specifically intended to encourage and expedite planning of U.S.-Australia cooperation in this area. The workshop will immediately follow an international Boden Research Conference that is designed to review the state of the art in this interdisciplinary field.
Artificial Photosynthesis comprises the design and assembly systems that mimic various aspects of the natural photosynthetic process. Research in artificial photosynthesis is motivated by the objectives of improving a wide variety of technologies and production systems including energy conversion and storage, catalysis, biotechnology, photomedicine, optoelectronics and sensors. Approaches vary from making small modifications to the natural process in order to enhance solar energy conversion or storage to much larger synthetic efforts based on specific components of the process that can enable the production of new materials. This workshop is a timely and worthwhile effort involving leading researchers in the field from the US and Australia who will identify promising areas for future research that can benefit from combining the varied and complementary expertise of the participants.
