PROGRAMME
Registration & Opening
13:30 REGISTRATION & LUNCH
Welcome & Check-in
15:00 OPENING REMARKS
Welcome to Costa Rica & ICEMCR 2026 — Marina Freitag, Pablo P. Boix, Monica Morales, Filippo de Angelis, Gian G. Guzmán Verri 🇨🇷
Session 1: Computational Approaches to Energy Materials
Chair: Filippo de Angelis
15:15 EDOARDO MOSCONI
DFT for interface prediction — CNR Italy
15:30 SIMONA FANTACCI
Excited state dynamics in DSSCs — CNR Italy
15:45 GIAN GIACOMO GUZMAN 🇨🇷
Minimal models and essential physics, what heavy computation can't teach us — Universidad de Costa Rica
16:00 LUCA GREGORI
Computational screening of lead-free absorbers — University of Perugia
Panelists: Mosconi, Fantacci, Guzman, Gregori | Moderator: Filippo de Angelis
16:15 MODERATED DEBATE
"Can computation replace experiment in materials discovery?"
Panelists: Mosconi, Fantacci, Guzman, Gregori | Moderator: Filippo de Angelis
16:45 COFFEE BREAK
Networking
Session 2: Sustainability, Circularity & Future Directions
Chair: Claudia Barolo
17:15 FEDERICO ROSEI
Nanomaterials for sustainable energy conversion — University of Trieste
17:30 MATTHEW DAVIES
Circular economy for solar devices — Swansea University
17:45 SIMONE GALLIANO
Sustainable electrolytes and green chemistry — University of Turin
18:00 YENDRY CORRALES UREÑA 🇨🇷
Bio-inspired coatings for solar cells — CENAT Costa Rica
Panelists: Rosei, Davies, Galliano, Corrales Ureña | Moderator: Claudia Barolo
18:15 MODERATED DEBATE
"What should the field stop/start doing in the next 5 years?"
Panelists: Rosei, Davies, Galliano, Corrales Ureña | Moderator: Claudia Barolo
Evening
19:00 WELCOME RECEPTION
Costa Rican appetizers & networking 🍹
Session 3: Interface Engineering & Defect Control
Chair: Francesca Brunetti
08:30 COFFEE
Morning Networking
09:00 JUAN-PABLO CORREA-BAENA
Buried interfaces in perovskite devices — Georgia Tech
09:15 MARIA ANTONIETTA LOI
Defect tolerance in halide perovskites — University of Groningen
09:30 ANNALISA BRUNO
Interface engineering for stability — NTU Singapore
09:45 SERGIO PANIAGUA 🇨🇷
Surface passivation strategies — LANOTEC Costa Rica
Panelists: Correa-Baena, Mora Sero, Bruno, Wei | Moderator: Francesca Brunetti
10:00 MODERATED DEBATE
"Are defects the friend or foe of perovskite efficiency?"
Panelists: Correa-Baena, Mora Sero, Bruno, Wei | Moderator: Francesca Brunetti
10:30 COFFEE BREAK
Networking
Session 4: 🚀 Moonshots & Heresy
Chair: Marina Freitag
11:00 SASCHA FELDMANN
Quantum coherence in light harvesting — can we actually use it? — EPFL
11:15 THUC-QUYEN NGUYEN
Self-healing, self-assembling solar cells — biology as blueprint — UC Santa Barbara
11:30 FRANCESCA BRUNETTI
Neuromorphic energy systems — materials that learn, grow and adapt — Tor Vergata
11:45 IVAN MORA SERO
Beyond Shockley-Queisser — what's physically possible in 2050? — Universitat Jaume I
Panelists: Feldmann, Nguyen, Brunetti, Mora Sero | Moderator: Marina Freitag
12:00 MODERATED DEBATE
"What's the one heretical idea the field refuses to take seriously?"
