Prof Scott Bohle

Visiting professor

Prof (PhD, University of Aukland – 1988)

Project

Scott Bohle is an inorganic chemist who has travelled widely before assuming his current position as a CRC Chair of Chemical Biology at McGill University in Montreal Canada. Upon completion of his Bachelor's degree at Reed College, Portland Oregon, he taught with the Peace Corp in the South Pacific Island State of Western Samoa. He then resumed his studies in chemistry at the University of Auckland where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1988 for research related to the chemistry of low valent phosphorus. This training was followed by postdoctoral fellowships in Freiburg Germany, with Professor Heinrich Vahrenkamp (cluster chemistry), and at Stanford University (biomimetic metalloporphyrin chemistry) with Professor Jim Collman. In 1991 he started his independent career at the University of Wyoming and rose rapidly to the Rank of Full Professor. In August 2002 he moved to McGill University in Montreal. Current research interests include the biochemistry of reactive cytotoxins, the bioinorganic chemistry of malaria, and the synthesis of nitrogen compounds. He has hiked, sailed, and climbed extensively in North America and counts birdwatching and orienteering as pastimes.

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Prof Ping Lu

Visiting professor

Prof (PhD, Jilin University – 2005)

Project

Ping Lu comes from Changchun, Jilin province in Northeast China. She obtained her doctoral degree in chemistry in 2005 under the guidance of Prof. Yuguang Ma at Jilin University with a half-year exchange period at the Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. After obtaining her PhD, she worked in the State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University. From 2009 to 2010, she joined Professor Ben Zhong Tang's research group at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) as a postdoctoral fellow, where she worked on the synthesis of small molecules exhibiting Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE) and their applications in sensors and OLEDs. Ping Lu is on sabbatical at the University of St Andrews as a CSC visiting scholar. Her research interests mainly focus on the high-efficiency deep-blue hot exciton materials and MR-TADF emitters with high color purity, and their applications in OLEDs. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, drawing, swimming and traveling.

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Dr Amy Price

Broom-McIntyre Fellow

Prof (PhD, University of Edinburgh – 2018)

Project

Amy is an independent research fellow currently working in our laboratories, where she is conducting research aiming to develop routes to low-coordinate lanthanide complexes and to understand their properties. Prior to this, Amy was an associate lecturer of inorganic chemistry (education-focused) at the University of St Andrews, with an interest in developing digital research materials. Amy conducted postdoctoral research with Professor Polly Arnold's group, at University of California Berkeley, as well as at the University of Edinburgh, where she studied the fundamental properties of f-element-containing complexes. Amy completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh in 2018 in the Cowley group, where she synthesised low-coordinate phosphorus- and boron-containing molecules and studied their reactivity. Amy enjoys hill walking, cooking, crocheting and coding in her spare time.

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Dr Dongyang Chen

EPSRC-funded Fellow

PDRA (PhD, University of St Andrews – 2021)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Dongyang comes from a small town in south China. He obtained his Bachelor of science degree at Beijing Institute of Technology in June, 2013. He participated in a research project in his junior year, which focused on the synthesis of polymers exhibiting Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE) and their application for bio-macromolecule monitoring. From 2013 to 2016, he went to Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science for his Masters? degree. His Masters project focused on the design, synthesis, and application of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF) emitters. The TADF emitters he has synthesized have been utilized for high efficient blue, green, and red OLED devices. His passion for OLEDs and TADF emitters led him to St Andrews where he completed his PhD in 2021 focusing on TADF emitter design as a CSC Scholar. In his leisure time, he likes jogging, travelling and cooking.

