In February 2023, we held our very first research workshop with Chief Investigators representing all partner universities of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide (GETCO2). The aim of the inaugural workshop was to establish a shared understanding of the goals and outcomes of the Centre.
We had invited Liz Visher, Director of the Australian Research Council, to commence the workshop by outlining the ARC’s expectations for a Centre of Excellence. She was followed by Dr Anita Hill from CSIRO and Chair of the Centre’s Research Advisory Committee, who shared her vision for GETCO2.
And then, the scene was set for the first day of presentations and workshops. The sessions were designed to provide an overview of the Centre’s establishment, defining the key goals and development plans.
For inspiration, we invited Centre Director Andrew White and Chief Operating Officer Katrina Tune from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) to share their insights on how to run a successful ARC Centre of Excellence linking strategy, vision and operations.
Laying the Foundation for Collaborative Research
On the second workshop day, we divided into the two overarching themes; Collaboration and Research.
Centre Director Christine Beveridge from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Success shared insights into fostering collaboration within an ARC Centre of Excellence, and the discussions paved the way for the subsequent presentations by our Theme Leaders, who introduced the four themes, Electrode & Electrolyser, Catalyst, Membrane and Characterisation & Computation.
We discussed the key objectives, and milestones, and interconnection across themes and flagship programs, and after the discussions, the focus was on GETCO2’s research plans.
By the end of the workshop, we had outlined our research plans and generated a lot of excitement and enthusiasm about the upcoming research collaboration.