Organic Semiconductor Centre

The OSC brings together physicists and chemists at the University of St Andrews to undertake collaborative research on remarkable plastic-like materials that can conduct electricity and emit light. Organic materials are an important new class of semiconductors as they combine the virtues of plastics, which can be easily shaped, with those of semiconductors which are the basis of all microelectronics. These novel materials can be used to make lightweight flexible optoelectronic devices such as displays, solar cells and lasers. Established in 2001, the OSC is an interdisciplinary research centre with the principal aim of advancing organic semiconductors towards applications in the semiconductor, electronics and optoelectronics industries. The OSC aims to encourage synergy between physicists and chemists to develop the next generation of organic semiconductors. Recently the OSC has also started to develop collaborations with researchers in biology and medicine. The OSC facilitates the achievement of this goal by providing world class facilities for the researchers within the centre and by focusing on conjugated polymers and dendrimers, as well as their combination with quantum dots.