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Dr John Marques Dos Santos

EPSRC-funded Fellow

PDRA (PhD, University of Glasgow – 2019)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

John is from Maceió, the capital city of the state of Alagoas, Brazil. He completed his degree in Chemistry at the Federal University of Alagoas with a one-year exchange period at the Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), Ireland. During his undergraduate studies, John worked on a project involving studies of oxidative stress in vivo. During his period abroad in AIT, he worked developing natural hydrogels for seed coating. After graduating in 2015, John joined Professor Graeme Cooke's group at the University of Glasgow for his PhD studies on the synthesis of functional dyes for energy generation and optoelectronic applications. During his PhD, John spent a period in the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia) as a visiting student to fabricate photovoltaic cells, collaborating with Professor Iain MacCulloch. At St Andrews John will be working on TADF emitter design. When not working, John enjoys cinematography, reading, dancing, gym, skateboarding, guitar playing, drawing, board games, hiking and travelling.

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Dr David Hall

Lab manager

PDRA (PhD, University of St Andrews – 2022)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

David is from a small village near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire England. He completed an MChem at Durham University, where his masters project involved the synthesis of new donor acceptor molecules that emit via a TADF mechanism in order to gain a better understanding of how they work. In his free time David enjoys cooking, playing golf and walking.

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Dr André Jung

EPSRC-funded Fellow

PDRA (PhD, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology – 2025)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

André is from Gaggenau, a small town in Southwest Germany. He studied Chemistry at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he also completed his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Stefan Bräse. His doctoral research focused on designing new chromophores for biological and optoelectronic applications. During this time, he first collaborated with Eli and the group on projects involving TADF materials. Further collaborations took him to Japan, for a research stay in the labs of Prof. Hironori Kaji (Kyoto University). Now based in St Andrews as a postdoctoral research fellow, André is working on developing solution-processable TADF materials and supporting the automation of their characterization. Outside the lab, he enjoys cooking, baking, travelling, especially to explore new cuisines, and reading about history and politics.

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Dr Shantaram Kothavale

Marie Sklødowska-Curie Fellow (ODBNIR)

PDRA (PhD, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai – 2017)

ProjectMR-TADF materials

Shantaram comes from a small village, nearly 100 km from the historical Pune city in the state of Maharashtra, India. He completed his graduate and post-graduate in chemistry from Savitribai Phule Pune University. Before joining for Ph.D. in 2011, he worked in various chemical companies for six years mainly in contract research organizations (CROs) where he handled variety of chemical reagents and reactions. He completed his Ph.D. from Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai in 2017 on research topic “Donor-Acceptor and ESIPT-based fluorescent colorants: synthesis, photophysical and DFT-computational studies” under the guidance of Prof. N. Sekar. Immediately after PhD, he joined as post-doctoral researcher at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), South Korea (Prof. Jun Yeob Lee research group), where he worked on the design and synthesis of highly efficient host and thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitters for OLED applications. In 2022, he moved to University of Edinburgh, UK to work with Prof. Michael Ingleson on boron-based organic materials for OLED applications. Recently, he started his journey as Marie Curie research fellow under the supervision of Prof. Michael Ingleson and Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman. He will develop new type of boron-based MR-TADF emitters for their OLED applications. In his free time, he likes to do photography, watching cricket/football matches, traveling, and listening to music.

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Dr Oliver Lee

Postdoctoral Researcher

PhD (MChem, University of St Andrews – 2019)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Oli comes from the town of Shrewsbury in the West Midlands (the bit of England next to Wales). He originally joined the group as part of his MChem degree, working on TADF emitter design. Oli now returns to the group as a PhD student, still working on TADF emitters but now with a particular focus on molecular orientation in films. In his spare time Oli likes to read, watch films and play squash (despite wanting for ability).

