Held under the auspices of European Federation of Catalysis Societies (EFCATS) the 10th EuropaCat Congress was held in Glasgow, UK, from 28th August to 2nd September, 2011 (1). EuropaCat is a highly regarded biennial congress which brings together researchers from across Europe and further afield for scientific dissemination in catalysis. EuropaCat X was a truly international congress with approximately 1200 delegates attending, representing some 44 countries. The theme of the Congress was ‘catalysis across the disciplines’ with an aim of delivering a unified conference covering all aspects of catalysis. The setting for the conference was the Glasgow University main building, a fine example of Gothic revival architecture and a prominent local landmark.The programme included six plenary and 21 keynote lectures. The plenaries were presented by international leaders from a wide range of disciplines. In total over 210 oral presentations were given, representing the latest in scientific advances and successful commercial applications. Each day was split into five parallel sessions covering the following topics: Catalyst Preparation, Catalyst Characterisation, Kinetics and Mechanism, Theory and Modelling, Homogeneous Catalysis, Industrial Application, Catalyst Deactivation and Environmental Catalysis. In addition there were three poster sessions with approximately 900 posters. A parallel workshop on Selective Oxidation (ISO 2011, X European Workshop on Selective Oxidation) was organised independently with 17 oral presentations and 97 posters.There was an excellent attendance from industrial attendees who accounted for approximately 15% of the delegates, representing over 90 companies. The exhibition space, with 24 companies represented, was also well attended throughout the conference.A full social programme was organised for the attendees with a range of day trips available showcasing the best of Scotland. The conference dinner was held in the magnificent Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the final night's Céilidh was a popular and energetic event!In terms of its original aims EuropaCat X was a huge success in delivering a unified conference covering all aspects of catalysis and highlighting the huge breadth and depth of science and technology that is encompassed in the field. In terms of the impact of platinum group metals (pgms) in the conference, over 30% of the oral papers presented involved the use of pgms. A more detailed analysis shows the following split between the pgms: 32 platinum, 22 palladium, 13 ruthenium, 12 rhodium and 2 iridium papers respectively. The industrial applications sessions included 11 papers that incorporated pgms.With such a range of oral presentations and parallel sessions to choose from, this conference review can only discuss a few highlights. Therefore, in this review only papers which made significant use of pgms have been included.
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