Celebrating Research Excellence at Chemistry's Annual MRes Symposium Week

Chemistry master's students presented their research to a panel of judges and were awarded prizes for their excellent work.

We recently wrapped up our annual MRes Symposium Week, a dynamic series of events where students across our MRes programmes presented their research to an engaged audience of their supervisors, course directors and peers. Each symposium provided a unique window into the breadth of scientific inquiry taking place across the department, with students showcasing their findings through thoughtful presentations and lively discussions. These events are a culmination of the hard work and talent of our students.

To mark the end of the week, we awarded prizes for standout presentations from each course and hosted a social gathering to celebrate the collective effort and achievement of our MRes community. Congratulations to all our students for their inspiring contributions.

Winners Announcement:

MRes in Advanced Molecular Synthesis

• Winner: Minxiao Li with the project title “'Radical approaches to 3,3-disubstituted oxetanes”
• Runner-Up: Haoxuan Song with the project title “High throughput synthesis and analysis of modular nanogels for precision drug delivery”

MSc in Digital Chemistry

• Winner: Ryan Reese with the project title “Predicting monomer ceiling temperature: towards polymer chemical recycling” and Miguel Ye with the project title “Expansion of the Opentrons robotic system for synthetic chemistry automation”

MRes in Green Chemistry

• Winner: Cam Reid with the project title “PE-biopolymer co-polymers as novel hybrid materials”
• Runners-Up: Xingying Liu with the project title “Understanding the Effect of Halogen Substitution in Disordered Rock-Salts" & Yunyang Zhang with the project title "Lignin-cellulose composite films”

MRes Catalysis

• Winner: Anqiao Tang with the project title “Electro-Catalytic Fixing of Carbon Dioxide into Polymers”
• Joint runners-up: Amy Zhang with the project title “Copper catalysis for N-arylations" and Luming Guo with the project title "Sub-mol% Copper-Catalysed Coupling”

MRes in Chemical Biology and Bio-Entrepreneurship and MRes in Biological Physical Chemistry

• Joint winners: Laia Torrella Adriaensen with the project title “DNA-enabled super resolution viscosity measurements of lipid nanodomains” & Max Barnett with the project title “Phosphine Oxides as Rising Stars in Drug Discovery”
• Runner-up: Ido Dan with the project title “Transforming our understanding of electron transfer in membrane proteins through automation, additive manufacturing and spectroelectrochemistry”

MRes in Drug Discovery and Development

• Joint winners: Laura Yilmaz with the project title “Understand the Doc/Phd protein-protein interaction as a target to prevent bacterial persistence” and Daisy Smith with the project title "Discovery of ETV5-targeting PROTACs for treatment of cancer”

MRes in Nanomaterials

• Joint winners: Hollie Kelvin with the project title “Defect Tolerance and Carrier Dynamics in Sodium Iodide Far-UVC LEDs” and Xunyi Zhu with the project title "Phosphorene Nanoribbon-Integrated Spiro-OMeTAD Hole Transport Layers for Enhanced Charge Extraction in Perovskite Solar Cells”
• Joint runners-up: Iris Angelopoulou-Daskalopoulou with the project title “Chiral perovskites for novel spin-optic applications” and Qiwen Liu with the project title "MIP Coated 6Li-Nanoparticles for Cancer-targeted Neutron Capture Therapy”

Professor James Bull, Director of Master’s Studies, commented, “These symposia are a highlight of the academic year and they reflect the depth of talent and dedication among our master’s students. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the students communicate their research with such clarity and enthusiasm, and to see the academic growth of the students across the year.”

Whether presenting, supporting or simply sharing in the moment, every participant helped make the symposium week a success. Congratulations to all our students for your inspiring contributions, we’re excited to see where your research journeys take you next.