Principal Investigators

 

Prof. dr. Timothy (Tim) Noël

PhotoReAct Project Coordinator

Supervisor of ESR 11 and 12

Co-supervisor of ESR 13 and 14

Timothy Noël, born 1982 in Aalst (Belgium), received his MSc degree in Industrial Chemical Engineering from the KaHo Sint-Lieven in Ghent, Belgium (2004). He obtained his PhD from Ghent University where he worked at the Laboratory for Organic and Bioorganic Synthesis under the supervision of Professor Johan Van der Eycken (2005-2009). He then became a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he worked on the development of new continuous-flow methods for cross-coupling chemistry with Professor Stephen L. Buchwald at the MIT-Novartis Center for Continuous Manufacturing. In 2012 he became an assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology where he was appointed associate professor in 2017. In 2020 he joined the University of Amsterdam as Full Professor and Chair of Flow Chemistry at the Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences. 

Email: t.noel@uva.nl

Affiliations: Noël Research Group

 

Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman

Supervisor of ESR 1 and co-supervisor of ESR 2

Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman is professor of optoelectronic materials within the School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. His group consists of 9 PDRAs and 15 PhD students. He is an expert in photoactive materials development, including photocatalysis development and mechanistic investigations of photocatalytic reactions. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is the author of 136-refereed papers and 8 patent applications, His h-index is 39. ORCID: 0000-0001-7183-6022.

Twitter: @ezc_group

Email: eli.zysman-colman@st-andrews.ac.uk

Affiliations: School of ChemistryThe Zysman-Colman Group

 

Dr. Eric Slack

Co-supervisor of ESR 2

Dr. Eric Slack is Lead Scientist at JM's site in west Deptford, US. He works in a group that company-wide consists of 5 researchers looking at the development and scale-up of organometallic complexes used in catalysis. He has authored 8 peer reviewed papers, 1 book chapter and patent applications.

Email: Eric.Slack@jmusa.com

Affiliations: https://matthey.com/en

 

Prof. Paola Ceroni

Supervisor of ESR 3

Prof. Paola Ceroni is a full professor at the University of Bologna since 2017. In 1998 she obtained her PhD degree in Chemical Sciences at the University of Bologna. She was a visiting scientist in the laboratory of Prof. Allen J. Bard at the University of Texas at Austin (US) and at the University of Pennsylvania (Prof. Vinogradov's laboratory). She was awarded the SIRR (Italian Society of Radiation Research) prize in 1999, the "G. Semerano" prize of the Physical Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society in 2000 and the Griess Lectureship from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2015. Her research on luminescent silicon nanocrystals was funded by an ERC Starting Grant PhotoSi and an ERC Proof of Concept SiNBiosys. She is fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Associate Editor of Dalton Transactions and member of the Editorial Board of Chem. She is co-author of 200 scientific papers and of a book on photochemistry (Wiley-VCH, 2014). Her h-index is 52; ORCID: 0000-0001-8916-1473.

Twitter: @Ceroni_GROUP

Email: paola.ceroni@unibo.it

Affiliations: Department of Chemistry Ciamician  

 

Dr. Andrea Fermi

Co-supervisor of ESR 3

Dr. Andrea Fermi is a Junior Researcher at the University of Bologna. His research mainly focuses on photoinduced processes in supramolecular assemblies and nanomaterials, and on optoelectronic properties of molecular materials. He is a member of the Italian Chemical Society. He is the author of 24 peer-reviewed papers, including 1 book chapter (H-index 12) and co-editor for a Spotlight Collection on Dalton Transactions (expected publication: late 2022). ORCID: 0000-0003-1080-0530.

Email: andrea.fermi2@unibo.it

Affiliations: Department of Chemistry Ciamician  

 

Prof. Kirsten Zeitler

Supervisor of ESR 4

Prof. Dr. Kirsten Zeitler is an associate professor at Leipzig University and holds the Professorship for Organic Synthesis and Catalysis. In 2004 she received the Liebig-Fellowship of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, in 2005 the Thieme Chemistry Journal Award and in 2008 the Otto Röhm Memorial Award. Her work was recognized with the habilitation award of the University of Regensburg for the best habilitation in 2012. She is also an elected member of the executive board of the Organic Division of the GDCh (German Chemical Society - Liebig Vereinigung) and part of the selection committee for the Ziegler-Natta prize of the GDCh. Her h-index is 28. ORCID: 0000-0003-1549-5002. 

