Photocatalytic Polymer group
Calum Ferguson
Calum is originally from Dumfries, in southwest Scotland. In 2013, he obtained an integrated Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. He then worked for Syngenta as a Formulation Materials Scientist.
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This was followed by a PhD from the University of Leeds in 2018, which Dr Olivier Cayre and Prof. R. Elwyn Isaac supervised. During his PhD, he was split between Biological Sciences and Chemical Engineering. Here, he investigated novel polymer delivery systems of biopesticides (peptides and dsRNA) to control an invasive fruit fly pest.
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After completing his doctoral studies, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany, as a postdoctoral researcher in 2018 in the Landfester Department in the group of Kai Zhang. In the Zhang group, he gained expertise in photocatalytic materials.
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He was then promoted to group leader in 2020 to continue this work and founded the Ferguson Photocatalytic Polymers Group, which produced its first PhD graduate in 2024.
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In April 2022, he returned to the UK, joining the O’Reilly group at the University of Birmingham as a group leader while continuing his role in Germany.
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In 2024, Calum was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Birmingham.
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Calum enjoys hiking up mountains, playing golf, and watching rugby, as his knees are too old to play anymore.
PhD Students
Liyuan Chen
Liyuan was born in China's Shandong Province. Her research direction at Beijing University of Chemical Technology was Analytical Chemistry, and she obtained her master's degree in 2025. The title of her graduation thesis was “Design and Application of Responsive In-Situ Covalent Labelling Fluorescent Molecular Probes”. She likes music, drama and fishing.
Jasleen Kaur
Jasleen earned her MChem (with a Year in Industry) from the University of Leicester in 2025. Her master’s research, supervised by Dr Qun Cao, investigated heterogeneous nickel catalysts for photoredox-enabled cross-coupling reactions. During her industry placement, she worked at LGC in London, where she contributed to regulatory projects for the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency. Currently in the Ferguson group, Jasleen is working on developing conjugated polymer nanostructures as sustainable photocatalysts for organic synthesis. Outside the lab, she loves going to the gym and enjoys travelling.
Sophie Wilks
Sophie is from Essex and did her BSc with Hons in Chemistry at Swansea University, finishing in June 2025. As part of her degree, she worked on a project titled ‘PIMs acting as catalyst support’ and continued working on this project as part of a summer internship. Her academic interests lie in synthetic and polymer chemistry. She joined the Ferguson group in 2025, working on synthesising new conjugated photocatalytic polymers. Her other interests include hiking/walking, music and wild swimming.
Master students
Youkyoung Cho
Youkyoung is from South Korea and completed her BSc in Chemistry at the University of Birmingham in 2025. She is currently studying for an MRes in the Ferguson group, with a focus on emulsion photocatalysis. During my free time, she enjoys travelling abroad and often looks at photos of my cat, Saoh, from back home.
Grace Williams
Visiting researchers
Inés Adam Cervera
Inés is from Llombai, a small town near Valencia, Spain. She obtained her BSc in Chemistry and a Master’s Degree in Experimental Techniques in Chemistry from the University of Valencia. During her undergraduate studies, she worked with Dr Rafael Muñoz-Espí on the encapsulation of phase change materials via Pickering-stabilized miniemulsion polymerization.
She is currently pursuing her PhD at the Max Planck Partner Group on Colloidal Methods for Multifunctional Materials, part of the Macromolecules & Colloids for Sustainable Materials group at the Institute of Materials Science of the University of Valencia (ICMUV), supervised by Dr Rafael Muñoz-Espí. Her research focuses on the synthesis of polymeric nanoparticles via colloidal methods for applications in energy storage and asymmetric catalysis.
In 2022, she completed a six-month research stay at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, in the Landfester Department, working in Dr Ferguson’s group. In September 2025, she joined the Ferguson Photocatalytic Polymers Group at the University of Birmingham for a three-month research stay, working on Block Copolymer Interfaces for Sustainable Photocatalysis.
Outside the lab, Inés plays percussion in the Llombai town band and enjoys hiking, snorkeling, and travelling.
Previous group members:
Julian Heuer – PhD graduate 2024. Now at Evonik.
Seunghyeon Kim – PostDoc (2022-2024). Now an Assistant Professor at DGIST, S. Korea.
Rong Li – PhD graduate 2024. Now at Boehringer Ingelheim.
Thomas Kuckhoff – PhD graduate 2024. Now at Rheinmetall.
Niklas Huber – Joint PhD graduate 2022. Now at Croda.
Marina de Souza Melchiors – PostDoc (2021-2023). Now at CAS
Wenxin Wei – