Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry Council

Andy Mount is Professor of Physical Electrochemistry at the University of Edinburgh.

Andy graduated and gained his PhD in Chemistry from Imperial College. He had a spell of postdoctoral research at Oxford University, where he was a Research Scholar at University College, a College Lecturer at Keble College and a Junior Research Fellow at Green College.

Andy was appointed to a Lectureship in Chemistry at Edinburgh in 1992. In 2005 he was promoted to Reader, and in 2012 was promoted to Professor. Andy was Dean of Research & Strategic Partnerships in the College of Science & Engineering (CSE) at Edinburgh University until August 2025.

With around 130 journal publications and 11 patents, Andy’s research interests include fundamental and applied electrochemistry, sensing and analysis, development and application of healthcare technologies, and low-carbon, clean nuclear energy. He has played a leading role in over £45million of major multidisciplinary collaborations across Scotland, the UK and Europe, including major national and international multidisciplinary collaborative programmes in research and innovation.

He is a founder and Director of the open access Pyrochemical Research Laboratory, has provided policy advice to UK and Scottish governments (e.g., through the Scottish Science Advisory Council), and led UK RAE/REF submissions for Chemistry at Edinburgh (as Chemistry Dean of Research) and for the College of Science & Engineering (as Dean of REF). He is a past Chair of the RSC Electrochemistry Group and the RSC Faraday Standing Committee on Conferences.

Helen Fielding is the Thomas Graham Professor of Chemistry at University College London. Her research is focused on developing and exploiting advanced laser spectroscopy methods to probe photochemical reactions that underpin processes in biology, atmospheric chemistry and photon technologies. 

Helen obtained a DPhil in Physical Chemistry from Oxford in 1992 and held an 1851 Fellowship in the Department of Physics at the University of Amsterdam from 1993-94. She was a lecturer, reader and professor of physical chemistry at King’s College London from 1994 until 2003 when she moved to the UCL Chemistry Department as a professor of chemical physics. She held an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship from 2001-6, a Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship from 2018-19, and is a past recipient of RSC awards (Harrison, 1996; Marlow, 2001; Corday-Morgan, 2003; Service to RSC, 2009) and an IOP award (Moseley Medal, 2008).

Helen has undertaken numerous leadership roles within UCL and the wider scientific community that include Chair of an RSC Governance Review Working Group (2009-10), Chair of RSC Publishing Board (2012-16), Head of Physical Chemistry at UCL (2013-18), Chair of the UCL Chemistry Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (2014-20) that led to an Athena SWAN Silver Award in 2020, and Chair of the Ramsay Trust Advisory Board (2020-23). She is currently a member of the STFC HiLUX Project Board and the PCCP Ownership Board, Co-Director of London Light, Director of the UCL Ultrafast Laser Facility, and she leads the UCL Chemistry and Light Research Theme.

Jeremy describes himself as a physical and digital chemist, with interests in promoting interdisciplinary research across the physical and life sciences, from laser spectroscopy and imaging, computational modelling, and digital chemical duals.

Jeremy obtained his BA in 1980 and DPhil in 1982 (under the supervision of Brian Howard) in Chemistry from the University of Oxford. Then 1982 to 1984 held a NATO/SERC fellowship at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, (with Yuan T. Lee). He was appointed to a lectureship at the University of Southampton in 1984, promoted to senior lecturer in 1993, Reader in 2002, and Professor of Physical Chemistry in 2007. From 2019 to 2024 he was the Head of the Computational Systems Chemistry Section, and 2021 – 2024 Head of Physical Chemistry Teaching.

He has been heavily involved in the UK e-Science programme, (the CombeChem Project) which along with his role in the Digital Economy programme (IT as a Utility Network+) led to his role as PI of the AI for Scientific Discovery Network (www.ai4science.network). He is a co-I on the Physical Science Data Infrastructure project (www.psdi.ac.uk), Physical Science Data Science Service (www.psds.ac.uk) and the AIchemy AI Hub. His most recent project which evolved from a Basic Technology funded project to now working with the Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI) is to develop further the laser driven high resolution soft x-ray microscope for biological imaging in the water window.

Jeremy is a committee member and former secretary of the Chemical Information and Computer Applications Interest group (CICAG), served on the Members and Communities Board (MCB), and earlier at Southampton was the secretary and Chair of the Mid Southern Counties Local Section.

He is vice president of the Physical and Bio-Physical Division of IUPAC, a member of the IUPAC Committee on Publications and Chemical Data Standards (CPCDS) and coordinates the projects for the Green Book.

