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Organic & Organometallic Optoelectronic Materials

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Post-Doctoral Researchers

Dr Martina Cizkova

PDRA (PhD, Charles University in Prague – 2012)


TADF Emitter Design

Martina is from Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. She received her MSc in Organic Chemistry from Charles University in Prague in 2005. She completed her PhD (2007-2012), concerning the synthesis of N-heteroaromatic cations, under the supervision of Dr Filip Teply at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry AS CR in Prague. During her following postdoctoral experience in the group of Professor Josef Michl at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, she was involved in the formation of self-assembled monolayers and the nanoparticle preparation. Then, she joined the ƒcole Normale SupŽrieure (Paris, France) as a Marie-Curie postdoctoral researcher. Her work at ENS focused on the development of electrochemically switchable fluorescent probes. Currently, she is working on TADF materials for OLED applications. In her free time, Martina likes travelling, taking photos and is devoted to front-end web development. She is also proud mother of two beautiful daughters.



Dr Graeme Copley

PDRA (PhD, University of Newcastle – 2010)


TADF Emitter Design

Graeme hails from a small village called Bailiff Bridge, which is located 15 miles south west of the city of Leeds, UK. He received his MChem degree from Newcastle University in 2006. His doctoral work (2006-2009) under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Benniston and Prof. Anthony Harriman (Newcastle University UK) was concerned with the synthesis and characterization of bio-inspired molecular dyads for the study of electron and energy transfer processes. Following his PhD, Graeme has carried out postdoctoral research in the USA (Prof. Devens Gust, Arizona State University) and Japan (Prof. Atsuhiro Osuka, Kyoto University). His work at ASU was primarily concerned with photochromic materials. His work at Kyoto University focused on the development of sub-porphyrin-based molecular sensitizers for use in DSSCs. Graeme is now working on the design and synthesis of novel TADF emitters for use in next-generation OLED devices and LEECs. In his spare time, Graeme likes cooking, travelling and hiking.


Dr Abhishek Gupta co-supervised with Ifor Samuel, School of Physics and Astronomy

PDRA (PhD, Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi – 2017)


TADF Emitter Design

Abhishek is from historical city of Kalpi, 165 km from Lucknow, India. He completed his B.Sc. in Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry from Janta College, Bakewar (U.P.) and his M.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh. He also completed an M.Tech in Nanotechnology from AMU. During his M.Tech he worked on nano-sized semiconducting TiO2 powder at ARCI Hyderabad. After his M.Tech, he worked on device fabrication for photovoltaic cell at the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. In 2017, he received his PhD on ÒSchiff base derivatives as Fluorescent Chemosensors, Solid State NIR Emitters and CatalystsÓ from IIT Mandi under the guidance of Dr. Pradeep C. Parameswaran. He joined the University of St. Andrews as Newton Fellow, where he will work on TADF materials. In his free time he likes to do photography, traveling, cooking and listening to music.


Dr Shiv Kumar

PDRA (PhD, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 2016)


TADF Emitter Design

Shiv is from Delhi, the capital of India. He completed his BSc (Honours) in Chemistry from Kirorimal College, University of Delhi in 2008 and moved to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore for an Integrated PhD (MSc + PhD) degree (2008-2016) in Chemical Sciences. His PhD thesis title is ÒFluoranthene Based Materials for Non-Doped Blue Organic Light-Emitting DiodesÓ. After his PhD, he shortly worked as a Project Scientist in SAMTEL Centre for Large Area Display Technologies (SCDT), adjunct with National Centre for Flexible Electronics (NCFLEXE) at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and later he joined as a National Postdoctoral Fellow at Department of Chemical Engineering in same institute. He is the recipient of a DST-INSPIRE Faculty award, but his passion in solid-state lighting with TADF photoluminescent materials has brought him to the University of St Andrews, UK as a Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow. In his free time, he likes traveling, walking, cycling, driving and sitcoms. So far he has cooked chemicals in the lab, but recently he started learning real cooking in the kitchen.


