On 3 March 2026, the University of Southampton hosted the 1st international POMORPHICS Workshop, a key gathering for the molecular-based neuromorphic engineering community. The event was co-organized by Prof. Dimitra Georgiadou and Dr. Evangelia Founta in collaboration with Dr. Kirill Monakhov from the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), head of the Switchable Molecularly Functionalized Surfaces group.

The workshop, supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), provided a high-level interdisciplinary forum to discuss recent advances and perspectives in the use of atomic and molecular switches, including polyoxometalates (POMs), for neuro-inspired electronic architectures.

Representing IOM, Marco Moors, a member of Dr. Monakhov’s group, delivered a presentation entitled “Polyoxovanadates as Molecular Switches – From Fundamentals to Applications”. The talk highlighted the group’s recent advances in multi-state molecular switching and interfacial engineering relevant to emerging neuromorphic devices.

Dr. Monakhov emphasized the broader significance of the event: “This workshop clearly demonstrated the importance of molecular science – from redox-active molecular oxides to electrochemical memristive devices – for future neuromorphic technologies. These concepts may enable new approaches to computing, sensing, and neuroprosthetics. We are already looking forward to the second edition of the POMORPHICS workshop”.

The sold-out meeting brought together leading researchers from Germany, Italy, India, and Japan, representing a wide range of expertise across chemistry, materials science, physics, and engineering. The workshop fostered lively interdisciplinary discussions and initiated new collaborations at the interface of molecular systems and neuromorphic electronics, highlighting the growing international interest in molecular approaches to next-generation device technologies.