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Dr Sagarika Mishra

Marie Sklødowska-Curie Fellow (TricloSense)

PDRA (PhD, India Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar – 2023)

ProjectOptical sensors

Sagarika comes from Puri, a tourist town located on the eastern coasts of India, in the state of Odisha. She received her BSc. in chemistry from Utkal University and MSc. from Christ University, Bangalore. In 2023, she successfully completed her PhD at India Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar under the supervision of Dr Akhilesh Kumar Singh. Her PhD work was on "Fluorogenic and Chromogenic Chemosensors for the Detection of Inorganic Ions and Small Molecules". She joined the University of St Andrews as a post-doctoral research fellow to work with Dr Ross N. Gillanders at Lightwater Sensors, a spin-out company in August 2023 where her endeavours were directed at exploring optical sensors for the detection of chemicals like pharmaceuticals, pesticides, etc for real-time monitoring. She started her journey as a Marie Curie research fellow in June 2024 under the supervision of Professor Graham Turnbull and Professor Eli Zysman-Colman. She will develop optical sensors for endocrine disruptors and use them in environmental applications. She enjoys listening to music, watching web series/ movies and exploring new places in her free time.

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Dr Jinho Park

SKKU President Fellow

PDRA (PhD, Sungkyunkwan University – 2024)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Jinho was born in Seoul but grew up in Nonsan, Korea. Nonsan is known for its annual strawberry festival and the Korea Army Training Center. He obtained his master's degree in organic chemistry from Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Korea, in 2020, under the supervision of Prof. Seung Soo Yoon, and his doctoral degree in chemical engineering from the same university in 2024, under the guidance of Prof. Jun Yeob Lee. During my graduate studies, Jinho focused on the design, synthesis, and characterization of various organic optoelectronic materials, including anthracene-based fluorescent emitters, electron donor-acceptor-based TADF emitters, boron-based multiple-resonance TADF (MR-TADF) emitters, and host materials. Recently, Jinho began his journey at the University of St Andrews as an SKKU President Fellow under the supervision of Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman and Prof. Jun Yeob Lee. His research primarily focuses on novel MR-TADF emitters with high efficiency and color purity, and their application in OLEDs. In his free time, Jinho particularly enjoys swimming, and weight training, running, traveling, listening to music, and watching football games and movies.

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Praveen Choudhary

Marie Sklødowska-Curie ITN funded PhD Student (TADFsolutions)

PhD (MSc, IISER Mohali – 2022)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Praveen was born in Pali (a small town in India) and raised in Mumbai (the financial capital of India). After high school, he enrolled in a five-year BS-MS dual degree program at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali (IISER Mohali). Praveen majored in chemistry during his graduate studies, specializing in organic chemistry. During his master's thesis, he worked on a project called "Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Novel Discotic Liquid Crystals for Optoelectronic Applications" under the guidance of Dr. Santanu Kumar Pal at IISER Mohali. In November 2022, he joined the EZ-C Group as a Ph.D. student, where he will work on the development of liquid crystalline TADF emitters for high-efficiency OLEDs. In his free time, Praveen likes to hang out with friends, watch movies, cycle, etc.

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Mahni Fatahi

Marie Sklødowska-Curie ITN funded PhD Student (TADFsolutions)

PhD (MSc, Johannes-Gutenberg University – 2022)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Mahni was born and raised in the city of Ulm (Germany). He obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Ulm working on incorporation of heavy atoms in TADF emitters under supervision Prof. Alexander Kuehne. His M.Sc. in Chemistry he obtained from Johannes-Gutenberg University in Mainz (Germany). During his masters thesis he joined the group of Prof. Paul Blom at Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz to work on the synthesis of TADF emitters and incorporation in novel single-layer OLED approaches. Mahni joined the group in October 2022 as a PhD student who is part of the Marie Curie DN TADFsolutions and will mainly focus on the development of highly emissive TADF dendrimers. In his spare time, he enjoys rowing, running, and road cycling as well as cooking.

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Máire Griffin

Johnson Matthey i-CASE PhD Student

PhD (BChem, University College Dublin – 2021)

ProjectPhotocatalysis Design

Máire is from county Offaly in Ireland. She completed her undergraduate degree in Chemistry in University College Dublin where her final year thesis focused on the use of ruthenium complexes as catalysts in Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions. She joined the Zysman-Colman group in 2021 as a PhD student where she will focus on the development of iridium-based photocatalysts. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing, playing rugby and reading.

