We enjoyed a meal and much whisky tasting at Howies and the Bow Bar along with the rest of the Physical Section for the Christmas lunch.

Time for the Secret Santa came and the office became a dangerous place, equipped with a plethora of toy guns and other weaponry.

Our annual group Christmas dinner was held at My Big Fat Greek Kitchen.

Xianlun finished his project and left for a tour around Europe before returning to Singapore to complete his degree.

In honour of Dr Johan's birthday, we went out to a Malaysian restaurant.

We all enjoyed a night of bowling, where Chaweewan impressed us all with her good shots and high score, after a tasty pub meal.

Dima and Salavat, two visiting Russian researchers from Novosibirsk, left us after spending a few weeks here in our labs and our country.

Eleanor started her Masters project, involving trapping and spectroscopy of diatoms.

Andrew passed his viva.

David and Alice started their Masters projects. These are about Raman-transport of single-walled carbon nanotubes and chemical functionalisation of carbon nanotubes for CO₂ capture, respectively.

Guo Xianlun joined us to do a research project on ultrafast ionisation of C₆₀ as part of an exchange program from his home university in Singapore.

Johan left us to continue his career in nanocarbon science with a post doc job at a university in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The Korean students left Edinburgh to continue their research in warmer climates at home.

We took a trip to the driving range to practise our swings.

Johan passed his viva.

Andrew submitted his thesis.

Korean food and Thai food were both on offer in a very tasty meal cooked at Olof's.

Five students from Konkuk University, South Korea, arrived in Edinburgh to spend a month in our labs and exploring the country.

The annual group outing took us unto the heart of the Trossachs for a trip on the historic steamboat: Sir Walter Scott.

Olof, Gordon and Kirsten went off to Firbush on a trip organised by Olof and Grant (from HWU) to promote Physical Chemistry and forge links with Heriot Watt's Physical Chemistry section. High winds, overturned lorries, powercuts and sinking minibuses made it very memorable.

Johan submitted his thesis.

The Cambell group again excelled in the annual school Images of Chemistry competition. Olof and Chaweewan's images won their classes.

The annual ChemSoc football league came to an end. The Portobello Mushrooms pulled out a good final match to raise their position from second-last to a proud 9th in the league.

Some of our work featured at the Atomise exhibition, part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival hosted by Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens.

Eleanor received widespread press for solving the "Low memory problem" with a fantastic nanotube device that might revolutionise mobile phone technology.

Nia, Devin and Matt finished their Masters projects.

Kirsten, Bex Harding (undergrad chemist) and Hollie Orr (undergrad engineer), won a gold medal at the British Universities Relay Orienteering Championships, helping Edinburgh University Orienteering Club to retain the overall title of British Universities and Colleges Sport Orienteering Championshions.

Chaweewan introduced us to Thai food at Ruan Siam. There was lots of exciting choices and new flavours to experience.

We celebrated Pancake Day at Kirsten's where the pancakes were not perfect but the many toppings made up for it.

In accordance with her delocalised nature, Ada left us to continue her work in Warsaw.

The annual ChemSoc football league kicked off and Portobello Mushrooms amazed all with their new kit.

The ChemSoc Burns Supper was an excuse for the boys to wear kilts, some for the first time.