ChemCon 2026

Name: ChemCon 2026
Start: 2026-05-05T19:00:00Z
End: 2026-05-08T02:59:00Z
Location: University of New Brunswick

University of New Brunswick

May 5-7, 2026

Attend

There may be a limited number of rooms available on campus, even though summer accommodations are not officially open at the time of ChemCon. Email stay@unb.ca for information.

Stay at the Crowne Plaza in Fredericton:

30 rooms are blocked off at a rate is $175 per night, additional charge beyond double occupancy is $10/person.

Booking deadline extended to 10 April!

Both options have 2 queen beds, a mini fridge, and do not allow smoking

Book online at this link:

https://rebrand.ly/CHEMCON26

Or call 1-506-455-3371 to speak with the front desk.

Reserve a room via email by specifically noting you're booking the “ChemCon 2026” room block and emailing reservations@cpfredericton.com

The last day to book is now 10 April, 2026! - booking deadline extended to 10 April in consideration of the Easter holiday

The number of rooms blocked off for ChemCon at the Crowne Plaza are limited, so early booking is encouraged. You are also welcome to find alternative accommodations. Please reach out to the organizing committee at chemcon@unb.ca if you would like suggestions.

Payment is required to park on campus between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, during which time all vehicles parked on campus must have a valid permit or parking session. Conference attendees driving to campus will therefore need to pay to park on Wednesday and Thursday. Visitors can park in General parking lots (blue on the parking map linked below) and pay by the hour ($1.50/hour), with a daily maximum rate of $6 plus usage fee. Parking fees are collected using the HotSpot app or portal. There are signs with QR codes posted in each general parking lot, which link to the following HotSpot payment form: https://hotspotparking.com/tapPoster/park/unb001 . Complete and pay when you park, not in advance.

The most convenient parking to most conference activities are the lots at the north end of campus (bottom of the campus parking map) adjacent to buildings 1 and 3 (Lady Beaverbrook Gym and Richard J. Currie Center, respectively). Conference registration and oral sessions are in the Kinesiology Building (#2 on the map); poster session and grad fair are in the Currie Center.
https://www.unb.ca/security/_assets/documents/parking-map.pdf
We will have some print copies available at the registration desk on Tuesday.

The pizza and trivia event on Tuesday and the awards banquet on Thursday will be in the ballroom of the Student Union Building (SUB), a short walk up the hill from the Kinesiology Building. After 4 p.m., visitors can park at no charge in the student parking lot on Pacey Drive (yellow on the map), opposite the SUB, or any of the blue general parking lots.

More information about parking at UNB is available at this page: https://www.unb.ca/parking/index.html

Oral presentations:

Presenters should arrive at their designated room at least 10 minutes before the start of their assigned session to ensure enough time to upload their presentation to the room computer. Presenters should bring a copy of their presentation on a USB or flash drive for this. As a back up, presenters can email themselves a copy of their presentation in case of technical issues.

Oral presentations will be 12 minutes long with a 3-minute question period. At five minutes remaining, a green sign will be shown to the presenter, at two minutes remaining, a yellow sign will be shown, at 45 seconds remaining, a red sign will be shown and the cutoff at 12 minutes will be signalled with a bell. Strict timelines will be followed.

Poster presentations:

Posters should be no larger than 46" by 46"; poster boards and push pins will be provided for display. The poster session will occur on Wednesday, 6 May from 2:15-4:30 pm in the Long Hall on level 4 of the Richard J. Currie Center. This building is adjacent and connected to the Kinesiology Building where the oral sessions and lunch will be taking place. The Long Hall will be available from noon on Wednesday for putting up of posters.

UNB campus map PDF: https://www.unb.ca/scm/_assets/documents/frederictonmap.pdf

Map of Fredericton PDF: https://www.frederictoncapitalregion.ca/sites/1/files/2024-05/FCR-AttractionsMap-2024-17x12-WEB.pdf

Email: chemcon@unb.ca

Campus Security Available 24/7

In case of an emergency, call 911. Only call the security office if time allows.

Security Services staff provide a point-to-point escort anywhere on campus from 8:30PM - 11:30PM.

You can access this via the Safewalk specific cellphone +1 (506) 470-8304, the security office +1 (506) 453-4830, or email campuspatrol@unb.ca.

There are seven blue emergency phones are located across campus. They provide direct voice access to the Security Services Office in the Central Utility Building.

Their locations are shown here, along with the location of defibrillators and epi-pens: https://www.unb.ca/security/_assets/documents/aed.pdf.

