PERCAT Rep for the School of Chemistry
What is your academic background and your current research field?
I graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Chemistry from the University of Queensland in 2011. I remained at same university to complete my PhD within the lab of Assoc. Prof. Kristofer Thurecht and Prof. Andrew Whittaker, studying the synthesis of drug-loaded hyperbranched polymer nanoparticles via controlled radical polymerisation techniques, graduating in 2015. I was a post-doctoral research fellow with Prof. Cameron Alexander at the University of Nottingham for 3 years, within an EPSRC biomaterials discovery programme grant investigating functionalisable polymer scaffolds for drug delivery applications. I am currently a Senior Research Fellow with Prof. Rachel O’Reilly covering a range of chemistry and drug delivery projects.
What is your role as a PERCAT Rep and how can postdocs in your school contact you?
I became a PERCAT rep for the School of Chemistry in March 2019. Through this role I hope to promote and encourage active participation in the career-development and training events organised through PERCAT to the chemistry post doc and ECR community, but also to more informally help bring together early career academics to support and share experiences. I attend informal coffee mornings and can be contacted by email – a.k.pearce@bham.ac.uk
What do you feel are the benefits of the PERCAT programme for postdocs and what do you feel have been the benefits to you from being a postdoc rep?
During my first post doc I found it very beneficial to attend the types of career development and training programs that PERCAT is offering, and based on these positive experiences I wanted a more active role in the running and organisation. I think it’s important to have a good ECR network within the university to share advice and support, and I also enjoy the opportunity to engage with researchers from other disciplines.