Our team

Dr. Zeinab Hamid

Zeinab joined the McCulloch group in 2023 and is interested in perovskite materials for photocatalytic applications. She completed her MSci at Imperial College London, after which she obtained her PhD at the same university under the supervision of Prof. McCulloch.

Dr. Xian’e Li

Xian’e Li joined the McCulloch Group in 2024 as an International Postdoctoral Fellow, funded by the Swedish Research Council. Her research interests focus on interface energetics in OPV, photocatalytic systems, and advanced electronic devices. She earned BS and MS degrees in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Sichuan University, China, and completed her PhD in Surface Physics and Chemistry at Linköping University, Sweden. During her PhD, she conducted research in the Laboratory of Organic Electronics under Prof. Mats Fahlman, focusing on energy level alignment in organic solar cells.

Dr. Tomaz Kotnik

Tomaž joined the McCulloch group in 2025 and is interested in the bottom-up synthesis of organic semiconductors, with a focus on conjugated polymers and covalent organic frameworks for photo-driven applications. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Ljubljana and completed his PhD at the Slovenian National Institute of Chemistry under the mentorship of Assist. Prof. Sebastijan Kovačič and Prof. Janez Košmrlj.

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Tian Junfu

Junfu completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Chemistry at University of Cambridge. After graduation, he conducted his research in Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore as a research engineer, working on synthesis and utility of chemiluminescent dioxetane as molecular detectors. He then pursued his PhD as part of the 20/21 Synthesis for Biology and Medicine (SBM) CDT cohort and is now a DPhil student under Prof Iain McCulloch, investigating on role of porosity and morphology on performance of polythiophene as OECT materials.

Luvian Yao Yuyun

Luvian completed her BSc degree in the department of chemistry at Imperial College London. After graduation, she directly pursued a PhD in the department of Chemistry at Oxford under the supervision of Prof. Iain McCulloch. Her research interest mainly lies on the development of novel n-type conjugated polymer materials for OECT applications, in particular, she is working on the effect of side chains towards the performance of the polymer.

Dong Guanru

Guanru completed his undergraduate studies In the department of Chemistry at Imperial College London in 2022, and joined the McCulloch group in the same year.

Zhang Yu

Yu completed his master's degree in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London under the supervision of Professor Martin Heeney. After graduation, he worked as a research assistant in Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences for nearly one year. At the same year, Yu has been selected by the University of Oxford for a China Scholarship Council – University of Oxford Scholarship to pursue his studies as a DPhil student in Professor Iain McCulloch’s Group. His current research interests are focused on the design and synthesis of COFs applied in OECTs.

Yueying Huang (Ellen)

Yueying completed her MSci degree in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London, carrying out her MSci project in the Martin group focusing on the metal-free synthesis and side chains modification of conjugated polymers for OECT applications. After graduation, she is now undertaking a Dphil in the McCulloch group and working on deep-HOMO conjugated polymers for photocatalytic water oxidation.

Our team

Postdoctoral Researchers