SAVE THE DATE! Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 10:30 hrs ICTP Colloquium on " Materials Design for a Sustainable Planet" with Prof. Omar Yaghi, followed by a panel discussion

[Infopoint]

Dear All,

You are most cordially invited to the ICTP Colloquium on "Materials 
Design for a Sustainable Planet" jointly organised by ICTP and 
University of Trieste. It will feature a talk by *chemistry Nobel 
laureate Prof. Omar Yaghi *on "*Covalent Organic Frameworks, Molecular 
Weaving and AI for the Planet*", followed by a panel discussion 
with*Prof. Laura Gagliardi *(U. Chicago),*Prof. Hexiang Deng *(Wuhan U.) 
and *Prof. Paolo Fornasiero* (U. Trieste), moderated by *Prof. Ralph 
Gebauer* (ICTP).

The Colloquium will take place on *Wednesday 27 May 2026 in the Budinich 
Lecture Hall at ICTP at 10:30 hrs CET*.

Prof. Yaghi is a University Professor and the James and Neeltje Tretter 
Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. He is the 
Founding Director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute whose mission 
is to build centers of research in developing countries and provide 
opportunities for young scholars to discover and learn.
He is also the Co-Director of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute 
(Kavli ENSI) focusing on the basic science of energy transformation on 
the molecular level, the California Research Alliance by BASF (CARA) 
supporting joint academia-industry innovations, as well as the Bakar 
Institute of Digital Materials for the Planet (BIDMaP) which aims to 
develop cost-efficient, easily deployable versions of two classes of 
ultra porous materials – known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and 
covalent organic frameworks (COFs) – to help limit and address the 
impacts of climate change. Prof. Yaghi received the Nobel Price in 
Chemistry in 2025.


Abstract:
I will first introduce covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as a versatile 
class of crystalline porous materials that enable precise control over 
composition, topology, and function. I will highlight how their modular 
construction provides a powerful platform for designing materials with 
applications in carbon capture for addressing planetary challenges. 
Building on this foundation, I will then introduce the concept of 
molecular weaving within COFs—the deliberate interlacing of organic 
building units to create extended, ordered structures in which topology 
itself becomes a design principle. Unlike conventional covalent or 
supramolecular assemblies, these woven COF architectures gain mechanical 
robustness, flexibility, and emergent behavior from entanglement at the 
molecular scale. Finally, I will discuss how artificial intelligence is 
accelerating the discovery and optimization of these enabling predictive 
design of structures, properties, and synthesis pathways at 
unprecedented speed.


The event will be livetreamed at:
http://ictp.it/livestream

Refreshments will be served after the event.

For details,  see link:https://indico.ictp.it/event/11349

Looking forward to your participation.

With best regards,

Director's Office, ICTP
www.ictp.it
SAVE THE DATE! Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 10:30 hrs ICTP Colloquium on " 
Materials Design for a Sustainable Planet" with Prof. Omar Yaghi, 
followed by a panel discussion