Dr Campbell Mackenzie

PDRA (PhD, University of Western Australia, – 2015)


Phosphorescent Emitter Design

Campbell is from Perth in Western Australia. He completed his BSc. (Honours) at the University of Western Australia in 2009. He remained at UWA to complete a PhD (2010-2015) in organometallic synthesis with a focus on the electrochemical and theoretical study of mixed valance Ruthenium complexes under the supervision of Prof. George Koutsantonis. His PhD included a period of time as a visiting student at Durham University learning spectroelectrochemistry from Prof. Paul Low. He comes to St. Andrews to work on blue-emitting iridium complexes for OLED and LEEC applications. When not in the lab, Campbell enjoys travelling, skiing, playing sports (including hockey) and board games.


Dr Rajamalli Pachai Gounder

PDRA (PhD, IIT Madras – 2012)


TADF Emitter Design

Rajamalli is from a small village called Sindipattu, 150 km away from Chennai, India. She completed her B.Sc and M.Sc in Chemistry from the University of Madras and Bharathiar University, respectively. After her M.Sc, she worked in Worked as an analytical chemist in R&D (Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited, India). She joined the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), India to pursue her PhD in Chemistry. After her PhD, she moved National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan to gain post-doc research experience, there she was involved in the TADF based OLED developments. Her passion for TADF emitters has brought her to St Andrews to work on TADF emitter developments and device fabrication. In her free time Rajamalli likes travelling, cooking and watching movies.


Dr Dianming Sun

PDRA (PhD, Beijing University of Chemical Technology – 2016)


TADF Emitters

Dianming is from the northernmost province of China. He received his B.E. degree in 2011 from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. After that, he began his doctoral work under the supervision of Prof. Shouke Yan in the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering. His thesis project focused on the development of organosilicon optoelectronic materials for phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. He then went to the Advanced Ceramic Research Center in Japan as a short-term research scholar. His current research is working on development of TADF dendrimers and polymers. During his spare time, Dianming likes cooking, skiing, playing badminton, taking photos.



Dr Subeesh Suresh

PDRA (PhD, Pusan National University – 2017)


TADF Emitter Design

Subeesh is from Kochi, which is located on the south-west coast of India. He received his BSc in Chemistry (2006-2009) and MSc in Analytical (2011-2013) Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. His doctoral work (2013-2017) under the supervision of Professor Choe Young Son (Pusan National University, South Korea) was focused on photoelectrochemial properties of phenanthroimidazole based small molecules for light emitting electrochemical cells. Currently, he is working on TADF materials for OLED applications. Outside chemistry he likes playing football, hiking and travelling.


Postgraduate Students

Laura Abad Galan co-supervised with Max Massi, Curtin University

PhD (MSc, Complutense University of Madrid – 2014)


Luminescent Organometallic/Lanthanide Materials

Laura is from Segovia, a little city near Madrid (Spain). She obtained her Master degree in Chemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid. Her research project was based on the construction of molecular chains using dimetallic tetracarboxylates and tetraamidates. She also spent a period of 6 months in Granada (Spain), working on new homo- and heteronuclear molecular materials based on coordination compounds containing oxalate and carboxylates bridges. She has now commenced her PHD studies focusing on luminescent metal complexes under the supervision of Dr Max Massi at Curtin University (Australia) and Dr Eli Zysman-Colman at the University of St Andrews (Scotland). In her free time she likes go out, practice sports and also cook!



Sarah Blincko co-supervised with Ildiko Somorjai, School of Biology

PhD (MRes, University of Durham – 2017)


Dissecting the role of Hedgehog signalling during development, regeneration and ageing in vivo using novel phosphorescent small molecules

Sarah is from South-East London and completed her BSc and MRes in Biological Sciences at the University of Durham. Her masters project investigated the plasticity of early embryonic dermal cells and strengthened her interest in developmental biology and research as a career. She joined St. Andrews in October 2017 as a joint PhD student between the Somorjai group in Biology and the Zysman-Coleman group in Chemistry, where she will be using iridium complexes in the context of bioimaging. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, playing rugby and reading.



Dongyang Chen

PhD (MSc, Chinese Academy of Science – 2016)


TADF 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 MastersÕ 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 will continue his research on OLEDs and TADF emitters as a CSC Scholar. In his leisure time, he likes jogging, travelling and cooking.



David Hall

PhD (MChem, University of Durham – 2016)


TADF 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.



