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Matthew Andrews

Matthew completed his MChem degree at Heriot-Watt University in 2016. In his final year project he focused on the development of Heterocyclic linked bis-Calixarenes, working under the guidance of Dr Magnus Bebbington and Dr Scott Dalgarno. His Criticat PhD project will be supervised by Dr Stephen Mansell and Dr Ruaraidh McIntosh and will focus on the development of catalysts for incorporation of CO2 into polymers. Outside of chemistry Matthew enjoys singing and the outdoors.

Amy Bremner

Amy completed both her BSc and MRes at Heriot-Watt University where she worked under the guidance of Dr Valeria Arrighi. In her undergraduate project she carried out infrared studies of polymer membranes. During her Masters project she focused on the physical aging effects on polymer nanocomposites. Her CRITICAT project will look at the production of a microfluidic device powered by visible light under the guidance of Dr Filipe Vilela and Dr Jin Xuan. She enjoys walking with the dogs, baking and reading.

Joshua Clark

Joshua studied at the University of Bristol where he graduated with an MSci in Chemistry. He undertook a BBSRC-funded summer placement with Prof. Chris Willis on the biosynthesis of the Strobilurin natural products. Later he completed his masters project under the supervision of Dr Carmen Galan investigating an SNAr-based synthetic route to novel NHCs. His CRITICAT PhD will be in bio-organic and organofluorine chemistry and he will be supervised by Prof. David O’Hagan at the University of St Andrews. Outside of the lab Joshua has a keen interest in film and contemporary art.

Thomasine Curzon

Thomasine obtained her MChem in chemistry from Heriot-Watt University in 2016. For her final year project she studied the isomers of cobaltacarborane under the supervision with Prof. Alan Welch and Prof. Stuart Macgregor. She joined the CRITICAT programme under the supervision of Dr Petr Killian and will study main group catalysis with geometry constraints. In her spare time she enjoys netball, cross stitching and baking.

Silvia De Cesare

Silvia studied at the University of Pavia in Italy, where she obtained her bachelor and Masters degree in Chemistry. During her training period with Prof. Vidari and Prof. Zanoni research group she worked on the development of a methodology for a new organocatalytic asymmetric biomimetic cyclizations for the synthesis of sesquiterpene like systems. She will carry out her CRITICAT CDT PhD with Prof. Campopiano at the university of Edinburg and her project will focus in further developing the potential of a coupled racemase-acylase biocatalyst for the production of chiral building block. Outside chemistry she likes reading fantasy books, playing RPI and adventure games, swimming and cooking.

Liam Donnelly

Liam completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Nottingham where he graduated with an MChem degree with a year in industry. For his Masters project he worked under the supervision Prof. Hon Wai Lam developing a rhodium-catalysed C-H functionalisation reaction in the synthesis of a series of lead-like compounds. Liam also undertook a summer placement with Dr. Ross Denton working on a project to optimise and demonstrate an iridium-catalysed reductive amination reaction. He completed his year in industry in the department of process chemistry at MSD in Hertfordshire. Here he undertook a research project in the discovery and development of a novel copper-catalysed intramolecular coupling reaction. His PhD will focus on the use of high oxidation state complexes as catalysts for reduction reaction, this project will be jointly supervised by Prof. Jason Love and Dr. Stephen Thomas at the University of Edinburgh. Outside of chemistry, Liam enjoys playing and watching football, music and travel.

Steven Gray

Steven graduated with an MChem from the University of St Andrews. He used his fourth year to do an Industrial Placement, working for William Blythe Ltd in Lancashire, a manufacturer of speciality inorganic chemicals. In his final year project, Steven was supervised by Prof. Derek Woollins and looked at reactions of sulfur-nitrogen species in liquid ammonia. Steven will be undergoing his CRITICAT PhD with Prof. Polly Arnold at the University of Edinburgh, investigating cooperative dinuclear Lewis acidic catalysts. Steven spends much of his spare time playing the bagpipes, often in competitions - as a soloist or in a pipe band.

Will Hartley

Will graduated from the University of Sheffield with an MChem in 2016. His Masters research project was supervised by Prof. Patrick Fowler FRS, and involved calculation of the aromaticity of interesting mesoionic heterocycles. In addition, he spent 2 months working with Prof. Joe Harrity on the synthesis of münchnones and subsequent cycloaddition reactions. His PhD project will be supervised by Prof. Andrew Smith, and will focus on the enantioselective Lewis Base activation of carboxylic acids. Apart from chemistry, Will has an unhealthy obsession with coffee, Manchester music and golf.

