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. 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.

Dr. Andreas Erhardt

Andreas works at the interface of polymer synthesis and materials science, with a passion for the application-driven integration of semiconducting polymers into complex functional systems. His research focuses on combining various polymerization techniques to tailor material properties, with synchrotron-based structural investigations and device characterization playing a central role in understanding these new materials. He completed his PhD under the joint mentorship of Prof. Mukundan Thelakkat at the University of Bayreuth and Prof. Chris McNeill at Monash University in Melbourne.

Dr. Elena Chulanova

Elena joined the group in 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher. Her work focuses on the design and synthesis of tailored small molecules for application as organic charge transport materials in perovskite solar cells, with an emphasis on understanding structure–property relationships. She received her PhD from Novosibirsk State University, where her research focused on chalcogen–nitrogen heterocycles

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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.

Michael Kopp

Michael obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Würzburg, Germany, in 2023. As part of his master’s studies in chemistry at the same institution, he completed a research internship in supramolecular chemistry with Samuel I. Stupp at Northwestern University and conducted his master’s thesis on stretchable organic semiconductors under the supervision of Zhenan Bao and Frank Würthner at Stanford University. Following his graduation, Michael joined the McCulloch group as a DPhil student, where he investigates novel OMIEC materials for OECTs.