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Emily Hanover

Leverhulme Trust funded student

Co-supervised with Mike Ingleson, University of Edinburgh

PhD (MSci, University of Birmingham – 2022)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Emily, originally from East Yorkshire, obtained her MSci from the University of Birmingham in 2022. Her final year research project took place within the Preece group and involved the development of novel triphenoxazoles for use within OLEDs. During her time at Birmingham she also became the school's outreach officer, setting up and running multiple projects including "Meet the Chemists" and the "ChemBAM library tour". Emily has now joined both the Ingleson and Zysman-Colman groups, where she hopes to generate boron-containing deep LUMO compounds.

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Janine Haug

Co-supervised with Stefan Bräse, KIT

PhD (MSc, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; 2023)

ProjectTADF materials for bioimaging

Janine is from a small town in the Black Forest in south-west Germany. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Chemical Biology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2021, investigating the sensitiser-mediated formation of DNA photodamage. During her Master studies, Janine completed a three-month research internship in the group of Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman, where she worked on the synthesis and characterisation of novel MR-TADF compounds. She continued working on the project as part of her Master's thesis in Prof. Stefan Bräse's group and completed her MSc degree in Chemical Biology in 2023. She is now pursuing her PhD as a joint student of Prof. Stefan Bräse and Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman, working on the development of TADF materials for OLEDs and biomedical applications. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, dancing, playing the piano, hiking, travelling and cooking.

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Tabea Heil

EaSI-CAT CDT student

PhD (MSc, TU Dortmund University – 2023)

ProjectPhotoactive cages

Tabea grew up in Oberhausen, in the West of Germany, where she did her Abitur. In 2021, she finished her B.Sc. at TU Dortmund in the group of Prof. Dr. Andreas Steffen on zinc(II) diimine bis-thiolate complexes showing TADF (ChemPhotoChem 2022, e202200142). After that, she did an internship for six months at the University of St Andrews in the group of Prof. Dr. Eli Zysman-Colman on iridium alkynyl-pyridine bipyridine complexes as metallaligands for cage formations. Fortunately, she could continue working on that project for a bit back at TU Dortmund in the group of Prof. Dr. Guido Clever. In 2023, she finished her M.Sc. at TU Dortmund in the group of Prof. Dr. Andreas Steffen, on novel metal-based complexes showing TSCT TADF. Now she is back in St Andrews doing her Ph.D. In the EZ-C group she works on TADF metallacages as well as COFs for photocatalysis and enjoys playing rugby in Dundee and the viola in the St Andrews orchestra in her free time.

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Salil Kumar Jana

Boron Programme grant funded student

PhD (MSc, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, – 2023)

ProjectPhotocatalyst Design

Salil was born in Dera, West Bengal, India and completed his bachelor's degree in Chemistry Honours from Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur, affiliated with Calcutta University. He then pursued master's degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH), where he was working on synthesizing and studying the structure of various P-N ligands, their chalcogenides, and metal complexes. Afterward, he joined the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, working on a project aimed at synthesizing novel lanthanoid compounds with main group ligands. He later worked on a photoredox catalysis project at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu. Currently pursuing a PhD at the University of St Andrews, Salil works with the Zysman-Colman group on boron-based thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) applications. In his free time, he enjoys writing poetry, listening to music, watching movies, and exploring new places.

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Haoyang Li

China Scholarship Council (CSC) PhD Student

PhD (MSc, University of St Andrews – 2024)

ProjectTADFemitter design

Haoyang Li is from Gansu, the northwest part of China. He obtained his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Sichuan University in 2021, where he studied the conversion of biomass to expand the way it is used in energy. He joined the group in September 2022. When Haoyang can take a rest, he usually needs to make a hard choice between going hiking and cooking.

