NREL 2023 Solar Photochemistry Retreat
The Solar Photochemistry Program at NREL met for an offsite retreat on April 27th, 2023, where we had ~30 participants comprised of 6 RASEI Fellows, 1 RASEI Research Associate, NREL Research Staff, Postdoctoral Researchers, Graduate Researchers, and NREL Interns.Ìý This event sponsored by RASEI allowed us to meet offsite and away from the typical NREL distractions to focus on strengthening our programmatic scientific efforts, developing new ideas and synergistic research ideas, building our team dynamics, and increasing collaboration across our Program.Ìý The day consisted of an energetic poster session, interactive scientific sessions, a productive DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) planning session, an engaging lunch, and an optional Boulder social meetup at the end of the day.Ìý
Pictures from the morning poster session, where postdocs, graduate students, and interns presented their Solar Photochemistry Program related research.
Survey results for “On a scale of 0-10 (10 being the best), how effective did you find the Solar Photochemistry Retreat? (i.e. Did you learn something new? Make a new connection? Gain new insight?â€
To collect feedback from all participants, we conducted a survey and found that overall participants found the retreat to be beneficial and would like to do this at least annually.Ìý Other specifics from the survey included new research directions, how we interact during our monthly recurring meetings, and ideas for the 2024 offsite retreat.
Major outcomes from the 2023 retreat were beginning our preparation for the 2024 Program Renewal, establishing new research directions, making new connections across the Team, and communicating our latest scientific results.Ìý This $4.5M/year program (3-year renewal cycle) will be up for renewal in 2024, and this offsite retreat gave us the time and space to begin thinking about how to 1) structure the renewal, 2) develop a PIER (Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research) plan, which will be new to us in 2024, and 3) get all participants up to speed on the latest research. These 3 aspects will pay dividends during our 2024 Renewal that consists of both a written and in-person review of our program by DOE and reviewers.