Alumni

Hua grew up in Taichung, Taiwan. In 2011, she obtained her master’s degree at National Taiwan University (NTU) where she worked in Prof. Tien-Yau Luh’s lab on the development of the first polynorbornene-based double-stranded ladderphanes with macrocyclic metallic linkers. Later, she worked in industry where she developed and modified thermoplastic polyurethane. In May 2018, she joined Tomáš Šolomek at the University of Basel, Switzerland, as a PhD candidate. Her research focused on synthesis, photochemistry and porosity of chiral redox-active covalent organic cages. Hua defended her thesis successully in June 2022 and works now in the chemical industry in Basel. In her spare time, Hua very much enjoys adventures to Swiss mountains, jogging, and eating.

Cristian grew up in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat near Barcelona. In 2011, he joined the Organic Materials group at the University of Barcelona, where he graduated as a Master of Science in Organic Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Velasco. There, his research focused on blue luminescent and ambipolar materials for the application in organic electronic devices. For his PhD, he joined the Molecular and Supramolecular Materials group at the POLYMAT institute in San Sebastian, Spain.  He graduated as a doctor of chemistry from the University of the Basque Country (2017, summa cum laude) and continued his research in the design of organic semiconductors by supramolecular chemistry and fabrication organic thin film transistors. In 2018, he joined the group as a postdoctoral researcher focusing on three-dimensional photo- and redox-active macrocycles and polymers, the latter funded by an SNF Spark grant. In his free time, Cristian likes to travel, especially to Jarafuel (his village in Valencia). He also enjoys playing videogames and tennis. Cristian concluded his postdoctoral stay in our group in March 2021.

Sudhakar earned his BSc (2004) and MSc (2006) degrees in Organic Chemistry from the Shivaji University, Kolhapur (India). After one-year training in Process R&D at Ranbaxy Research Laboratories (India), he completed Industrial Placement Studentship (2007–2008) in Medicinal Chemistry at GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage (UK) through UK-India Education & Research Initiative. The studentship at GSK fueled his passion to continue New Drug Discovery Research. Subsequently, he moved back to India and worked as a Research Scientist at Advinus Therapeutics (2009–2011). In 2011, he received Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst scholarship and in 2018 received a PhD degree in Chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Michael Schmittel at the Universität Siegen, Germany (thesis: Multi-State Nanoswitches and Switchable Catalysis in Multi-Component Systems). In 2018–2020, he was a postdoctoral scholar at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München with Prof. Dr. Ivan Huc. In Munich, he synthesized various helical aromatic oligoamides and studied their molecular recognition of complex molecules. In March 2020, he joined the group and investigated new donor-acceptor carbon nanohoops. In early 2021, Sudhakar was awarded prestigious Ramanujan Fellowship, which allowed him to return to India and start his independent research in August 2021. Outside work, Sudhakar likes to watch sci-fi series and films. He also loves to do photography during travelling.  

Adriano grew up in Basel but did his BSc in Chemistry at ETH Zurich. There he joined the group of Prof. Altmann and worked on the total synthesis of Salirin C. After his studies in Zurich, he returned to Basel and worked in Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. formulating novel carbon-coated cathode materials for coin and pouch batteries. In 2018, Adriano started his MSc studies at the University of Basel. Before he joined the group to work on his Masterabreit, he did a training on advanced NMR-spectroscopy with PD Daniel Häussinger. Adriano's thesis focused on the synthesis of a new type of carbon nanohoops. His time with the group was, according to his words, marked by dynamic decision-making and close mentoring by all members regarding the practical work, presentation skills, and scientific writing. Outside the lab, Adriano loves listening to (even weird) music. He successfully defended his thesis in November 2019. Thank you, Adriano, for your great work and lots of fun in the lab, which, fortunately, will continue because Adriano started his PhD journey in the group of Prof. Marcel Mayor (Uni Basel) in January 2020.

Luise was born and raised near Munich, Germany. After graduation, she started studying chemistry and biochemistry in 2014 at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. During an internship in her master’s degree in chemistry with Prof. Henry Dube, she investigated the effects of the incorporation of a molecular tweezer into a catalytic system. Thereby she discovered her passion and interest in supramolecular organic chemistry. In an another internship with Prof. Veinot at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, she worked on the surface functionalization of silicon nanoparticles. In her time off the lab, she very much enjoys sports, nature, meeting friends, traveling, and cooking. Luise successfully defended her thesis in October 2021 and stayed with us another two months pushing her project forward. Although we were sad to see her go, she started a new adventure in the group of Prof. Marcel Mayor (Uni Basel) as a PhD student in December 2021. Thank you Luise for all the great work, lots of learning on both sides and the great deal of fun :-)

Gianna is from Graubünden canton in Switzerland. She moved to Bern and did her BSc in biochemistry at the University of Bern. She then had a change of heart and wished to explore the beauties of synthetic organic chemistry, which lead to her join the group for her final project in the MSc in Chemistry. She is pursuing her dream to be a wonderful teacher. Aside from science, Gianna enjoys learning languages, playing sudoku and watching math videos. 

Simon is from Switzerland and did his BSc in chemistry at the University of Bern. He fancied tackling the challenges in the filed of covalent organic cages and wished to explore the possibilities to synthesize heteroleptic organic cages with unprecedent selectivity, which lead him join the group for his final project in the MSc in Chemistry.