Career

  • 2020 Professor of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry,
    Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
  • 2018 Professor of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry,
    Imperial College London, UK
  • 2014 Reader (Ionic Liquids, Catalysis, H-Bonding)
  • 2009 Senior Lecturer
  • 2008 Renewal Royal Society University Research Fellowship 2008-2011 and Lectureship
  • 2003 Royal Society University Research Fellowship* 2003-2008
  • 2001 Research Associate (Leverhulme) with Dr. M. Sprik, Chem Dept, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
  • 1998 Research Associate (EPSRC) with Prof. M. Robb, Chem Dept, King's College London, London, UK
  • 1998 PhD (Theoretical Chemistry), University of Auckland, Auckland, NZ (Prof. Peter Schwerdtfeger)
  • 1996 BA (Philosophy), Auckland, NZ
  • 1993 MSc (First class honours), Auckland University, Auckland, NZ
  • 1991 BSc, Auckland University, Auckland, NZ

*What is "A Royal Society University Research Fellowship"? These are independent positions offered by The Royal Society, providing outstanding scientists with the opportunity to build an independent research career. The scheme is very competitive with approximately 30 offered each year over all the Natural Sciences, and an average success rate of 5%.

Primary Collaborations

  • Prof. Tom Welton Chemistry Department, Imperial College London, UK. Ionic Liquids
  • Dr. Kevin Lovelock Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, UK.Spectroscopy
  • Prof. Dominik Weiss Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, London. Geochemistry Trace Metals
  • Dr. Tamar Greaves Department of Physics, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Thermodynamic Phases
  • Dr. Melanie Britton School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. Spectroscopy, NMR
  • Dr. Joshua R. Sangoro Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, USA. Dielectric Spectroscopy
  • Dr. Christian Schroder Department of Computational Biological Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Polarizability
  • Dr. Kim Jelfs Chemistry Department, Imperial College, London, UK. Functional Materials
  • Dr. Clotildes Cucinotta Chemistry Department, Imperial College, London, UK. Solid State Conduction
  • Prof. Amparo Galindo Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, London, UK. Solvent Engineering
* a list of additional collaborators/colleagues can be found here

Funding and Grants

Major

  • March 2025: AI MacDiarmid Institute, Associate Investigator grant, $12k
  • Nov 2024: PI New Zealand Royal Society Mana Tūārangi Distinguished Researcher Fellowship, $220k
  • July 2024: Co-I Globally coordinated Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR), NanoHeal: Bridging Bench to Bedside for Advanced Nanomaterials in Wound Care and Infection Prevention, €1.76 million ≅ $3.21 million
  • July 2023: PI Marsden Standard Grant: Unravelling the electronic structure of highly charged hydrogen- and halogen- bonds; rational chemical design and the creation of novel ionic liquid materials, $1.1 million
  • Feb 2023: PI VUW Hub for Simulation, Numerical methods, Analytics and Programming, $98k
  • March 2021: AI MacDiarmid Institute, Associate Investigator grant, $14k
  • Sept 2021: PI Creating Environmentally Sustainable Zinc Batteries, $78k
  • Jan 2020: PI VuW Strategic Grant, $170k
  • Jan 2020: Co-I Health Protection Research Unit: Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards £4 million : PI PhD Detection and decomposition of toxic chemicals £123k
  • Nov 2018: PI Airbus Space and Defence: PDRA Novel Green Fuels £268k
  • Feb 2018: PI DSTL: PhD Responsive Materials for Detection £222k
  • Oct 2017: EPSRC doctoral training award funded by Department PI
  • April 2016: Co-I GSK: ILs and Deep Eutectic Solvents in Pharmaceuticals £1 million
  • Oct 2014: PI AWE: PhD EPSRC CASE award: Solvating Heavy Elements £206k
  • Oct 2014: PI AWE: PhD Industrial iCASE award: Metal containing Ionic Liquids £256k
  • Oct 2012: PI Closing the loop: Ionic Liquids for Recycling WEEE £15k NatSci Faculty and 15k Engineering Faculty
  • April 2011: Co-I Rio-Tinto: Fundamental studies £1.8 million
  • April 2011: Co-I EPSRC: Group 2: Elements of 21st Century Catalysis £330k
  • Jan 2009: PI Leverhulme Trust: New Ways to Elucidate the Electronic Structure of Solutes and Solvents £127k
  • Jan 2009: Co-I European Advanced Investigator Grant FP7: Binary Ionic Liquids, leader Prof Tom Welton, £1.5 million
  • Oct 2009: contributor EPSRC Doctoral Training Center: Theory and Simulation of Materials, leader Prof Adrain Sutton, £6 million
  • Oct 2009: PhD collaboration with Mechanical Engineering funded by the Porter Institute
  • Oct 2009: PhD collaboration with Chemical Engineering funded under a Research excellence award to Molecular Systems Engineering
  • Oct 2008: RSURF £382k
  • Oct 2003: RSURF

