Testimonials

My expectation was that WIPOS 2022 would be a good opportunity to network with colleagues and showcase some of the work we do in Brazil. But Laszlo raised the bar and the conference turned out to be much more than just that. The days flew by in beautiful Honolulu. This was due to the friendly environment combined with the outstanding scientific level of the program. The organization was amazing, the venue perfect, the presentations fantastic, and of course I met some great people and colleagues I hadn’t seen in a long time. In the end, I have to say that this was one of the best conferences I have been to in a long time, not only for the reasons I mentioned above, but also because of the fruitful collaboration that started there. When work allows us to have such experiences, what more do we need? Many thanks to Laszlo and to the whole team that was involved in making this possible.

WIPOS 2022 was a great experience for me personally. I thought that the Hawaiian coastline was a fantastic and breathtaking location for the conference, which was itself well-organized and included a variety of academic and industrial speakers elaborating on their current research and future trends. WIPOS 2022 especially stands out with its very friendly and welcoming atmosphere among the symposium participants. Breakfast and lunch breaks enable attendees to get to know each other and to spark insightful conversations (in addition to enjoying the delicious food available). Furthermore, the afternoons and evenings can be used to explore the beautiful Hawaiian island.

I attended WIPOS 2022 as a Ph.D. student and enjoyed it very much! Therefore, it’s my particular pleasure to share my experience. The conference was very well organized, the location was absolutely lovely and the food was excellent. The scientific program was very diverse, covering many different fields of organic chemistry. I really enjoyed the interesting and inspiring lectures given by excellent senior and young scientists, as well as the scientific exchange during the poster sessions. As WIPOS 2022 was a rather small conference, the atmosphere was extremely familiar and welcoming, which created a great platform for networking between students, postdocs, professors and scientists from industry. I really enjoyed the many interesting conversations during the daily common breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks and met so many nice people and great scientists with whom I’m still in contact. Also the evening program (conference dinner, boat trip) was organized very well and created a good balance between scientific input and free time. In summary, I had a great time during WIPOS 2022 in Honolulu and I can highly recommend it to every Ph.D. student!

Last year I had the pleasure of attending WIPOS 2022 and I must say, it was an incredibly enriching and engaging experience. The symposium featured a plethora of speakers and broad attendance from graduate student peers, post-docs, and industry representatives, which provided me with the opportunity of networking, exchange ideas and insights on our respective research topics in a very relaxed and comfortable environment.

One of the things that impressed me the most was how much the venue contributed to the overall experience… Waikiki is gorgeous, the meals were terrific, the sunset boat tour we took was unique, and the gala dinner was fantastic. All of this provided a level of interaction with the attendees I’ve never experienced before in any symposium. If you have the chance to go, don’t miss it.

I attended the WIPOS in December 2022. The WIPOS was an excellent conference that made up for the fact that many conferences were held online due to COVID-19,
making it difficult to connect with people. I was greatly inspired by the profound and sophisticated lecture by the Nobel laureate and challenging talks by young Rising Star researchers. I also deepened personal exchanges through chats over meals and coffee breaks. (I think the mild climate of Hawaii also positively affected the interactions among researchers.) It was a great experience for me, and I would recommend many researchers to participate in the WIPOS.

WIPOS 2022 brought me to Hawaii for the first time, and it was a wonderful experience. Not only was Hawaii itself amazing but I got to meet a lot of great people from both industry and academia who shared their scientific knowledge and career advice. This was important to me as I was looking for jobs and postdoc positions at the time. They told me of their own experiences upon leaving grad school, and happily shared their opinions on careers in industry versus academia. Unfortunately, I arrived at the conference a day late due to flight delays, but Laszlo and his team were accessible by email and defused my worries on missing out. Everyone was very kind, and while I am not an organic chemist by training, I found the lectures to be insightful and the presenters did a great job in explaining their work. Another highlight of WIPOS is the food. We were provided with a variety of foods for a light breakfast, and a phenomenal feast for lunch. As if that wasn’t enough, we were spoiled with a plentiful dinner at the Famous Chef Chai Restaurant. We were given five different appetizers, and my table was stuffed before the entrées came, but we made room as the food looked so amazing. Conferences are a time to share and learn scientific findings, which can be intimidating sometimes with a mix of postdocs, PI’s, and grad students. I think Laszlo and team made a great decision in hosting the conference in Hawaii as it gives everyone a chance to relax from work and in such a serene place lowers the barrier that younger students may feel towards talking to accomplished postdocs and PI’s. I am very grateful for my time at WIPOS, and to the organizing committee and Rice University for the Diversity & Inclusion award I received, as it offset some of the registration costs to attend the conference. I had a great time at WIPOS, and I hope it leaves a great impression on future students as well.

