From July 10 to 12, the 12th EOC Symposium, hosted by the State Key Laboratory of Elemento‑organic Chemistry at Nankai University, was held at the Tianjin University–Nankai University Joint Research Building. The symposium brought together more than 100 experts and scholars from the UK, Germany, France, Japan, the United States, and China, as well as nearly 200 graduate students from over 20 universities, including Nankai University, Peking University, and the University of Science and Technology of China. Leading scholars from home and abroad gathered at Nankai, among them Prof. Qilin Zhou of Nankai University, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); Prof. Matthias Driess of Technische Universität Berlin, Member of Academia Europaea and the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina); Prof. Simon Aldridge of the University of Oxford, Fellow of the Royal Society; and Prof. Stephen T. Liddle of the University of Manchester, Member of Academia Europaea. Prof. Xiaochen Wang of the Laboratory presided over the opening ceremony.
Prof. Chunming Cui, Director of the Laboratory, delivered the opening remarks, extending a warm welcome to all participating experts and scholars from home and abroad. He noted that elemento‑organic chemistry is an important cornerstone of modern molecular science, and that the innovative application of main‑group elements in synthetic methodology, functional molecular materials, and pesticide chemistry remains at the forefront of research. He expressed his hope that the symposium would enable colleagues worldwide to share cutting‑edge achievements, spark new ideas, and deepen multi‑level, long‑term international research cooperation.
Under the theme "Main Group Chemistry: from Fundamentals to Functions," the symposium featured invited lectures by 17 experts: Prof. Simon Aldridge (University of Oxford), Prof. Matthias Driess (Technische Universität Berlin), Prof. Takeaki Iwamoto (Tohoku University), Prof. Tsuyoshi Kato (Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier, France), Prof. Rene M. Koenigs (University of Bayreuth), Prof. Stephen T. Liddle (The University of Manchester), Prof. Laurent Maron (Université de Toulouse), Prof. James P. Morken (Boston College), Prof. Xinping Wang (Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, CAS), Prof. Qiuling Song (Fuzhou University), Prof. Haifeng Du (Institute of Chemistry, CAS), Prof. Yi‑Feng Wang (University of Science and Technology of China), Prof. Liu Liu (Southern University of Science and Technology), Prof. Gengwen Tan (Sun Yat‑sen University), and, from Nankai University, Prof. Xiaochen Wang, Prof. Dongbing Zhao, and Associate Prof. Lizhao Zhu. The speakers systematically presented their teams' original research in main‑group elemento‑organic chemistry, offering a concentrated showcase of the latest advances in the field. The sessions were marked by enthusiastic questions and exchanges, creating a lively atmosphere of discussion.
A dedicated poster session for graduate students was also arranged, in which 35 graduate students from the Laboratory presented their work and engaged in face‑to‑face discussions with experts from home and abroad.
The EOC Symposium is a flagship annual international academic conference independently founded by the State Key Laboratory of Elemento‑organic Chemistry at Nankai University, and has been held eleven times since its establishment in 2014. Each edition is closely aligned with the Laboratory's core research areas and sets its own focused theme, aiming to bring together leading scholars and young researchers from related fields worldwide for academic exchange, steadily enhance China's international academic influence in elemento‑organic chemistry, and provide a high‑quality platform for interdisciplinary innovation, the cultivation of young chemistry talent, and the development of a global research cooperation network.