Minor

  • May 2014: EPSRC(DTC) funded Summer Bursary: (Bradley Doran)
  • May 2012: EPSRC(DTC) funded Summer Bursary: (Carlos Mascarenhas)
  • May 2011: EPSRC(DTC) funded Summer Bursary: (Joe Greener)
  • Dec 2011: RS funded Travel Grant £ 2,700
  • June 2010: RS funded Summer Bursary: (Weiyan (Serene) Chen)
  • May 2010: Imperial UROP Summer Bursary: (Fiona Li)
  • April 2010: EPSRC Summer Bursary: (Claire Ashworth)
  • June 2009: EPSRC Summer Bursary: (Florence Slater)
  • June 2009: Nuffield Foundation Summer Bursary: (Arayeoz Rao)
  • June 2009: Imperial UROP Summer Bursary: (Simon Kilroy)
  • June 2008: Nuffield Foundation Summer Bursary: (Sheena Shah)

Memberships and Research Centres

Research Centers

  • MacDiarmid Institute for advanced materials and nanotechnology link
  • Institute of Molecular Science The IMSE aims to find molecular-based science and engineering solutions to grand challenge problems. (link)
  • Thomas Young Centre The TYC combines research groups in London who work on the theory and simulation of materials. (link)
  • The Porter Institute is focussed on the science and engineering that will create a sustainable, plant based liquid fuels industry. (link)
  • Doctoral Training Centre for the Theory and Simulation of Materials trains a new generation of postgraduates in cutting-edge simulation techniques link

Memberships and Associations

  • 2021-ongoing Lead of VUW Hub for Simulation, Numerical methods, Analytics and Programming (VUW-SNAP)
  • 2021-ongoing Editorial Board of the Journal of Ionic Liquids
  • 2020-ongoing Editorial Board of the Journal of Molecular Physics
  • 2020-ongoing Member the NZ Institue of Chemistry (NZIC)
  • 2020-ongoing Member Molten Salts Discussion Group a subgroup of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  • 2020-ongoing Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  • 2017-2020 Graduate School External Advisory Board Imperial College
  • 2016-2020 Officer Molten Salts Discussion Group a subgroup of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  • 2014-18 Chemistry Associate Editor Royal Society Open Science
  • 2010-14 Member of Board B (Research Grants) for the Royal Society
  • 2007- Member of The Higher Education Academy (HEA)
  • 2004- Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSc)
  • 2010-16 Member of the American Chemical Society (ACS)

Reviewing

Jouranal Review
(Physical)

  • J. of Chemical Theory and Computation
  • J. Molecular Liquids
  • PCCP
  • J. of the Electrochemical Society
  • AlChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers)
  • ChemPhysChem
  • Molecular Physics
  • J. Chemical Physics
  • J. Physical Chemisty B
  • Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
  • J. of Chem. Thermodynamics
  • J. of Physics: Condensed Matter
  • Fluid Phase Equilibria
  • J. of Chemical & Engineering Data
  • J. Molecular Structure
  • J. of Molecular Graphics and Modelling
  • Molecular Simulation
  • Chemical Physics Letters
  • J. Propulsion and Power

Jouranal Review
(Inorganic and Other)

