Congratulations to Dr. Jinju James for flawlessly passing her PhD viva! Her thesis is titled “Investigations into the Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Sterically Hindered Lactones and Dihydrocoumarins” and is spread across a record two volumes! We are delighted to have her around for just a little while longer.

Dr. Jinju James after passing her PhD viva

Dr. Andrew Harper worked in our group as a postdoc for the last year, and recently left to pursue another postdoc at the University of Auckland. We wish Andrew the best of luck with his career going forwards!

Dr. Andrew Harper with Prof. Pat Guiry and Dr. Kevin Gahan at Andrew’s farewell dinner.

A number of UCD Chemistry students attended the Oxford Synthesis Summer Conference this June, including six members of our group: Alex, Annette, Brendan, Eric, Jinju, and Laura. The plenary speakers across both days were excellent, and the student flash talks were highly engaging. The discussion panel with the plenary speakers on the second day offered useful insights and perspective to postgraduate students.

A number of UCD Chemistry students at the Oxford Synthesis Summer Conference 2018

Alex and Louise from our group, alongside a number of other chemistry postgraduate students and staff from UCD, attended the 70th Irish Universities Chemistry Research Colloquium at Queen’s University Belfast this June. The two-day event was enjoyed by all, with the plenary speakers’ presentations setting a high standard each day that was maintained by student oral presentations and flash presentations.

Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Gahan, who just passed his PhD viva! During his PhD, Kevin worked on the synthesis of novel imidazole-containing lipoxin A4 analogues.

Kevin Gahan celebrating after his PhD viva!

Congratulations to Dr. Brian Fitzpatrick on passing his PhD viva! Brian’s PhD work focused on the palladium-catalysed enantioselective synthesis of sterically hindered alpha-aryl isoflavanones and neoflavanones. We wish him all the best going forward!