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Aminata Mariko

Marie Sklødowska-Curie ITN funded PhD Student (PhotoReAct)

PhD (MSc, University of Montpelier – 2020)

ProjectPhotocatalysis

Aminata was born and raised in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. She started studying Chemical Engineering and Process in 2015 at the Graduate School of Industry in Yamoussoukro. In 2017, she obtained fully-funded government scholarships and moved to France to study at the National Graduate School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Montpellier. In 2018, she took a gap-year to work on several chemistry projects like the investigation of a new method for mono-methylation of primary amines at AstraZeneca, Gothenburg. In 2020, she joined Sanofi Pasteur for her master thesis, working on the optimization of chemical processes on biomolecules. The same year, she obtained a Master’s degree in chemistry, and a Master’s degree in chemistry of biomolecules, Research and Application. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD as a joint student between the Zysman-Colman Group and Johnson Matthey, working in the Marie Curie ITN PhotoReAct on the design and synthesis of novel photocatalysts and their application in industry. Aminata is a tireless traveller. She also enjoys swimming and hiking.

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Francis Millward

EaSI-CAT CDT student

PhD (MChem, University of St Andrews – 2021)

ProjectPhotocatalyst Design

Francis is from North Berwick (a town just outside Edinburgh), which could be described as a ‘smaller St Andrews’. He started his undergraduate degree at the University of St Andrews in 2016 and is currently undertaking his final year research project in the Zysman-Colman group. Aside from his academic studies, Francis does Judo: he is a black belt, qualified coach, and currently oversees training the university Judo team.

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Sara Paniziutti

Joint PhD student with Francesco Secci's group, University of Cagliari

PhD (MSc, University of Cagliari; 2022)

ProjectTADF materials for sensing and bioimaging applications

Sara grew up in a town in the center of Sardinia (Italy). She started studying Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Cagliari in 2017 and in July 2022 she obtained her M.Sc. working on the synthesis of DNA gyrase B inhibitors, 2-aminobenzo[d]thiazole-6-carboxylic acid derivatives, with activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, under the supervision of Prof. Anamarija Zega at the University of Ljubljana - Faculty of Pharmacy. From September 2022 to December 2022 she did an internship at the University of Ljubljana - Faculty of Pharmacy, through the Traineeship Program. She worked on the development of synthetic methods for preparation of small molecules with multiple chiral centres, relevant for medicial chemistry. The research was focused on ruthenium-catalysed asymmetric reduction of complex ketones to the corresponding enantiomerically pure alcohols. In November 2023, she joined Professor Francesco Secci's research group at the University of Cagliari to pursue her Ph.D. as a joint student of Prof. Francesco Secci and Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman. During her Ph.D. she is working on the development of TADF materials for sensing and bioimaging applications. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball, travelling and reading.

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Quan Qi

China Scholarship Council (CSC) PhD Student

PhD (MSc, University of St Andrews – 2024)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Qi Quan is from Guangxi Province, which is located in the south of China and borders Vietnam. He graduated from Heilongjiang University with a subject related to carbazole molecules. As an undergraduate, he was in charge of the National College Students' innovation and entrepreneurship training program, which was the construction of TADF materials based on benzophenone receptors and the study of optoelectronic properties. He plays the guitar in his leisure time, and he is also interested in coffee and whisky.

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Suraksha Rajan

Leverhulme Trust funded student

PhD (MSc, PSGR Krishnammal College of Arts and Science – 2023)

ProjectPhotocatalyst Design

Suraksha was born in Palakkad, Kerala, India, and raised in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Her educational journey began at Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore, where she completed her bachelor's degree in 2021. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in a startup as a Senior R&D Analyst and co-founded another startup, gaining valuable entrepreneurial experience. Continuing her academic pursuits, she earned her master's degree from PSGR Krishnammal College of Arts and Science, also in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2023. Following her graduation, Suraksha worked as a project assistant at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore from 2023 to 2024. During this time, she focused on the synthesis of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF) materials for Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), contributing to cutting-edge research in the field. In addition to her academic and professional accomplishments, Suraksha is a national-level gymnastics participant, showcasing her dedication and skill in this demanding sport. In her leisure time, she enjoys painting and learning new portrait techniques.