  • Nature Communications
  • ACS Catalysis
  • Nature Scientific Reports
  • Chemical Reviews
  • Angewandte Chemie
  • JACS
  • ACS Catalysis
  • ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
  • ACS Crystal Growth & Design
  • ChemEurJ
  • International J. of Molecular Sciences
  • ChemPlusChem>
  • RSC Advances
  • RSC New Journal of Chemistry
  • RSC Chemistry Open
  • J. Fluorine Chemistry
  • Chemistry Select
  • ACS Omega
  • ACS J. Organic Chemistry
  • New Journal of Chemistry
  • Australian J. Chemistry

Teaching Responsibilities

Lecturing and Tutorials

  • tutor 1st & 2nd year chemistry
  • 1st year workshops in computational chemsitry
  • 2nd year lecture course "MOs in Inorganic Chemistry"
  • 2nd year problem classes in MO theory
  • 2nd year workshops in MO theory
  • 3rd year lecture course "Symmetry and Spectroscopy"
  • 3rd year lecture course "Spectroscopy and Characterisation"
  • 3rd year problem classes in spectroscopy
  • 4th year "Computational Inorganic Chemistry"
  • 4th year MRes module on Quantum mechanics in "Multiscale Modeling" course

Project Supervision

  • 4th year MSci(Hons) research projects, including Chemistry with Molecular Physics
  • masters in research MRes projects: MRes GreenChemistry, MRes NanoMaterials, MRes Catalysis, MRes Institue of Molecular Science
  • 3rd year BSc research projects
  • 3rd and 4th year literature reports
  • EU Erasumus research projects
  • 2nd and 3rd year summer students

Course Administration

  • Course leader Institute of Molecular Science MRes course on Multiscale Modeling
  • Head 2nd year computational chemistry lab, 2012-18
  • Head 3rd year computational chemistry lab, 2008-14
  • Course (2nd year) Exam Coordinator Inorganic Section, 2008-13

Exams

  • 1st mark all my courses
  • 2nd mark
    • 1st year Atomic Structure
    • 1st year Molecular Structure
    • 1st year Transition Metal Coordination and Organometallic Chemistry
    • 2nd year Crystal and Molecular Architecture
    • 3rd year Lanthanide and Actinide Chemistry

Laboratory Supervision

  • 1st and 2nd year inorganic synthetic labs
  • 1st year physical-computational labs
  • 2nd year inorganic-computational labs
  • 3rd year computational labs
  • physical, mathematics, theory labs when needed

Management

College Committees

  • Presidents Awards Review Panel, 2016-2019
  • Post Doc and Fellows Committee, 2016-2019
  • Research Culture and Community Committee, 2015-2017
  • Athena Committee, 2013-2015
  • Supporting Academics Committee, 2010

Departmental Committees

  • Curriculum Review Committee, 2017-2019
  • SWAN Implementation Group, 2018-2019
  • Department PostDoc & Fellows Champion, 2018-2019
  • Seminar Committee, 2017-2018
  • Management Committee, 2013-2015
  • Lead of the Athena SWAN initaitve in Chemistry, 2008-2015
  • Chair Chemistry Academic Opportunities Committee, 2008-2015

Faculty Committees

  • Committee for Academic Women, 2008-2015

Other

  • Member and examinations Board member for the Institute of Molecular Science and Engineering IMSE, 2017-2019
  • 1st year Tutor, 2016-2017
  • Board member and cohort mentor for the Theory and Simulation of Materials CDT, 2009-2014
  • Represent the department, for example at the Quality Assurance Agency Institutional Audit, PG Training Reviews, RCUK evaluation of Roberts funding, Athena SWAN related events
  • Interviewer for students applying to enter chemistry, UCAS, MRes, CDT's and PhD