Bryony Hockin

Bryony grew up in Lewes, a small town near Brighton, which first sparked her interest in chemistry with its fantastic annual firework displays. She obtained her MChem from the University of Durham in 2016; her final year project was on the topic of synthesis and physical organic properties of novel stable Blatter radicals. Not content with how far away Durham was from home, she has now moved even further away to St Andrews to study for a PhD on the CRITICAT CDT program under the supervision of Dr Eli Zysman-Colman and Prof. Neil Robertson. Her PhD project will develop new photoredox catalysts for CO2 reactions. In her free time she enjoys hiking, gardening, photography and blogging.

Rebekah Jeans

Rebekah studied in Edinburgh and graduated with a MChem from Heriot-Watt University in 2016. She undertook her Masters project with Prof. Alan Welch studying carborane catalysis and now her CRITICAT PhD project will be supervised by Prof. Alan Welch again, but the focus will be on metallacarborane catalysis. During her spare time she likes to rock climb, swim, and bake.

Teresa Machado

Teresa studied at the University of Lisbon and graduated with a Masters Degree in Biological Engineering. For her Masters thesis project, she went to a research laboratory at the University of Twente, in Netherlands. Here she developed an optimized microfluidic device for electrophysiological studies of cell-free synthesized ion channels, under the guidance of Dr Séverine Le Gac. Her CRITICAT PhD project will be supervised by Dr Rafael Guimarães da Silva and Dr Tracey Gloster at the University of St Andrews, and will focus on probing the chemical mechanisms of a bifunctional enzyme involved in histidine biosynthesis. Teresa enjoys reading, listening to music, cooking and travelling.

Euan Mclean

Euan grew up in Kirkcaldy and graduated from Heriot-Watt University in June 2016, with an MChem degree in Chemistry with pharmaceutical chemistry. He carried out his Masters project as a member of the group of Dr Ai-Lan Lee, investigating regioselective Au(I) catalysed hydroalkoxylations of monosubstituted allenes. His PhD research will focus on dual gold photoredox catalysis under the supervision of Dr Ai-Lan Lee.

Ivalina Minova

Ivalina was born in Sofia (Bulgaria) and graduated from the University of Durham in 2016 (MChem, 1st class). As part of her final year, she undertook a placement in Johnson Matthey PLC where she worked on two research projects in the area of heterogeneous catalysis. She will be making new zeolites containing transition metals and help design a cell for performing in situ synchrotron studies of industrially relevant SCR and MTO reactions under the supervision of Prof Paul Wright in St. Andrews and Prof Andy Beale in Harwell. Ivalina enjoys swimming, hiking and being part of a church community here at St. Andrews.

Chiara Pischetola

Chiara obtained her Bachelor and Master degree in Science and Technology of Industrial Chemistry from the University of Naples Federico II working with Prof. Martino Di Serio. During her master thesis, she studied a new catalytic system for the epoxidation of soybean oil focusing on the use of zeolites as heterogeneous catalyst. She will carry out her PhD project under the supervision of Prof. Mark Keane at Heriot-Watt University. Her CRITICAT PhD project entails the study of the sustainable catalytic conversion of Furfural and its derivatives into a diversity of high value products. Outside the University, Chiara likes camping, reading books and playing fantasy table-top role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons.

Scott Stinson

Scott grew up in Belfast and graduated from Heriot-Watt University in 2016 with an MChem Degree in Chemistry with Nanotechnology. For his final year project, under the guidance of Dr. Gareth Lloyd, he studied hydroxamate based tetrahedral cages in solution and the implementation of 2-thiazoline heterocycles in the design of new coordination complexes. Scott will carry out his PhD project with the supervision of Dr. Euan Kay (St Andrews), aiding the synthesis of ligands and rotaxanes which when combined with gold nanoparticles may act as switchable catalysts. Outside of chemistry he is an avid runner, a keen reader of science fiction and loves to skate.

Sandy Stiven

Sandy completed his MChem at the University of Edinburgh in 2015. During his fourth year he worked with Prof Rafael Chinchilla at the University of Alicante in Spain developing small-molecule organocatalysts. His final year project was carried out in the group of Prof Neil McKeown, synthesising new Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) for use in gas separation. He will return to work with Prof McKeown, along with Dr Stephen Moggach, on the development of Metal-organic Frameworks for use in catalysis, incorporating phthalocyanine and porphyrin structures. Outside chemistry he enjoys travelling, hiking in the Scottish highlands, and trying new craft beers.

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