Email: kzeitler@uni-leipzig.de

Affiliations: Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy / Institute of Chemistry

 

Prof. Dorota Gryko

Supervisor of ESR 5

Dr. Dorota Gryko is a research professor at IChO-PAS. She is project coordinator, team leader, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Institute of Physical Chemistry Polish Academy of Sciences. Member of the Advisory Boards of Reaction Chemistry & Engineering and Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines. Member of COST Action 'Targeted chemotherapy towards diseases caused by endoparasites'. She is a full professor at Institute of Organic Chemistry and heads the Bioinspired catalysis for sustainable processes group. She is Head of the PhD studies at the Institute of Organic Chemistry. Her h-index is 24. ORCID: 0000-0002-5197-4222

Twitter: @GroupGryko

Email: dgryko@gmail.com

Affiliations: Institute of Organic Chemistry / Polish Academy of Science, Gryko Group

 

Prof. Cristina Nevado

Supervisor of ESR 6

Prof. Dr. Cristina Nevado is a Full Professor at the University of Zurich and her research interest involve the development and in-depth mechanistic understanding of novel catalytic processes and their subsequent application towards the synthesis of complex organic molecules. She is the author of over 100 publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals and has delivered more than 100 invited lectures at international conferences. She has been the advisor of 15 PhD students, 15 post-doctoral fellows, and ca. 30 undergraduate students since starting her independent career in 2007. She also plays a prominent role in the community as organizer of the prestigious Bürgenstock Conference in Stereochemistry, the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin symposium featuring female scientist in all areas of chemistry and the Swiss Summer School in Organic Synthesis. She has actively participated in the organization of public events such as the 175th anniversary of the UZH, Scientifica, the Nacht der Forschung, etc. She is Associate Editor of Organic Synthesis and of the new flagship journal of the American Chemical Society, ACS Central Science. In addition, she serves on the Editorial Board of Chemical Society Reviews, Chemical Communications, Organic Chemistry Frontiers, Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis. CN has received an ERC Young Investigator grant (2012-2017the Werner Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society (2013), the Chemical Society Reviews Emerging Investigator Award (2011), the Thieme Chemistry Journal Award as well as the 2008 Young Investigator Award from the Spanish Chemical Society (RSEQ). In 2019, CN received the RSC Organometallic Chemistry award. Her h-index is 42. ORCID: 0000-0002-3297-581X.

Twitter: @NevadoLab

Email: cristina.nevado@chem.uzh.ch

Affiliations: Department of Chemistry / University of Zürich

 

Dr. Daniele Leonori

Supervisor of ESR 7
Dr. Daniele Leonori is a Reader in Organic Chemistry and EPSRC Early Career Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Manchester. He started his independent career at UoM in October 2014 and was promoted to Reader in 2018. His research program in the area of nitrogen-radical chemistry and photocatalysis has been supported by the EPSRC (Early Career Fellowship in 2017 and one Responsive Mode Grant in 2018), the European Research Council (ERC Starter Grant in 2018), the Marie Curie Actions (5 IFs since 2015 and a Career Integration Grant) and The Leverhulme Trust (Research Grant in 2016). His research program has been recognized with the 2015 Green Chemistry Award from UNESCO/IUPAC/PhosAgro, the 2016 European Young Chemist Award (Silver Medal), the 2017 Thieme Chemistry Journal Awards, the 2018 RSC Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize, the 2019 Leverhulme Philip Prize and the 2019 AstraZeneca Award for Outstanding Contributions to Synthetic Chemistry. His h-index is 24. ORCID: 0000-0002-7692-4504.

Twitter: @LeonoriLab.

