On September 22, 2022, ICReDD hosted a special lecture for Hokkaido University students by Professor Benjamin List, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, Specially Appointed Professor at ICReDD and 2021 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. The hybrid event gathered over 90 people in person at the Akira Suzuki Hall in the Frontier Research For Applied Sciences Building of Hokkaido University, with 250 people participating in the livestream online.
In his lecture, Professor List explained how his interest in chemistry as a child stemmed from his desire to answer the grand question of how everything in the world worked. He outlined his days as a student and his path through science, providing valuable perspective to Hokkaido University students. Professor List then went on to highlight some of his research before leaving the audience with a few grand challenges in catalysis to think about.
In the Q&A session following the lecture, in-person and online audience members asked Professor List about his thoughts on a wide range of topics, including winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, education, dealing with adversity, work-life balance and finding fruitful collaborations.
Following the event, a separate Q&A session was held for local media outlets.