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Aniket Kumar Srivastawa

Leverhulme Trust funded student

PhD (MSc, Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar – 2023)

ProjectPhotocatalyst Design

Aniket was born in Jamshedpur, a small city in Jharkhand, also known as the Steel City of India. He completed his bachelor's degree in chemistry (2021) from Vinoba Bhave University in Hazaribagh (Jharkhand, India). Following that he received his master's degree in chemistry (2023) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (Punjab, India). During his master's programme, his research project focused on the synthesis, characterisation, and utilisation of MOFs for nitrogen fixation under visible light. Aniket enjoy cooking, playing badminton, and travelling to new places as interests outside of his studies.

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Eglė Tankelevičiūtė

Quantum Materials CDT student

Co-supervised with Ifor Samuel, School of Physics and Astronomy

PhD (BSc, Vilnius University; 2022)

ProjectMR-TADF OLED Design

Eglė is from Šiauliai, a reasonably sized city in Lithuania. She studied at Vilnius University where she received a BSc degree in physics. During her undergraduate years, Eglė became fascinated with the world of organic optoelectronics and spent much time in the laboratories of the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology. Eglė's work was focused on bifluorene derivatives, which possessed surprisingly strong spin-orbit coupling, and transient absorption spectroscopy to density functional theory calculations were employed to understand the processes at hand. Currently, Eglė is a PhD student at the University of St Andrews and joined the group in September 2022. She is co-supervised by Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman and Prof. Ifor Samuel and will work on improving the stability of MR-TADF based OLEDs. In her free time, Eglė likes cycling and anything even mildly related to it, exploring new places and reading.

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Michele D Tonet

Edinburgh Instruments co-funded Quantum Materials CDT student

Co-supervised with Graham Turnbull, School of Physics and Astronomy

PhD (MSc, Federal University of Santa Catrina – 2021)

ProjectOptical sensors

Michele was raised in Florianópolis, a relatively small town in the south of Brazil. She graduated with a degree in Physics (with focus on teaching) in 2018 at the Federal University of Santa Catrina. During her undergrad studies she was a research student at the Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronic and Anisotropic Systems, where she studied liquid crystal molecules applied to electronic devices, such as: organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and solar cells. Michele obtained her Masters degree in Material Science and Engineering at the same university. During her Masters, she studied electrospinning techniques with the objective of producing fluorescent polymeric nano- and microfibres doped with liquid crystals. Currently, Michele is a Physics PhD student at the University of St Andrews and joined the group in October 2021. She is co-supervised by Prof. Graham Turnbull and Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman and will focus on the development of optical sensors to detect environmental analytes. In her spare time, Michele likes cycling, hiking, travelling and watching TV shows.

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Wenrui Wang

China Scholarship Council (CSC) PhD Student

PhD (MSc, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Normal University – 2022)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Wenrui comes from Yuncheng, which is famous for its colourful Salt Lake, located in the middle of China. She obtained my bachelor's degree at Nanjing Tech University majoring in polymer materials, then she became a joint postgraduate student at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Normal University where she obtained her Masters degree, researching about synthesis of conjugated polymers and photocatalytical hydrogen evolution. Due to the COVID, Wenrui put off her PhD plans and worked in Shanghai temporarily as a researcher. From all the experience above, Wenrui obtained experience in synthetic organic chemistry and analytical chemistry. She will start her PhD research on TADF materials design. In her spare time, Wenrui has lots of hobbies, like travelling, jogging, DIY nails, makeup, cooking, e-sports games and script cosplay games. She is addicted to different types of art, such as photography, movies, music, exhibition and other various shows, like stand-up comedy and concerts. Wenrui also enjoys debating, which lets her think critically.

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Yan Xu

China Scholarship Council (CSC) PhD Student

PhD (MSc, Xiamen University – 2021)

ProjectTADF Emitter Design

Yan Xu is from Henan province, China. She obtained her bachelor degree from Xiangtan University in 2018. She then obtained her master's degree from Xiamen University in 2021, during which she trained in the field of coordination chemistry and computational chemistry. Yan will work on the design and synthesis of thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials for OLEDs during her PhD. In her spare time, Yan enjoys playing basketball and reading detective novels.

