Current Group Members

Tom Lawson

PhD student

Tom is originally from south London, he completed his masters degree in chemistry at the University of Sussex, with his masters research being on the solid-state synthesis of naphthalene diimides for applications in organic photovoltaics. Tom is currently working under the CDT of Topological Design, and is working on designing and fabricating organic field effect transistors (OFETs) based on new supramolecular organic semiconducting materials. Outside of chemistry, Tom enjoys going to the gym and playing guitar and bass.

Contact: tel210@student.bham.ac.uk

Mya Kotecha

PhD student

Mya, originally from northwest London, completed her undergraduate at Cardiff University. In her third year, Mya undertook a research project in Milan working on glycan based antigens for the development of antibacterial vaccines. Her masters research project, with Simon Pope, involved developing ligands for fluorescent iridium complexes as potential dopants. Mya joined the Barendt group in September 2023 and is currently working on developing PDI macrocycles whilst optimising linkers to synthesize supramolecular hosts. Hence, she is hoping to put the ‘box’ in “The Pink Box”. In her free time, Mya enjoys swimming, dancing, and cooking.

Contact: mxk641@student.bham.ac.uk

Oussama Errida

PhD student

Oussama, born and raised in Casablanca Morocco, moved to the United States for his undergraduate studies. He fast-tracked his bachelor’s degree in three years at the University of Southern Mississippi with a final project on the total synthesis of halofuginone derivatives as tick-borne disease inhibitors. He joined a collaborative project between the Barendt and Stavros groups focusing on the design of PDI based radicals and studying their structure-dynamics-property relationships. Other than Chemistry, Oussama is passionate about politics, farming, and cooking, although not good at the latter.

Contact: oxe475@student.bham.ac.uk

Jasmine Lowe

PhD student

Jaz grew up in Bath, and studied for her undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford. She did her masters year project in the group of Stephen Faulkner, working on lanthanide complexes for cation sensing. Jaz joined the Barendt group in September 2024, and is working on PDIs for environmental sensing and bioimaging. Outside of chemistry, Jaz enjoys film photography, hiking, and watching live music, as well as singing in a choir.

Contact: jxl1964@student.bham.ac.uk