Claus Hierlinger co-tutelle with Véronique Guerchais, Université de Rennes 1

PhD (MSc, University of Stuttgart and the University of Strasbourg – 2014)


Design of Luminescent Iridium and Platinum Complexes

Born in the south-west of Germany, Claus went to school in Bšblingen in a town close to Stuttgart, Germany. After having received the university entrance diploma in 2008 he worked for 9 months in a charity supermarket selling collected food to socially disadvantaged people. He joined the University of Stuttgart in 2009 starting his BSc. From 2011 to 2013 he went to the University of Strasbourg, France studying at the engineering school ECPM to finish his BSc and to start his MSc. After an internship at Janssen Pharmaceutica in Beerse, Belgium in the organic chemistry department, he finished his MSc in the inorganic department at the University of Stuttgart in the research group of Prof. Dr. W. Kaim, receiving the Franco-German Double Master. His Masters thesis described the coordination chemistry of redox-active ligands to transition meal complexes. In October 2014 he joined the group for a PhD in collaboration with Veronique Guerchais at the University of Rennes, France (co-tutelle). In his free time Claus likes to play and watch football, to go to the cinema and to go skiing.



Bryony Hockin co-supervised with Neil Robertson, University of Edinburgh

PhD (MChem, University of Durham – 2016)


Photoredox Catalysis

Bryony is from 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; not content with how far away this was from home, she has now moved even further away to St Andrews to study for a PhD on the CRITICAT CDT program. Her masters project was on the synthesis and physical organic properties of novel stable Blatter radicals, although she became interested in photoredox catalysis when writing her third year dissertation on the subject. In her free time she enjoys hiking, photography and blogging.



Chenfei Li

PhD (MSc, University of Durham – 2016)


Photoredox Catalysis

Born in the historical Chinese city, Nanjing, Chenfei obtained his Bachelor degree at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications where he studied organic semiconductors. His MSc project dealt with the synthesis and photophysics of novel iridium complexes. He joined the group in February 2016 with the aim to further study chemistry and photophysics of organometallic complexes. During leisure time, Chenfei plays the piano, basketball and table tennis. He is also willing to try any other kinds of sports.



Zhaoning Li

PhD (BSc, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications – 2014)


TADF Emitter Design

Zhaoning come from Jinan, a very old and famous city of China. He received his Bachelor degree from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications where he studied organic photoelectronics. Then he started his PhD study in the Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing Tech University. He did some synthetic work on hole-transporting materials for perovskite solar cells co-advised by Prof. Wei Huang and Dr. Baomin Zhao. As a CSC Scholar, he joined the group in September 2017 as a joint PhD student as he wanted to undertake research on TADF emitter design. During his leisure time, Zhaoning enjoys badminton and hiking. He also likes cooking.



Diego Rota Martir

PhD (MSc, University of Milano-Bicocca – 2014)


Luminescent Iridium Complexes for Solid-State Lighting

Diego comes from Bergamo, a small city situated in the north of Italy. He completed his BSc and MSc (Cum Laude) in Chemical Sciences from the University of Milano-Bicocca. During his MSc he studied for one year at the University of Valencia (Spain) as an Erasmus student and he spent 8 months in Dublin (Ireland) working for his MSc final project at Dublin City University. His BSc final project was carried out at the MIB-Solar Center of the University of Milano-Bicocca and it focused on the synthesis of new photosensitizers for DSSC cells while his MSc project focused on the synthesis, photochemistry and electrochemistry of novel Bodipy complexes. From March to August, 2014 Diego had a research position working as a chemist at the Italian Institute of Technology @NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (Italy). The research project was focused on nanotechnology innovation for in vivo drug delivery applications, cellular imaging and MRI spectroscopy. His passion for electronics and luminescent materials brought him to St. Andrews to work on new organometallic luminophores for solid-state lighting. In his free time Diego likes travel, play soccer and go to the mountains.



Ana Neferu co-supervised with Malte Gather, University of St Andrews

PhD (MSc, UNC Chapel Hill, – 2015)


OLEDs with TADF Emitters

Ana grew up in Dragasani, Romania, a town well-known for its good wine. She graduated Summa cum Laude from the University of Richmond and got her MS degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, both in the United States. Then Ana decided to come closer to home, to St. Andrews, starting in September 2016 as a joint PhD student between the Zysman-Colman group in Chemistry and Gather group in Physics, working on designing iridium complexes and TADF materials to control their orientation in OLED thin films. In her spare time, Ana likes surfing the internet, hiking, cycling, and cooking.



