Dr Hannah Kurz

Hannah received her BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Materials Chemistry and Catalysis from the University of Bayreuth (Germany) in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Driven by her fascination for coordination chemistry, she performed a PhD in the workgroup of Professor Dr Birgit Weber at the University of Bayreuth, supported by a two-year Kekulé-Fellowship from the ‘Fond der Chemischen Industrie’. Thereby, she focused on iron(II) spin crossover complexes and fluorescent sensor materials based on 3d transition metal complexes. In April 2022, Hannah defended her PhD thesis with summa cum laude, and was awarded the Bavarian Culture Prize.

To gain further experience and deepen her knowledge in the field of supramolecular chemistry, Hannah started a postdoctorate in the group of Professor Dr Jonathan Nitschke at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry in July 2022. Thereby, she will develop and study new types of coordination cages that can be readily tailored to encapsulate specific guest molecules. These cages could be of interest as purification agents in energy-efficient and resource-saving chemical purification processes of fine chemicals. For her postdoctorate, Hannah is funded by a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and by an Isaac Newton Trust Fellowship.