Elena Pulidori represented ThermoLab as a Keynote Speaker at the 3rd Central and Eastern European Conference on Physical Chemistry & Materials Science (CEEC-PCMS3) and the 35th CATCAR Symposium, held in Bucharest, Romania, on 14–17 October 2026. Her keynote lecture, entitled “Pectin Ionotropic Gelation: Exploring the Role of Divalent Cations from Molecular Interactions to Macroscopic Properties”, focused on the mechanisms of pectin gelation, highlighting how interactions between divalent cations and polymer chains influence gel formation, network architecture and macroscopic properties. The presentation brought together thermodynamic and structural approaches to understanding polysaccharide hydrogels, highlighting ThermoLab’s research on the relationship between molecular interactions and material properties.