What is your impression of the Chemical Synthesis portfolio of PhD projects so far?

So far, the projects have focussed on making complex drugs, macrocycles, polyaromatic hydrocarbons; or on utilising under-used Au catalysts and much more. All the proposals have looked to incorporate automation, computational methods or ultra-fast spectroscopic measurements into the project. The academics and the TECS team have married traditional synthetic chemistry to the latest technologies focused on in the TECS programme - it's been an engaging process.

What do you particularly enjoy about TATE?

It has been great to consolidate previous learning with the lectures and problems classes given by the academic team at Bristol. We've had to read lots of current literature, and been introduced to a range of topics through the PhD proposal brainstorming session and the journal club presentations. I also think the programming courses are taught very well.

How have you found the automation and A.I. aspects of the course?

Equipment like the Chemspeed robot is not commonplace in the world of university research, so it's been rewarding to spend four weeks training on it. The Machine Learning sessions are really interesting and we have also made molecules in a VR environment - that was class.

What would you tell a prospective PhD student considering TECS?

It has been a busy couple of months and will continue to be until Christmas, but it has been a great way to familiarise ourselves with the department and learn about the chemistry going on at the university, and it will help us all with making an informed decision about what PhD projects to apply to for the 3.5 years of research.