Awards and Prizes

  • 2016 2nd in WISE Research awards The WISE Awards are an annual event recognising the inspiring organisations and individuals who actively addressing the core concerns of WISE: promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics to girls and women. Watch excerpts from the Research category finalist interviews
  • 2015 President's Award for Excellence in Research Supervision celebrates staff who are considered to have made an outstanding contribution towards a supportive learning environment.
  • 2011 Faculty of Natural Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching celebrates staff who are considered to have made the most outstanding contribution to teaching, and who gain consistently excellent feedback from students.
  • Qurat Al Ain (PhD): has been awarded a poster prize at the NZIC-2024 conference, November 2024
  • Mikkalia McKeever-Willis (PhD): has been awarded the 2021 David Phillips Prize for Outreach, June 2021
  • Sophie Finnigan (PhD): 1st place for her talk in the Theoretical, Computational and Data-Driven Chemistry theme at the Imperial Postgraduate Symposium, Oct 2020
  • Sophie Finnigan (PhD): Summer internship at IBM, June-August 2018
  • Masahiro Takenaga (IMSE MRes): Prize for Excellence in Research and Science Communication, this prize is based on student performance in the research project and in presenting their research, Sept 2018
  • Masahiro Takenaga (IMSE MRes): won the Best Talk prize in the IMSE MRes symposium, July 2018
  • Oxana Andriuc (MSci): best oral presentation MSci Symposium: Applications of Inorganic Chemistry, Imperial, June 2018. Oxana also won the Governor's Prize for the top ranked MSci student in the year.
  • Sanha Lee (MSci): came 2nd for his oral presentation in the MSci Symposium: Applications of Inorganic Chemistry, Imperial, June 2018
  • Sophie Finnigan (PhD): was joint winner of the Best Poster Prize at this years annual TYC Student Day, Feb 2018
  • Mikkalia McKeever-Willis(MRes): has won the MRes Green Chemistry Dissertation Prize 2017 for the top dissertation of the year
  • Nukorn (MRes): has won 2nd prize in the MRes Green Chemistry presentations, 2017
  • Aiswarya Prabha (RA): Scholarship to attend the 2016 RSC Joliet-Curie conference for early career researchers, York, Sept 2016
  • Richard Fogarty (PhD):best PG talk in the annual PhD symposium Energy, Materials and Molecular Design section, Imperial, July 2016
  • Rebecca Rowe (PhD): poster prize at the EUCHEM meeting on IL and molten salts, Vienna, July 2016
  • Jan Szopinski (MSci): best oral presentation MSci Symposium: Synthesis, Materials & Applications, Imperial, June 2016
  • Richard Fogarty (PhD): best poster prize at the annual Diamond SR user meeting, September 2015
  • Richard Fogarty (PhD): top poster prize at the Soft X-ray in Energy and Time (SXET) meeting in Berlin, August 2015
  • Laila Banna (MSci): Dow prize for runner-up in the MSci research project presentations for 'Synthesis, Materials & Applications', 2015
  • Matthew Clough (PhD): £700 Travel award to attend the Denver ACS meeting in March 2015
  • Jacqueline Tan (MRes): Best science communication prize at HERMES 2014, Materials Modelling summer school, Windsor, UK 2014
  • Claire Ashworth (PhD): Best poster prize at EUCHEM2014, Molten Salts and Ionic Liquids XXV, Tallinn, Estonia, 2014
  • Matthew Clough (PhD): 2nd prize for oral presentation at the annual PG Research Symposium, 2014
  • Matthew Clough (PhD): Best oral presentation prize at the Molten Salts Discussion Group (MSDG) Meeting, University of Leicester, UK, 2013.
  • Gabriel Lau (PhD): Best poster prize at the Thermodynamics 2013 conference, Manchester, 2013
  • Bryan Ward (PhD): 2nd place poster prize, physical chemistry category at the Chemistry PhD symposium, Imperial 2013
  • Dimitris Katsikadakos (PhD): Qatar Petoleum Medal and Prize, 2013
  • Dr. Ling Ge (Post-Doc): Media Fellowship Award, 2012
  • Claire Ashworth (UG): Briscoe Prize for Excellence in Inorganic Chemistry for her MSci research project, 2009
  • Florence Slater (UG): Govenor's Prize for Best MSci Student in Final Year, and Evans Medal for Best Inorganic Research Project, Best Inorganic Project Presentation, 2010
  • Seham Akkad (UG): final year poster prize, 2010
  • Andrew Sykes (UG): Evans Medal for Best Inorganic Research Project, 2007
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