Phone: (506) 453-4830

Email: security@unb.ca

May 5-7, 2026

University of New Brunswick

Welcome

ChemCon is a student-organized conference with a focus on showcasing student achievement and demonstrating opportunities for aspiring chemists. The conference comprises several events such as keynote speakers, student talks, a research poster fair, workshops, networking events, and group activities.

This year's host for ChemCon is The University of New Brunswick. Given this, we respectfully acknowledge that ChemCon 2026 is situated on the unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Wolastoqey, Mi'gmaw, and Peskotomuhkati peoples.

Conference Theme

This year ChemCon's theme is "The Future of Chemistry". We intend to highlight future developments in chemistry that change how we do things, like the march towards using renewables rather than fossil fuels. Inversely, the future of our world can impact how we do chemistry as well, like how new advancements in AI are changing the way that we do chemistry.

Science Atlantic

Science Atlantic is a registered charitable organization with a goal of creating strong relationships across the scientific community. The organization brings together 18 post-secondary institutions in Atlantic Canada. Science Atlantic members host a variety of events, including ten annual student conferences in a variety of scientific fields. ChemCon is one of the largest annual student conferences in Atlantic Canada.

Registration and Abstract Submission

Students from across Atlantic Canada are warmly invited to participate in Science Atlantic ChemCon 2026. Registration and abstract submissions open March 16 and close April 29, and students are encouraged to submit their work for either oral or poster presentations.

For those choosing a poster presentation, your posters must be no larger than 46" high by 46" wide (smaller is fine).

An early bird registration period will run from March 16 to April 6, offering a reduced registration rate.

For Undergraduates, the early bird rate is $65, with the regular rate being $80.
For Graduates, the early bird rate is $95, with the regular rate being $110.
For Faculty, the early bird rate is $120, with the regular rate being $140.
For recruiters and industry representatives who would like to participate in the conference, the early bird rate is $130, with the regular rate being $150.
The cost of a banquet ticket is $60.

We look forward to welcoming everyone to share their research, connect with peers, and celebrate chemistry together.

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Anna KlinkovaUniversity of Waterloo

After receiving her B.Sc. in chemistry from Saint Petersburg State University (Russia) and extensive experience in organic synthesis at SPBU Institute of Chemistry and at Leipzig University (Germany), Anna did her M.Sc. at the Center for Photochemical Sciences at Bowling Green State University (United States) studying semiconductor quantum dots for solar cells.

Anna received her Ph.D. in materials chemistry from the University of Toronto in 2015 where her research evolved around nanoparticle self-assembly, plasmonics, and catalysis. During her Ph.D., she was a visiting research scholar at Brookhaven National Lab (United States) and the University of Bayreuth (Germany). After graduation, she worked on carbon dioxide electroreduction catalysts at the UofT as a Connaught postdoctoral fellow.

She started her independent research career at the University of Waterloo in Fall 2017 as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. Her current research interests include the synthesis, physical properties, and structural stability of nanoscale materials and their applications in sustainable chemistry.

Dr. Michael FreundDalhousie University

Dr. Freund was born in Gainesville Florida in 1964. He received a B.S. Degree in Chemistry from Florida Atlantic University in 1987. After he received his Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of Florida, he became a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. His research contributions helped to establish a multi-investigator interdisciplinary research program on the development olfactory-inspired sensor arrays.

He began his academic career as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Lehigh University before moving back to Caltech as the Director of the Materials Science Center in the Beckman Institute. In 2002, he moved to the University of Manitoba where he attained the rank of Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Electronic Materials. During his thirteen years at the University of Manitoba he has been either lead or co-PI on projects securing over $30M in research and infrastructure funding through federal and regional funding sources, which he leveraged to establish the Manitoba Institute for Materials as Director.

He joined the faculty at Dalhousie University in 2018 where he is Harry Shirreff Professor of Chemical Research and Director of the Clean Technologies Research Institute. While at Dal he has established an NSERC funded, graduate training program in energy sustainability and has been involved in raising over $10M in research and infrastructure funding. Dr. Freund has published over 115 articles with over 8,000 citations and has been issued 28 US and 15 international patents.

If you're interested in becoming a sponsor for ChemCon, email us at chemcon@unb.ca or message us on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/chemcon.2026/

Our Sponsors

The organizing committee of Science Atlantic ChemCon 2026 would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our sponsors for their generous support. Their contributions play an essential role in making this conference possible and in supporting the advancement of chemical sciences across the Atlantic region. Through their commitment to education, research, and student engagement, our sponsors help create valuable opportunities for learning, collaboration, and innovation among emerging scientists. We greatly appreciate their partnership and dedication to the scientific community.