Yi-Tao Long is a Professor at School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Director of Molecular Sensing and Imaging Centre at Nanjing University.

His research focuses on electrochemistry at nanoconfinement which involves nanopore electrochemistry for single molecule analysis, nanospectroelectrochemistry for biointerphase and the nanoelectrochemical measurement instruments.

Paul is the Head of Science for Atmospheric Environmental Science at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and a Fellow of Chemical Metrology. He leads advances in measurement science with a focus on net zero, the energy transition, and air quality and has published over 90 peer-reviewed papers.

He holds a PhD in physical chemistry from Imperial College and a first-class Master of Chemistry degree from the University of Southampton. Since then, he has worked at NPL. In 2017, Paul attained an Institute of Leadership and Management Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring. Additionally, he is a Visiting Professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol and a Fellow and Chartered Chemist of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Paul also chairs the CIPM Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance: Metrology in Chemistry and Biology Gas Analysis Working Group, which oversees the comparability of gas analysis measurements between National Metrology Institutes worldwide. Paul also serves as an international accreditation technical expert for gas analysis and is actively involved in standardisation efforts. Paul currently chairs a working group in ISO/TC158 on the quality assurance of gas analysis.

Andrew Logsdail is a Reader in Catalytic and Computational Chemistry (2024 - ) and UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellow (2020 - ) at the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, which is part of the School of Chemistry, Cardiff University. Andrew was previously a Senior Lecturer (2022 - 24), Lecturer (2019 - 22) and University Research Fellow (2016 - 19) at the same institution.

Andrew’s research team use contemporary multiscale modelling, including ab initio and artificial intelligence techniques, to investigate a range of topics in physical chemistry, collaborating with international and UK academic research groups, industry, and national laboratories. Andrew has experience in representation and engagement with senior leadership through his role as Co-Director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute. He has also served as an elected member on the Faraday Community for Physical Science Council (2023 - 26) and is an elected Titular Member of Division II (Inorganic Chemistry) of IUPAC (2024 - ).

Andrew also has experience in the commercialisation of research through his role as Vice-Chair and Treasurer (2025 - ) of the not-for-profit organisation Molecular Simulations from First Principles (MS1P) e. V., which manages and licences the electronic structure software package FHI-aims.

Prior to his appointment at Cardiff University, Andrew was a Ramsay Research Fellow (2014-16) and a Postdoctoral Research Associate (2012-14) at the Department of Chemistry, University College London. Andrew obtained a BSc (2006), MRes (2008) and PhD in Chemistry (2012) at the School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham.

Elena Besley is a Professor of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. She obtained her PhD in Physics and Mathematics (2000) from St. Petersburg State University, Russia. In 2000 she held a Royal Society/NATO postdoctoral research fellowship at the Queen's University of Belfast, followed by postdoctoral research appointments in Chemistry at the Universities of Nottingham, Sussex, and Cambridge.

In 2007 Elena was awarded a Royal Society UK Relocation Fellowship and moved back to Nottingham. In 2007 she was a Visiting Academic Research Fellow at the Australian National University.

She was awarded an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship (2008-2014) and an ERC Consolidator Grant (2013-2018). She was appointed as a Lecturer in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry in 2011, promoted to Associate Professor in 2014, and in 2015. Elena is a co-director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Sustainable Hydrogen (2019 - 2027).

Gregory Price is an Application Scientist at BIOVIA. Greg obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Manchester (2012), after which he was an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellow at the same institution, and later held a postdoctoral position at York University, Canada. 
Greg then moved into industry and spent five years at BP in Research and Development within the Applied Sciences Group, managing projects from small-scale discovery to large-scale process development and contributing to global industry-academic collaborations in sustainable catalysis. He subsequently worked as a Principal Chemist at Johnson Matthey, focusing on process development and innovation within the Life Science Technologies Group.

In his current role at BIOVIA, Greg collaborates with customers in the life sciences and commodity chemicals sectors to apply data science and computational chemistry. He works as part of a multi-disciplinary team to implement digital chemistry tools, develop predictive models, and improve research efficiency through data-driven methods. Greg is also secretary of the RSC Applied Catalysis Group.

Brianna Heazlewood is a Professor of Chemical Physics at the University of Liverpool. Brianna completed her undergraduate and PhD degrees at the University of Sydney, Australia, moving to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford in 2012. She set up an independent research group at Oxford as an EPSRC Early Career Fellow in 2016, studying gas-phase reactions under cold and controlled conditions.

