A warm welcome to our new PhD candidates and Postdoctoral researcher! We would like to introduce them to you.
Batuhan Özyürek (PhD Candidate University of Groningen, left photo) was born and raised in Arnhem, The Netherlands. He received his BSc degree in Chemistry and MSc degree in Molecular Chemistry at the Radboud University Nijmegen. During his studies he has performed internships at the Molecular Nanotechnology department researching, where he synthesized a supramolecular catalyst and investigated its catalytic properties for enantioselective epoxidation of olefins. Additionally, Batuhan has performed an industrial internship at Allnex in Wageningen, where he investigated γ-hydroxybutenolide monomers at a potential alternative to oil-based acrylic acid. In January 2024, Batuhan started his PhD in the group of Ben Feringa, where he will investigate trigger elements incorporated in coatings and adhesives to control adhesion on-demand.
Panji Tamarona (PhD Candidate Technical University Delft, middle photo) was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. He received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung before securing a scholarship from the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education for his master’s degree at TU Delft, specializing in energy, flow, and process technology. He completed his master's with a thesis on process modelling and techno-economic analysis of large-scale hydrogen liquefaction. Now pursuing his PhD at TU Delft's Engineering Thermodynamics Research Group under the supervision of Thijs Vlugt within the ARC CBBC project, Panji's research concentrates on techno-economic and life-cycle assessments of methane pyrolysis. The goal is to provide a comprehensive assessment on the overall impact of the process in an industrial setting. Beyond academia, he enjoys tennis, basketball, and board games with friends.
Paul Wienecke (Postdoctoral researcher University of Groningen, right photo) was born 1993 in Hannover, Germany. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the Leibniz University Hannover in 2015. He continued studying M. Sc. Natural Product and Medicinal Chemistry at the same university, including an internship in the group of Prof. Matteo Zanda (University of Aberdeen, Scotland), supported by an Erasmus scholarship. Paul conducted his M. Sc. thesis research at the Institute for Medicinal Chemistry of the Helmholtz Centre Munich in the group of Prof. Oliver Plettenburg, working on the design, synthesis and evaluation of a library of drug candidates. After finishing his M. Sc. studies in 2017 with distinction, he pursued a PhD research project in the group of Prof. Hans-Dieter Arndt (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena). The project spanned from the total synthesis and derivatization of bioactive natural products to synthetic methodology and was supported by a PhD fellowship by the German Federal Environmental Foundation. In April 2023, Paul joined the group of Prof. Minnaard at the University of Groningen, working on the application of electro- and photoredox chemistry for the synthesis and modification of natural products.