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Yinxuan Zhang

China Scholarship Council (CSC) PhD Student

Co-supervised with Sharon Ashbrook, School of Chemistry

PhD (MSc, University of Edinburgh – 2023)

ProjectUsing solid-state NMR to explore the orientation information of TADF emitters

Yinxuan comes from Jingdezhen, a city in Jiangxi province, China, renowned for its porcelain. She obtained her Bachelor's degree at Nanchang Normal University in Chemistry in 2022. Subsequently, in 2023, Yinxuan obtained her Master's degree in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, focusing on the specific modification of tyrosine under the guidance of Professor Scott Cockroft. In January 2024, Yinxuan joined the University of St Andrews to pursue her Ph.D., co-supervised by Professor Eli Zysman-Colman and Professor Sharon Ashbrook. Her research will center on the use of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a tool to investigate the orientation of organic semiconductor materials in solid matrices. In her spare time, Yinxuan enjoys traveling, photography, and playing Chinese mahjong.

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Valerio Cerrato

Visiting Scholar (MSc, University of Turin; 2021)

ProjectPhotocatalysis

Valerio completed his B.Sc. (2015-2019) and M.Sc. (2020-2021) in Chemistry at the University of Turin, Italy, where he developed a strong interest in photochemistry and coordination chemistry. In 2022, he joined the group of Prof. Bartholomäus Pieber at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, working as a research assistant on light-driven synthetic methodologies. Since 2023, he has been pursuing a PhD in photochemistry at the University of Bologna under the supervision of Prof. Paola Ceroni, focusing on light-induced crosslinking in polymers. His research interests range from organic and metal complex synthesis to light-induced processes and photocatalysis.

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Robert Horne

MITACS Scholar

Visiting Scholar (BSc, University of New Brunswick; 2024)

ProjectPhotocatalysis

Robbie is from a small town outside of Halifax, Canada. He completed his BSc In Biology-Chemistry with Honours under the supervision of Dr. Barry Blight where his work first began attempting to generate hydrogen gas by photocatalytic water splitting using Ir (III) complexes. He then remained in the Blight Group, synthesizing a library of potential deep blue TADF emitters in collaboration with the Zysman-Colman Group at the University of St Andrews, which led to the continuation of this work into an MSc in Chemistry. Currently, he is investigating single-component white light and the synthesis of Al MOFs from waste sources. When not in the lab, he enjoys sailing, hiking, and playing guitar.

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Liam Mas

Visiting Scholar (BSc, ENS Lyon; 2026)

ProjectTADF Emitters

Liam is a first-year-master student from the ENS Lyon. In 2024, he obtained my bachelor's degree at the ENS Lyon where he worked on organic cationic luminescent compound for NIR emission in the solid state, under the supervision of Mathilde Seinfeld and Tangui Le Bahers. In his spare time, Liam likes fencing, hiking and playing chess.

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Sonia Polańska

Visiting Scholar (MSc, Jagiellonian University; 2022)

ProjectFluorescent Emitters

Sonia comes from a small village in southern Poland, near the most beautiful city in Poland, Cracow. All of Sonia's higher education is closely related to her Alma Mater, Jagiellonian University in Cracow. She completed her B.Sc. at the Faculty of Chemistry with a guidance of Dr Aleksandra Pałasz. During her undergraduate research, Sonia focused on the development of new bioorthogonal tools. In 2021, Sonia joined the Functional Organic Materials Team working on aromatic and antiaromatic conjugated molecules under the supervision of Professor Miłosz Pawlicki. In 2022, she obtained the Master's degree in chemistry. Sonia decided to continue her involvement in pi-conjugated systems chemistry during her Ph.D. studies. Currently, Sonia is pursuing her Ph.D. degree focusing on pi-extended systems with imprinted chirality and potential for efficient CD and CPL response.

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