The group relocated to the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool in 2021. Their research uses techniques including laser cooling and the application of external electric and magnetic fields to study ion–molecule reaction dynamics and kinetics.

Brianna has been awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize, the RSC Marlow Award, and the IOP Henry Moseley Medal and Prize.

Charles Cummings is a senior research chemist based within QinetiQ, an industrial representative on the RSC Electrochemistry Group and co-editor of the RSC Electrochemistry Newsletter. He studied chemistry at the University of Bath and attained a PhD in electrochemistry in 2012.

Since his PhD Charles has had several roles working in materials science, sensors and analytical chemistry at Universities of Southampton and Cambridge. He joined QinetiQ in 2016 as a member of the Chemistry (Atmospheres) Team but has also contributed to other teams including Power Sources and Maritime Business Development.

His research includes atmosphere monitoring and air purification processes as well as new technologies and innovations that have large commercial impact. He is the inventor of the QinetiQ Thermal Runaway Early Detection (Q-TRED) system for batteries.

Dr Kelechi O. Uleanya attended Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria (BSc & MSc) and was a Lecturer in Chemistry at the National Open University of Nigeria before pursuing and completing a PhD in physical chemistry at the University of York (2021). She is also an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

After graduating with her PhD, Kelechi has worked as a post-doctoral research associate with Prof. Caroline Dessent, using laser interfaced mass spectrometry methods and computational calculations to study biological and pharmaceutical relevant molecules. She is also a member of the RSC Spectroscopy and Dynamics interest group Committee.

Alongside her research, Kelechi is heavily involved in equality, diversity, and inclusion work at the University of York, and is currently the Chemistry Department PDRA representative on the EDI committee. She has also recently developed a resource for the decolonisation of chemistry curriculum.

Martijn Zwijnenburg is Professor of Computational Materials Chemistry at University College London. Martijn studied Chemical Engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he also did his PhD.

After postdoctoral fellowships at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London and the University of Barcelona in Spain, Martijn started his independent career in 2010 at the Chemistry Department of University College London (UCL) as an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow.

In 2012 he accepted a lectureship in the department and in 2016 was promoted to reader and in 2020 to professor. His research group at UCL focusses on predicting the optical and electronic properties of nanomaterials and conjugated polymers with a view to their application in renewable energy generation

Dr Alisyn Nedoma is a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield. She joined the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at The University of Sheffield as a lecturer in 2019. She started her career as an academic in 2016 at the University of Auckland, NZ, following a Junior Research Fellowship at Imperial College London.

Alisyn completed her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in 2010, and her B.S. from the University of Florida in 2004, both degrees in chemical engineering. Her core expertise is applied polymer physics, with active projects in energy materials and pharmaceuticals. She co-leads the £9.7 Mn Faraday Institution FutureCat consortium, developing the next generation of battery cathode materials.

Christiane Timmel is Professor of Chemistry, Co-director of the Centre of Advanced Electron Spin Resonance (Department of Chemistry) and Fellow of New College, at the University of Oxford. Christiane was born in Saxony, Germany, where she also studied for her undergraduate degree in chemistry at the Technische Universität Dresden before moving to England, and the University of Oxford, for her doctorate research on Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Spin Chemistry, under the supervision of Peter Hore. Christiane’s early work was supported by the Royal Society first as a Dorothy Hodgkin and later University research Fellow as she transitioned from theoretical to experimental research. In 2019 Christiane was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Chair of the Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy Group. For her contributions to the fields of spin chemistry and ESR she has been awarded several prizes including the RSC’s Tilden Prize and the Chemistry Medal of the International ESR society. She was elected Fellow of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in 2024.

Caroline Dessent studied Chemistry at Jesus College, Oxford and completed her PhD with Mark Johnson at Yale University in the USA. She subsequently held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and an ERC Starting Independent Research Fellowship.  She is now a Professor of Physical and Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at York. Caroline’s research group engages in experimental and theoretical research and have a wide range of areas of study including photochemistry, spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, on-line reaction monitoring and environmental chemistry, all using laser-interfaced mass spectrometry methods. She has been an elected member of the Faraday Community Council, as well as the Chair of the RSC Spectroscopy and Dynamics special interest group. Caroline is a passionate advocate of Diversity and Inclusion in science and works on projects to improve the career progression of individuals who are currently underrepresented in the chemistry community.