Email: daniele.leonori@rwth-aachen.de

Affiliations: Leonori Group

 

Dr. Géraldine Masson

Supervisor of ESR 8

Dr. Géraldine Masson has led an independent research group at the ICSN since 2008. Her group currently consists of 2 permanent associates (senior and junior), 2 postdocs, 5 PhD students and 2 Masters students. The group has an international reputation for the design, synthesis and testing of functional organic molecules. Areas of expertise include general organic synthesis, with a special focus on catalytic transformation. The group is well recognized in the field of enantioselective organocatalysis and synthetic methodologies using photoredox catalysis. Her contributions to the field of Organic Chemistry have been recognized with numerous awards including the Diverchim Prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from French Organic Chemistry Division (2011), CNRS Bronze Medal (2013), Liebig Lectureship of the German Chemical Society (2016), Novacap Prize of the French Académie des Sciences Award (2017) and J.-M. Lehn prize from French Organic Chemistry Division (2019). Her h-index is 36. ORCID: 0000-0003-2333-7047.

Twitter: @ggmasson1

Email: Geraldine.MASSON@cnrs.fr

Affiliations: Photocatalysis and Organocatalysis With Efficient Reactivity

 

Dr. Maurizio Fagnoni

Supervisor of ESR 9

Dr. Maurizio Fagnoni is an associate professor at the University of Pavia and heads the PhotoGreen Lab group. He received in 2011 the CINMPIS (National consortium for innovative methodologies and processes in synthesis) prize for "Innovation in organic synthesis", in 2018 the "Methodological aspects in Organic chemistry" Prize from the Italian Society of Chemistry and in 2019 the "Elsevier Lectureship Award" from the Japanese Photochemistry Association. MF is the author of 240 international peer-reviewed publications. He is co-editor of two books and co-author of the book Photochemically-generated intermediates in Synthesis, Wiley, 2013. His h-index is 45. ORCID: 0000-0003-0247-7585.

Twitter: @PhotogreenLab 

Email: maurizio.fagnoni@unipv.it

Affiliations: PhotoGreen Lab group

 

Dr. Stefano Protti

Co-supervisor of ESR 9

Dr. Stefano Protti is an associate professor at the University of Pavia. His research is focused on the development and the optimization of photochemical processes under eco- sustainable conditions. SP is currently a co-author of >100 papers and reviews (h-index = 29, Scopus), 15 chapters in multi-authored books and the book Paradigms in Green Chemistry and Technology (2016, Springer UK, with Angelo Albini). He is co-editor (since 2017) of the Specialist Periodical Reports in Photochemistry of the Royal Society of Chemistry and member of the early career board of the ACS sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (since 2019). He has been the recipient of the Ciamician Medal (best young organic chemists of the year, 2013) by the Italian Chemical Society (SCI) and of the Alfredo Di Braccio Prize (2014) by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. ORCID: 0000-0002-5313-5692

Email: stefano.protti@unipv.it

Affiliations: PhotoGreen Lab group

 

Prof. Ryan Gilmour

Supervisor of ESR 10

Ryan Gilmour (1980) was educated at the universities of St Andrews and Cambridge. He held research fellowships at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (A. Fürstner) and the ETH Zürich (P. H. Seeberger) before being appointed as Alfred-Werner-Assistant-Professor at the ETH Zürich (2008-2012). He is currently Chair of Organic Chemistry and CiM Professor of Chemical Biology at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. He is the recipient of an ERC Starter Grant (2013-2018) and an ERC Consolidator Grant (2018-present). His research has been recognized by numerous awards including the Ruzicka Prize of the ETH Zürich (2011), Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2015), the Allergan Lectureship, University of California Irvine, USA (2019) and most recently, the Prof. David Ginsburg Lectureship at the Technion (2020-2021). His h-index is 31. ORCID: 0000- 0002-3153-6065.

Twitter: @GilmourLab.

Email: ryan.gilmour@uni-muenster.de

Affiliations: Gilmour Laboratory

 

Dr Koen Van Aken

Supervisor of ESR 13

After obtaining a PhD at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 1993, Koen Van Aken (°1965) occupied a postdoctoral position at Georgia State University, Atlanta. Afterwards, he returned to Belgium to join the Center of Molecular Design at Janssen Pharmaceutica (a division of Johnson & Johnson). As senior scientist, his work involved HIV drug design in close collaboration with Dr. Paul Janssen which eventually resulted in FDA approved drugs. After founding the company EcoSynth in 2001, he obtained a master in Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Vlerick Gent Management School (2007). His 23 years of experience in academic and industrial organic chemistry are illustrated by (co)authorship of over 50 publications (including 22 patents). Main interests include sustainable chemistry, flow chemistry, novel activation technologies, optimalization of reaction parameters, automation of organic chemistry and process development. As current guest professor, he teaches "sustainable chemistry" as a course at the Catholic University of Leuven, the same university at which he was appointed fellow of the faculty of science. He was also chairman of the feasibility study for the Flemish Initiative for Sustainable Chemistry and member of the former board of directors of FISCH, now transformed in CATALISTI.

