Simon grew up in Birmingham before completing his MChem degree at Bangor University graduating in 2017. For his masters project, he worked under the supervision of Prof Mike Beckett synthesising cationic templated pentaborate anions. During the summer of 2016 he worked at the University of Bern in the Reymond group producing peptides and dendrimers. His CRITICAT CDT project is with Dr Renald Schaub at the University of St Andrews and will involve ultra-microscopy of catalytically active surfaces. Outside of chemistry, Simon is a long-distance runner who competes over various distances and terrains. 

Manos studied at the University of Athens, Greece where he graduated with a BSc in Chemistry. His Diploma capstone research project took place under the supervision of Prof. Gimisis and focused on the organic synthesis of potential inhibitors of glycogen phosphorylase. He participated in the EU-funded Erasmus+ traineeship program as a research intern in University of Cyprus with Prof. Koutentis, focusing on the organic synthesis of Canthin-4-one alkaloids. His PhD research will focus on hosted catalysts, in particular Au(I) catalysis enhancement using supramolecular cage encapsulation and computational chemistry guidance. Besides chemistry he enjoys reading science fiction, motorbike trips and trying out new beers.

Catherine is from South West Scotland and graduated with MChem in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry with Industrial experience from the University of Edinburgh. Her industrial year was spent as a Medicinal Chemist at GSK Stevenage and she completed her Masters research on the biomimetic synthesis of natural product like compounds with the Lawrence group. Her interest in Biocatalysis led her to undertake a three-month summer project at Edinburgh University under the supervision of Prof. Alison Hulme and Prof. Dominic Campopiano, sponsored by GSK. She will undertake her CRITICAT PhD with Prof. Dominic Campopiano and Dr Andrew Lawrence researching biomimetic amine donors for transaminases at Edinburgh University. In her spare time, she enjoys playing shinty and swimming, in addition to helping out on the family farm.

Michela studied at the University of Bologna where she obtained her BSc and MSc in Medicinal Chemistry and Technology. She spent one year working in a synthetic chemistry lab for her master thesis project, which involved the design and synthesis of semi-natural hybrid compounds inspired on eco-sustainable drug discovery for neglected tropical diseases (such as Malaria, Trypanosomiasis etc.). After her graduation, Michela secured a fellowship to do a further year of research at the University of Glasgow, Institute of Infection Immunity and Inflammation, where she had the opportunity to test her compounds for the in vitro activity and mode of action. Michela's PhD project will focus on the bioengineering of fatty acid and lipid metabolism to make value-added products. Besides chemistry she enjoys reading, music, cooking and hiking.

Matt graduated with an MChem with a year abroad degree from Cardiff University in 2017. He spent his year abroad in Hong Kong working with Professor Leung Wa-Hung at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology investigating the chemistry of porphyrin complexes with the noble metals. In his final year project, Matt worked under Dr Rebecca Melen on the subject of the reactivity of pnictogen cations. His CRITICAT PhD project will be on the subject of Hydroelementation and Redox Catalysis with well-defined Early Main Group Metal Complexes with Dr Andreas Stasch. Outside of chemistry Matt enjoys cooking, walking with and without dogs, watching TV and spending money on music. He also always makes sure he can find the time to be disappointed by the perennially mediocre Aston Villa.

​Jag attended the University of Leicester where he obtained a master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. His final year project was carried out under the supervision of Dr Michael Whitcombe and focused on the design and synthesis of a novel thermally activated, water soluble ‘iniferter’ (initiator, chain transfer agent, terminator) for use in aqueous controlled radical polymerisation. Since graduating he spent half a year working as a chemist in a peptide manufacturing company.  In his spare time, he likes to walk amongst nature taking photographs of things he finds interesting, occasionally making drawings from the photos. He also enjoys watching movies, TV and listening to music. His entered the CRITICAT programme under the supervision of Dr Rebecca Goss. The project aims to harmonise the activities of new intriguing halogenase enzymes with palladium catalysts, thereby affording access to new compounds.

After spending two years playing professional football for Livingston F.C, Paul carried out his MChem degree in Chemistry with Industrial Experience at Heriot-Watt University. His placement was spent within the catalysis team at AstraZeneca (Macclesfield), where he expanded the scope of transaminase enzymes. Under the supervision of Dr Stephen Mansell, Paul completed his Masters project which involved the synthesis of N-donor ligands for olefin polymerisation by nickel complexes, in which he received the Dr James Sandilands prize for inorganic chemistry. As part of the CDT, Paul will be working under the joint supervision of Professor Andrew Smith and Professor Polly Arnold where he will use metal NHC complexes for C-Element Cleavage and Functional Group Transfer. Outside of chemistry Paul enjoys playing golf, going to the gym and watching Hearts of Midlothian F.C. 