Attending WIPOS 2022 was a great pleasure! The event was organized with great care and attention to details. We had a fantastic programme, with the presence of scientists working at the frontier of science, and of course no words to describe speakers like Prof. MacMillan who presented an inspiring, vibrant, and truly insightful seminar on the state of the art of organic chemistry. In addition to the wonderful atmosphere with cutting-edge science, the event in Hawaii also provides indescribable sightseeing moments. The event organizers provided the chance for boat tours, access to good food and the chance to discuss science in wonderful natural scenery! I would definitely recommend attending WIPOS.

WIPOS 2022 was an absolutely amazing conference! The location couldn’t get any better than this and it provided the perfect opportunity to engage with a melting pot of industry and academic chemists from around the world. Hats off to the organizing committee for taking care of everything, including multiple networking opportunities over meals, excursions, and my favorite – dinner at Chef Chai!

WIPOS 2022 was an excellent conference! The numerous high-level presentations covered many different aspects of organic chemistry. The atmosphere was very friendly leading to many good discussions between lectures and during poster sessions. The conference style provided plenty of opportunities for networking with attendants from both industry and academia. I can definitely recommend this conference!

As an industry-driven graduate student, this was a great networking opportunity. I got to meet a fair amount of medicinal and process chemists from industry. This allowed me to get a lot of my questions answered. I thoroughly enjoyed the diverse action-packed organic lectures, I definitely learned a lot!. It was nice seeing the different presentation styles and how individuals used organic chemistry as a tool within their niche scopes. 10 out of 10 for the dinner experience!

As a WIPOS 2022 participant, I would like to share that I absolutely loved the experience! The overall conference atmosphere was very tight-knit and welcoming, thanks to the Rice University team that handled the organization very professionally.

The lectures delivered by the world’s top chemistry leaders were amazing, leaving me with a renewed sense of inspiration and drive for my own research. I had the pleasure of meeting and networking with esteemed professors and industrial leaders, who provided valuable insights and perspectives on my work, as well as brilliant chemistry students who made the experience a lot of fun and whom I am still in touch with. The food and drinks were delicious, high-quality, and very different from other conferences, with a wide variety of options to suit all tastes and dietary requirements.

As I left the conference, I felt more inspired and enthusiastic than ever about my future chemistry endeavors. I would highly recommend WIPOS to undergraduate/graduate students, and I look forward to attending again in the future! And of course, the weather, ocean, and vibrant Hawaiian vibes were really good too!

WIPOS was an incredible opportunity to meet and interact with faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from academic institutions across the globe. The smaller size of the conference made networking effective and the large faculty to student/postdoc ratio was truly outstanding. There was a diverse range of chemistry presented, which kept attendees highly engaged. The catered meals were delicious, and the symposium dinner was a ton of fun! I hope others, especially postdocs and graduate students, consider attending this conference–it’s one of a kind in the best way possible.

This past December, the WIPOS 2022 conference was held in Honolulu, Hawaii. The event was a generative opportunity to celebrate the holidays with like-minded individuals across academic and industrial fields. The discussions drew from diverse perspectives and contributed to breakthrough ideas and cutting-edge chemistry developments. The speakers were engaging and persuasive. They inspired me to pursue new organic and medicinal chemistry areas of inquiry. During my poster presentation, I received many helpful suggestions from the audience. I also learned from other participants’ research presentations and discussions. Finally, the conference provided all participants with breakfast and lunch with various food and drink options. I was especially impressed by the beautiful symposium dinner at Chef Chai’s restaurant. I greatly appreciate Prof. Laszlo Kurti and his team organizing and hosting this impactful event.

Being an undergraduate, I would best describe my time at WIPOS as the networking experience of a lifetime. I built relationships with well-established investigators and other graduate students alike. You learn so much over the course of four days: from chemistry of the highest level to meeting new chemists from all backgrounds and disciplines. As for the conference, it is very well-organized: conferences can be exhausting, but organizers were sure to provide plenty of refreshments as well as a la carte meals throughout each day. To summarize, WIPOS is a wonderful experience for scientists at every stage of their careers.

WIPOS 2022 was an outstanding event and an especially valuable opportunity for younger organic faculty to showcase their work to a highly focused group of established synthetic chemists from academia and industry. The symposium was organized exceptionally well with a good mixture of short talks, coffee breaks, social events, and time off for enjoying Hawaii in December. The size of the conference and environment helped facilitate many new connections throughout the week. I highly recommend this conference to other young investigators!

Thanks again for inviting me to attend WIPOS 2022. It is difficult to organize an international conference during COVID time. I enjoyed the conference very much. The quality of speakers is very high, and the conference atmosphere is both serious in academic and relax with the Hawaii style. I listened to many great presentations and had good communications with most speakers to make new bonds. Everyone is friendly and easy to talk with. It is also fabulous for me to get an opportunity to present in front of so many great scientists. The food is definitely very good, even though I feel it still can be improved in terms of Asian standard 🙂

I really enjoyed WIPOS 2022 conference. The conference included many top researchers with diverse backgrounds. The meeting was hosted in the most beautiful place, with great food and Kona coffee. With a relaxed atmosphere, it is extremely easy for young faculty such as myself to reach out, communicate and discuss with other faculties and researchers.

