Supervisors

Dr. Leyre Marzo is an expert in homogeneous catalysis, including photocatalysis (> 40 articles). She is a Ramón y Cajal researcher, the most prestigious research contract in Spain. Her current research deals with the development of new transformations in organic synthesis under the use of light and electricity as the driving force. She has been the PI of 3 Spanish research projects and has been awarded with 3 research prizes.

Prof. Dr. Helena Lundberg has expertise in catalysis and electrosynthesis. She has experience as principal investigator (PI) from >10 past and present research projects funded by, e.g., an ERC Starting Grant, a Future Research Leader grant from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and grants from the Swedish research councils Vetenskapsrådet and Formas, adding up to over 4 million €. She has received four academic distinctions and one academic recognition.

Prof. Dr. Kevin Lam has over 15 years of experience in synthetic electrochemistry, with a strong focus on the development of innovative methodologies in homogeneous catalysis and medicinal chemistry. He currently leads a research team at the University of Greenwich consisting of 3 PDRAs, 8 PhD students and several international visiting researchers. Over the past five years, Prof Lam has secured approximately €1,000,000 in external funding, including major grants from the HorizonEU Innovation Council, UKRI and the Leverhulme Trust. He is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications and holds 2 patents in electrochemical synthesis. His work has been internationally recognised, including inclusion in the American Chemical Society's list of Early Career Researchers making a significant impact on the chemistry community, and the Thieme Journals Award.

Dr. Maurice Médebielle is a CNRS research fellow (DR1) at UCBL. He has experience (> 30 years) in fluorine chemistry, redox-driven synthesis (use of neutral electron-donors, electro- and photo-catalytical methodologies) (>100 publications). He has led industrial collaborations (Merck, Janssen, Bayer) and had been PI or partner of national (ANR) and international collaborative projects (EU FP7, PRC CNRS, ECOS Sud – CONICET with UK, USA, Japan and Argentina). He has been awarded bronze medal from CNRS (1994) and 2 research international fellowships [AIST (1997) and JSPS (2005), Japan].

Dr. Joshua Barham has over 12 years of expertise in catalysis, physical organic chemistry and flow chemistry. He currently develops new photoelectrochemical and photochemical methodologies. He is currently a Reader (Associate Prof. equivalent in the U.K.). He was awarded i) a 2019 Sofja Kovalevskaja Award - among the most generous start-up grants for an early career P.I. in Germany/Europe - and ii) a 2022 ERC-Starting Grant. In addition to leading these 2 5-year projects, he has led 3 smaller research projects and 1 international teaching exchange project. He has been awarded with 10 national and 6 international prizes.

Dr. Anna Albrecht has over 15 years of experience in organocatalysis and photocatalysis. She is currently working on merging organocatalysis and electrosynthesis in order to obtain enantiomerically enriched heterocyclic product. She has been the PI of more than 4 research projects including “Sontata Bis” project financed by National Science Center, one of the most prestigious grants in Poland. She is involved in training and supervision of undergraduate, master and PhD students.

Prof. Dr. Lutz Ackermann is a full professor for organic chemistry and catalysis at the UGOE. He has been the advisor of 94 PhD students, 70 post-doctoral researchers, 84 undergraduate students, and hosted 19 visiting scientists. He has published more than 560 manuscripts in international journals and presented more than 340 invited lectures at conferences. He is expert in the area of a) homogeneous catalysis, especially with catalysts based on abundant metals, b) strong bond activation c) late-stage functionalization, d) electro- and e) photocatalysis. He inter alia received an AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award (2011), an ERC Consolidator Grant (2012), a Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Preis (2017), an ERC Advanced Grant (2021), a Werner Siemens Foundation Centennial Research Award (2023), and the DECHEMA Otto Roelen-Medal (2024)

Prof. Sigfried R. Waldvogel is the director of the beneficiary and honorary full professor in Organic Chemistry (KIT), specializing on electrifying chemistry and technical processes in order to enable the transition of the chemical industry. He will commit ≥5% of his time to Electrify-It and serve as main supervisor of DC1 who he will meet weekly. >70 PhD students have successfully completed their studies under the supervision of Prof. Waldvogel. He is currently supervising/co-supervising 15 PhD students and 7 postdoctoral fellows.