What have you done in your professional life so far?

I’m originally from Scotland where I carried out my undergraduate studies and PhD at the University of Strathclyde. During my undergraduate studies, I had a year industrial placement at the Beatson Institute for cancer research focusing on hit-to-lead drug discovery. I then moved to Germany for a post doc at the University of Münster before starting my independent career at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and interfaces, Potsdam.

What appeals to you about your new position?

I think I have some truly amazing colleagues in the faculty both scientifically and on a personal level. Although I know some quite well, as I have taught at FUB since 2021, I’m looking forward to working closer with them on collaborative initiatives. I am also looking forward to being more involved with students and teaching which is a really enjoyable part of the job.

What do you love about your job?

I think being a mentor and being able to impact and help someone build their future is the most motivating and fulfilling part of my job. From a scientific perspective, I think the freedom to be creative and work on whatever I want often makes the job feel more like a hobby at times.

Which task could you gladly do without in your job, but of course you always do it conscientiously?

I think like most people I am not huge fan of lots of administration and bureaucracy. Without this nothing would run successfully so its important to be rigorous.

What life hack or insight has influenced your teaching?

I think if you are interested and excited by a subject it becomes easy and natural to learn without effort. My father could tell you every football player that has ever played for the Scotland national team but he has no interest in Organic Chemistry. It’s important to make lectures interesting and exciting to try to engage students so they want to know and learn more. I was fortunate enough to have great lecturers that inspired me, so I try to do the same.

How can your research be applied?

Our core research interests are organofluorine, organoboron and photochemistry with a keen interest on how we can use these platforms to construct novel small molecule building blocks. Fluorine plays a prominent role in medicinal chemistry where it can regulate several important properties during drug design. Boron is particularly important as a synthetic handle as it can be converted to almost any other organic functionality, allowing chemists to build and construct larger molecules from smaller building blocks. Photochemistry provides a powerful tool to reach high energy intermediates using only light as an activation method.

What should people know about your personal life?

I still play football as much as I can as it’s a great way to take your mind off work and reset while keeping active/fit. The good thing is that in Germany you can usually find a club to play in no matter what level you are at (important for someone from Scotland with very little natural talent). Aside from this I quite like travelling and visiting new cities to explore. My brother lives in Spain and parents live in Cyprus so it is always great to get away and visit sunnier climates. I’m a big advocate for making time outside of the lab. It’s always important to have time away, because usually when you return, with a fresh head, problems are a lot easier to solve.

What person or personality has influenced you, how and why?

From a personal perspective I would say my parents have influenced me the most. They’ve influenced me to be hard working, have a grounded personality and treat everyone with respect.

What do you wish you had known earlier?

That taking a step back and a short break from the Science is often more beneficial than running 100 reactions to solve a problem.