I loved the discussion and the extensive topics covered. The setting and structure allowed for lots of interactions with speakers and attendees. Overall, WIPOS was an excellent experience with great chemistry in a beautiful location.

My first time visiting Hawaii and one of the most amazing conferences I’ve ever experienced. I traveled all the way from the UK and it was absolutely worth it! We all received a warm welcome from Laszlo and the co-organizers at the initial drinks reception, and the atmosphere was very informal and inclusive. The line up of speakers was simply incredible – a good mix of career stages and some fantastic industrial talks also. All killer no filler. Everything ran like clockwork and the hospitality was outstanding – the conference lunches were restaurant-standard every single day. I would strongly recommend this event to anybody with an interest in organic chemistry, broadly defined, but especially so to early career researchers who will benefit from an amazing networking opportunity. Oh, and the location was… Hawaii – what’s not to like?!

I work in heterogeneous catalysis and came to WIPOS hoping to learn how my work in stereoselective hydrogenation would interface with the organic community. I had an awesome experience, had in-depth scientific interactions with many attendees, and got great feedback on my talk!

WIPOS 2022 was a fantastic event. The very friendly and welcoming environment coupled with quality lectures from world renowned and upcoming academics really highlighted this conference. The daily poster session also provided a great opportunity to network, caffeinate, and learn about all the new and interesting chemistry that is ongoing.

As someone who attended WIPOS for the first time in 2022, I was very impressed with the organization, the quality of presentations, and symposium and venue in general. The scope and level of science were phenomenal, ranging from biosynthesis, drug discovery and process development, and to novel methods and total synthesis. All participants were engaging, there were invigorating poster sessions, and delicious food and fresh Kona coffee in between, which ensured we all had tons of energy to keep us going. It was also great to interact with so many top researchers from our field and get to know them better, including during dinners or cocktails. I am definitely looking forward to returning soon!

You assembled an awesome group of participants from all over the world, even from unusual places such as South America. The well-paced sessions ran immaculately thanks to the conspicuously placed digital clock, which allowed the speakers to adjust their timing while presenting their work. Having posters within the lecture hall throughout the entire symposium also provided ample opportunity for participants to mingle, especially with the student/postdoc poster presenters. We participants appreciated that the breaks were not rushed. It was easy to interact with all levels of attendees with an ample amount of time. Lunches were great, as well as the banquet dinner on Tuesday night. I enjoyed the symposium tremendously.

WIPOS features a high-caliber lineup of presenters spanning early through late-career scientists in both academia and industry, combined with a beautiful beach-front resort in Hawaii. The conference is the perfect mix of great science, delicious food, and top-notch amenities. WIPOS is a great way to finish the year, I highly recommend it.

The conference was masterfully organized with every detail having been carefully attended to. The seminars were excellent with ample time to ask questions and discuss, and on a broad range of interlocking topics.

WIPOS 2022 featured four days of fantastic posters and short talks from leaders in the field of organic synthesis, with a healthy mixture of methods development, natural product synthesis, and chemical biology. The location of the conference also led to an impressive diversity of speakers, with research presented from all over the world and thus constituted a unique opportunity to network with new and interesting researchers. The atmosphere of the conference could be compared to a GRC, but with way superior food provided and lodging options. The banquet dinner was absolutely fantastic with selected options from a world-renown chef, and a boat tour of Waikiki Beach as a great optional activity.

Attending WIPOS 2022 was a delightful experience. The panel of speakers and the posters showed great diversity in today’s organic chemistry, there was extreme punctuality, and the talks were very engaging. Both during the daily socializing and at the symposium dinner, I had the opportunity to network with excellent colleagues. All in the warm atmosphere of Hawaii in winter, combined with excellent food. A very pleasant experience. I hope that in the future, my students will have the opportunity to also attend.

WIPOS 2022 was a huge success and I am sure WIPOS 2023 will similarly be an outstanding meeting. It is one of the best meetings I have been to for many years. Laszlo and his team are spectacular organizers and they make sure the program is interesting and inspiring. The location and timing attracts a large number of high profile scientists and there is plenty of time available for general conversation to complement the formal scientific program.​

The WIPOS conference was one of the best conferences I have ever attended. Professor Kürti was highly organized and made sure everything ran smoothly. The conference featured many high-profile speakers with diverse research topics and backgrounds. The young investigator segment provided an excellent opportunity for new Principle Investigators to disseminate their work. The continuous poster session was intimate and allowed enough time for discussion and networking with the presenters. The social events were great and very fun. The conference dinner session at Chef Chai was incredible. Of course, nothing can beat the location. I can’t think of a better conference. I will attend every year if I can.​

Lectures: Absolutely fantastic! Speakers are diverse, from rising stars to the Nobel laureate, and I enjoyed them. Perhaps we could have a bit longer Q&A session?

Interactions with participants, atmosphere: As the number of participants is relatively small, it was easy to find a chance to interact with others. The welcome party and symposium dinner also helped.