Oliver was born and grew up in the UK, he obtained his integrated masters degree (MChem) in Chemistry in 2018, which included research projects with Dr. George Kostakis, Prof. Geoff Cloke (FRS), and Prof. Richard Layfield. His masters project with Prof. Cloke concerned the synthesis and reactivity of uranium phenoxide complexes. He subsequently moved to the University of Oxford for his DPhil in Inorganic Chemistry in the groups of Prof. Jose Goicoechea and Prof. Andy Weller. This project, funded through an iCASE award with Shell, involved the development of the first Zintl cluster based homogeneous catalysts. During this time, he won the EPSRC doctoral prize, which funded a postdoctoral position in Oxford to continue the project in new directions. In 2022, Oliver moved to Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow, joining the group of Prof. Sjoerd Harder at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. This project targeted M(0) synthons of the alkaline earth metals, using metal vapour synthesis to directly react the metals and ligands together, which resulted in the direct synthesis of a barium(0) synthon. In late 2024, he moved to the Institute of Nanotechnology, KIT, as a VCI Liebig fellow to found his junior research group. His current research interests involve the development of chemical technologies, with or for organometallic compounds containing metals across the periodic table.
Nooshin is originally from Iran. She holds an M.Sc. in Inorganic Chemistry from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST). Her previous research focused on designing MOF- and COF-based nanocomposites for sustainable photocatalysis. She is currently developing iron-based catalysts as sustainable alternatives to noble metals. Outside the lab, she enjoys reading, travelling, and hiking, and capturing moments through photography.
Edward joined the group in March 2026. His project is funded by the Liebig fellowship and focuses on Iron-main group cooperative catalysts for cross coupling reactions. Originally from Hampshire in the UK, Edward graduated in July 2024 from the University of Bath with an MChem degree in Chemistry. He completed his final year project working under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Johnson in the Johnson research group. His project focused on synthesising novel germylenes and stannylenes and their applications in insertion-style reactions. Following this, he worked as an NMR research technician at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Dr. Harold Mackenzie. In this role, he was responsible for managing cryogenics logistics, maintaining open access spectrometers, supporting the NMR Submission Service and providing technical support across the NMR laboratories. In his free time Edward enjoys playing and watching sports, specifically hockey, tennis, cricket, football, rugby and Formula 1. He enjoys playing and listening to music, and also likes to cook and bake.
Luise joined the group originally as a HiWi and has stayed with us for her MSc project. In this time, she has been working on the coordination chemistry of iron in its 1+ oxidation state.