Dr. Alya Adel Dawood, lecturer at the Department of Chemistry/ Faculty of Science, participated in the workshop under the title "Twist-Bend Nematics and Beyond" which was organized at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom on the 7th and 8th April 2016. Various researchers from eleven countries across the world contributed to the workshop which offered a very rich scientific environment for chemists, physicists and mathematicians to present and discuss their researches. The workshop programme involved 8 invited speakers, 17 oral presentations and 14 posters.

The aims and topics covered in the Workshop included the following:

• The design and creation of mesogenic molecules to form the Nematic Twist-Bend phase;

• The identification of the twist-bend nematic phase;

• The defining properties and order parameters of this new phase;

• Molecular and macroscopic theories for the existence of the twist-bend nematic phase;

• Interpretation of experimental results obtained for the phase with a range of sophisticated techniques;

• Electric and magnetic field effects and potential applications;

• Related modulated phases such as the splay-bend nematic phase.

In addition the twist-bend nematic phase and its intriguing behaviour was introduced to those not already in the field.

Dr. Alya participated in the poster presentation her work entitled "Structure-property relations, liquid crystal dimers and twist-bend nematics." This work included some of the novel results on the materials which exhibit this new nematic liquid crystal phase that has aroused so much interest. Moreover, the results showed further examples of the formation of the twist-bend nematic phase directly from the isotropic phase and not as usual from the nematic phase.