Email: kvaken@ecosynth.be

Affiliations: https://www.ecosynth.be/ 

 

Dr. Gellert Sipos

Supervisor of ESA 14

Dr. Gellert Sipos received his MSc degree (Chemistry) from the Eotvos Lorand University in 2011 (Hungary). Between 2011 and 2012 he worked at ThalesNano Inc. (Hungary) as research chemist. Dr. Sipos obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Western Australia in 2017. Dr. Sipos' PhD studies focused on the development of cationic iridium complexes with N-heterocyclic carbene ligands. In 2016, he joined the MTA-ELTE "Lendület" Catalysis and Organic Synthesis Research Group (Budapest, Hungary), where he worked on the development of visible-light-driven photoredox catalysts. He currently serves ComInnex as an Associate Principal Scientist and team leader. Dr Sipos' research interest includes organic and organometallic chemistry, photochemistry, catalysis, asymmetric synthesis, ligands design, medicinal chemistry, microreactors and continuous flow synthesis. He is a (co)author of 15 peer-reviewed articles. ORCID: 0000-0001-6956-9009.

Email: gellert.sipos@cominnex.com

 

Dr. Jesús Alcázar 

Supervisor of ESR 15

Dr. Jesús Alcázar got his Bachelor and PhD at Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in 1996. During this time he realized a 6 months stay at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy between 1993 and 1994 under the supervision of Prof. Michael Begtrup (Copenhagen, Denmark). In 1995 he joined Janssen-Cilag at the research centre in Toledo where he has implemented novel technologies to facilitate the synthesis of complex molecules and access novel chemical space. In this way, microwave, H-CUBE hydrogenation, flow chemistry and flow photochemistry has been already implemented and routinely used in medicinal chemistry programs. For this reason he has also received several J&J awards for having a worldwide impact, such as Leadership Award in 2012, Outstanding Scientist in 2015 and Innovation Leadership Award in 2020. With more than 20 different transformations validated in flow the Chemical Technologies research group is able to explore molecules difficult to obtain by other means including the automated preparation of libraries with enriched fraction of C(sp3), nowadays associated with improved pharmacokinetical properties. These methodologies has impacted programs from different therapeutic areas, such as Oncology, Neurosciences and Immunology all over J&J. He is author of around 70 articles, 6 reviews and 7 book chapters. He is inventor in 38 patent applications. He has also been co-editor of the book Flow Chemistry in Drug Discovery  that compiles for the first time the use of this technology in the discovery of new bioactive compounds. His h-index is 27. ORCID: 0000-0002-2726-196X

Email: jalcazar@its.jnj.com

Affiliations: http://www.janssen.com

 

Prof. Antonio de la Hoz 

Co-supervisor of ESR 15

Antonio de la Hoz is Professor in Organic Chemistry in the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). He obtained his Ph. D. from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid in 1986 under the supervision of Prof. José Elguero and Carmen Pardo. After postdoctoral research in 1987 with Prof. Mikael Begtrup at the Danmarks Tekniske Høskole he joined the Faculty of Chemistry of the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real in 1988 as an Assistant Professor. In 1993 he worked under the supervision Prof. André Loupy in the Université de Paris-Sud in Microwave Assisted Organic Chemistry. His current research interests focus on Green methodologies, microwave activation, mechanochemistry, flow methodologies and solvent-free reactions, and the applications of heterocyclic compounds in material and supramolecular chemistry. Prof. de la Hoz has authored over 220 scientific publications and several book chapters related to the applications of microwaves, green chemistry and flow methodologies in organic synthesis. He is co-editor of the book Microwaves in Organic Synthesis (third edition, 2012) and Flow Chemistry in Drug Discovery (2022). His H index is 45, ORCID 0000-0002-7101-6910. Dr. de la Hoz has been a foundation member of the Spanish Green Chemistry Network and participates in the Master in Green chemistry an interuniversity Master. He is actually the coordinator of the doctorate program in Green Chemistry in the UCLM.