Stelios comes from Cyprus and obtained his BSc from Democritus University of Thrace (D.U.Th) in Xanthi, Greece as a civil engineer. His studies involved determining the amount of floating particles in the water of Kosynthos river after precipitation events. Stelios continued his studies at the University of Glasgow, undertaking an MSc in Sustainable Energy, which included a research project that modeled solar photovoltaic modules with MATLAB/Simulink. Stelios' PhD will be conducted at Heriot-Watt University with  Prof. Mercedes Maroto-Valer focusing on the development of novel catalysts for the production of solar liquid fuels. In his spare time Stelios enjoys mountaineering and climbing activities.

Weronika graduated with MChem in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh in July 2017. In her fourth year, she spent a year in Prof Paul Dyson’s research laboratory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland where she worked on the catalytic synthesis of methanol from carbon dioxide and diols via cyclic carbonates. Upon her return to Edinburgh, she undertook her final year project with Dr Jennifer Garden, looking at the catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to oxygenated polymeric materials. She is looking forward to taking this project further during her PhD. In her spare time away from chemistry, Weronika likes to test out new recipes in the kitchen, explore new places and keep active by swimming and going to the gym.

Fabian Hesse finished his master degree in chemistry at the University of Kiel in 2016. He completed his master thesis at the University of Lisbon under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ana Paula Carvalho, which involved the preparation and characterization of activated carbons based on industrial sisal waste. During his PhD, Fabian will develop pervoskite oxide thermochemical catalysts for the production of solar fuels at Heriot-Watt University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Dr Jan-Willem Bos.In his spare time, he enjoys playing football, hiking and playing the e-guitar.

Ryan grew up in Bristol and completed his undergraduate MSci degree in Chemistry at the University of Birmingham. He did his final year project under the supervision of Dr John Fossey developing new phase-transfer catalysts using Click Chemistry. His PhD will involve developing a catalytic, asymmetric variant of the 1,2-Wittig Rearrangement under the supervision of Dr R A Aitken (St Andrews). Outside of his degree Ryan enjoys Boxing and Muay Thai as well as reading and gaming.

Nina obtained a MChem degree in Chemistry with Industrial Experience from Heriot-Watt University. Her industrial placement was carried out with Macfarlan Smith, a Johnson Matthey company, in the Analytical Development department. Nina’s final year research project was with Dr Stephen Mansell and Dr Ruaraidh McIntosh and utilised bisphenolate ligands with lanthanide and group 3 transition-metal catalysts for carrying out green polymerisations. She will carry out her CRTICAT PhD with Dr Matt Clarke at the University of St Andrews and this focuses on enantioselective and regioselective carbonylations in the synthesis of chiral heterocycles. In her spare time she enjoys fencing, baking and reading.

Liz graduated with a MEng degree from Heriot-Watt University in 2016. Her final Year project involved the use of molecularly imprinted polymers in drug delivery systems. Her CRITICAT PhD will be carried out under the supervision of Dr Humphry Yiu at Heriot-Watt University and will examine hybrid enzymatic-heterogeneous catalytic systems for fine chemical synthesis.

Kelly graduated from The University of Manchester with an MChem in 2016. Her final year project was supervised by Prof. Peter Budd and involved the fabrication and performance analysis of polymer-graphene nanocomposites as CO2 capture membranes. She will carry out her PhD with Prof. Manfred Buck in St Andrews working on the development of low-dimensional metal structures for use in electrocatalysis.

Lotte van Rees graduated from the University of Amsterdam after completing her MChem degree in ‘Molecular design synthesis and catalysis’ in 2017. She completed her Master project under the supervision of Professor Jason Love on aminium perrhenate catalysed deoxydehydration. Her research project will focus on the C-H oxygenation reaction using homo- and heterodinuclear Pacman compounds. Lotte’s hobbies include playing the ukulele and the piano and giving SFX makeup tutorials.

​Andrew Woods obtained his MChem from St Andrews in 2017. For his final year project, he studied natural product inspired Trypanosoma brucei inhibitors under the supervision of Dr. Gordon Florence. He joined the CRITICAT programme under the supervision of Dr. Gordon Florence and Dr. Tracey Gloster and will study the biocatalytic synthesis of high value and important sugar derivatives. In his spare time he enjoys walking, baking and reading.