Panelists: Feldmann, Nguyen, Brunetti, Mora Sero | Moderator: Marina Freitag
12:30 LUNCH
Networking 🍽️
Session 5: Molecular Engineering — Design, Assembly, AI & Integration
Chair: Thuc-Quyen Nguyen
14:00 NATALIE STINGELIN
Organic semiconductors and machine learning — Georgia Tech
14:15 JUAN RAMÓN SÁNCHEZ VALENCIA
Molecular assembly at surfaces: from vacuum to solution processing — ICMSE-CSIC Spain
14:30 TZU-CHIEN WEI
Device integration: translating molecular design into performance — NTHU Taiwan
Panelists: Stingelin, Sánchez Valencia, Wei | Moderator: Thuc-Quyen Nguyen
14:45 MODERATED DEBATE
"Will AI replace the intuition of the experimentalist?"
Panelists: Stingelin, Sánchez Valencia, Wei | Moderator: Thuc-Quyen Nguyen
15:15 COFFEE BREAK
Networking
Session 6: Funding, Data Safety & Open Science
Chair: Pablo Boix
15:45 RICHARD FREITAG
European Commission funding landscape — GÉANT/SUNET
16:00 ANDERS HAGFELDT
Data management and FAIR principles — Uppsala University
16:15 FRANCESCA BRUNETTI
Open science and reproducibility — Tor Vergata
16:30 NATALIE FLORES DÍAZ 🇨🇷
Building international collaborations — Universidad de Costa Rica
Panelists: R. Freitag, Hagfeldt, Brunetti, Flores Díaz | Moderator: Pablo Boix
16:45 PANEL DISCUSSION
"How do we ensure open, secure, and sustainable research ecosystems?"
Panelists: R. Freitag, Hagfeldt, Brunetti, Flores Díaz | Moderator: Pablo Boix
Evening Events
17:15 FREE TIME
Rest & Explore 🌴
Sponsored by Tsing Hui Perovskite Technology Consulting Corp.
18:30 CONFERENCE DINNER
Costa Rican cuisine, awards & networking 🍽️
Sponsored by Tsing Hui Perovskite Technology Consulting Corp.
21:00 PRESENTATION KARAOKE
Emerging researchers present random slides! — Hosts: Pablo P. Boix & Natalie Stingelin 🎤
Session 7: Safe-by-Design Absorbers: Beyond Lead & Critical Materials
Chair: Monica Morales
08:30 COFFEE
Morning Networking
09:00 DIEGO SOLÍS IBARRA
Lead-free perovskites: progress and pitfalls — UNAM Mexico
09:15 TERESA GATTI
Sustainable materials in storage and conversion — Politecnico di Torino
09:30 CLAUDIA BAROLO
Eco-design principles for solar cells — University of Turin
Panelists: Solís Ibarra, Loi, Pineda Cedeño 🇨🇷, Barolo | Moderator: Monica Morales
09:45 MODERATED DEBATE
"Is lead-free PV a realistic goal or a distraction?"
Panelists: Solís Ibarra, Loi, Pineda Cedeño 🇨🇷, Barolo | Moderator: Monica Morales
10:15 COFFEE BREAK
Networking
Flash ECR Presentations
10:45 FLASH ECR PRESENTATIONS
Energy Materials — Everything! — All ECRs | 3 min each | Online Evaluation
Session 8: Scalability, Manufacturing & Reproducibility
Chair: Ivan Mora Sero
11:15 GIOVANNI SAENZ ARCE 🇨🇷
Reproducibility challenges in device fabrication — Universidad Nacional Costa Rica
11:30 SATOSHI UCHIDA
Industrial perspectives on module integration — University of Tokyo
Panelists: Bruno, Saenz Arce, Uchida | Moderator: Ivan Mora Sero
11:45 MODERATED DEBATE
"What is the biggest barrier to GW-scale perovskite manufacturing?"
Panelists: Bruno, Saenz Arce, Uchida | Moderator: Ivan Mora Sero
Closing & Farewell
12:15 CLOSING PANEL & POSTER PRIZES 🏆
Key takeaways, roadmap & future ICEMCR — All session chairs + Organisers | Moderator: Pablo P. Boix
12:45 FAREWELL LUNCH
Final networking 🍽️
13:45 DEPARTURES
Shuttles to airport 🚐