March 2024

Prof Claire Vallance, Professor of Physical Chemistry (Department of Chemistry)

My research group works both at the very fundamental end of chemistry – studying mechanisms of photon and electron induced chemical reactions via detailed measurements of product scattering distributions – and at the very applied end – using rapid mass spectrometry and machine learning to investigate a variety of cardiovascular and neurological diseases.  At the even more applied end, we are spinning out a company to commercialise optical microcavity spectroscopy in the form of miniaturised water pollution sensors for rivers.  Outside of work you might find me riding or racing bikes or kayaks or playing viola or piano in the occasional concert.

Dr Catherine Fung, Social Media Team OxWiChem

Catherine was born and raised in Hong Kong before moving to Australia for high school and then completed undergraduate studies at the University of Adelaide. I then continued my PhD under the supervision of Dr. Jason Connor and A/Prof. Rossen Sedev at the University of South Australia investigating the static and dynamic behaviour of ionic liquid film under applied potential with the surface forces apparatus. I joined Prof. Susan Perkin's group in 2021 to study confined ionic liquids. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, hunting for nice food, and travelling.