Nidhi Sharma co-supervised with Ifor Samuel, University of St Andrews

PhD (MSc, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore – 2015)


OLEDs with TADF Emitters

Nidhi comes from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, a small state situated in the north of India. She completed her BSc (Hons) in chemistry from Panjab University Chandigarh, India. Nidhi then moved to Bangalore to undertake MSc degree at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore. Her Masters project was to design synthesize and characterize materials that emit via thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). Her passion for luminescent materials has brought her to St. Andrews to work on new TADF emitters and finally to fabricate Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) using these emitters. In her free time, Nidhi likes travelling, shopping and sometimes cooking!



Pedro Henrique Fazza Stroppa

Visiting PhD (MSc, University Federal of Juiz de Fora – 2015)


TADF Emitters for LEECs

Pedro was born in Juiz de Fora, Brazil. He completed his BSc (2013) and MSc (2015) in Chemistry from the University Federal of Juiz de Fora (UFJF). His Masters project was the synthesis of ionic liquids based on 1,2,3-triazoles. Nowadays, he is a PhD from the UFJF, working in Organic Synthesis applied in light emitting electrochemical cells. His passion for luminescent materials has brought him to St Andrews to work on new thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters. In his free time Pedro likes to play football, snooker, and he likes watching movies and cooking.



Jiyu Tian co-supervised with Finlay Morrison, University of St Andrews

PhD (BSc, Fudan University – 2016)


Ferroelectric Inorganic-organic Hybrid Perovskites

Jiyu was born in Hunan, a central province in China. He obtained his BSc in Macromolecular Materials and Engineering at Fudan University, China. He started his PhD studies under the co-supervision of Dr Finlay Morrison and Dr Eli Zysman-Colman in Sept. 2016. He is now working on ferroelectric perovskites and their application in light-emitting diodes, solar cells and photodetectors. He is funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC). In his free time, he enjoys playing guitar, badminton & tennis. He likes to go to gym as well.



Samia Zaheer

Visiting PhD (MSc, Government College University – 2013)


Luminescent MOFs

Samia was born in Lahore, Pakistan. She completed her B.S (Hons) (2011) and M.S (2013) from Government college university, Lahore, Pakistan. She started her PhD (2014) in the same university. Her PhD project is Synthesis of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) under high pressure comprising of Phenanthroline and Pyridine derived bridging ligands and their use as luminescent materials. Her interest in luminescent materials has brought her to University of St Andrews to work on the luminescent properties of MOFs. She is funded by the British council. In her free time, she likes to go out shopping and reading.


Undergraduate Project Students

Benedicte Doerner

MChem (University of St Andrews – 2019)


TADF Emitters

Born in California, Bene moved with her family to Edinburgh where she went to school. She is currently in her fourth year of a MChem with Medicinal Chemistry degree and will join the group this year to complete her project working on gels and coordination polymers, which employ a TADF emitter. She enjoys travelling, cooking and spending time with friends.



Oliver Ireland

MChem (University of St Andrews – 2019)


TADF Emitters

Oliver is from London but relocated to Edinburgh early on, where he attended school. He is currently in his 4th year of a Masters degree in Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. Oliver was a direct entrant into 2nd year so despite this being his 4th degree year, it is only his 3rd at the University. Oliver is currently undertaking a research project with the Zysman-Colman group looking into "New Organic TADF Emitters for OLEDs." In his free time, Oliver brews his own beer, likes bread-making and is hoping to attain his judo black belt later this year.



Oliver Lee

MChem (University of St Andrews – 2019)


TADF Emitters

Oli comes from the town of Shrewsbury in the West Midlands (the bit next to Wales). He is currently with the group as part of his fourth year undergraduate project, working towards his MChem. In his spare time Oli likes to read, watch films and play squash (despite wanting for ability).



Victoria Porley

MChem (University of St Andrews – 2018)


OLED Materials Characterization

Victoria is a joint honours Chemistry and Physics Undergraduate Masters student from Middlesbrough. She is undertaking her final year project, on the determination of energy levels of organic semiconductors, as a joint collaboration with the Zysman-Colman group in Chemistry, and with Professor Graham Turnbull in Physics. In her spare time, she is also a dedicated member of the Cheerleading club, acting as Treasurer and competing nationally, and enjoys watching movies, travelling and seeing musicals.



 
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