Current Group Members

Denis Hartmann

Postdoc

Originally from Austria, Denis moved to the UK for his undergraduate in chemistry at St. Anne’s college, Oxford. During this time, he undertook a summer research project with Bettina Lotsch on 2D optical materials at the MPI and LMU and undertook his 4^th year project in organic methodology under Jonathan Burton. Denis then continued in Oxford, at Wolfson College, where he undertook his DPhil as part of the Synthesis for Biology and Medicine CDT with Michael Booth on light-controllable oligonucleotides. Denis joined the Barendt group as a research fellow in April 2023 and is working on through-space donor-acceptor systems for new luminescent materials. Outside of the lab, Denis enjoys making music, rowing and board- and videogames.

Contact: d.hartmann@bham.ac.uk

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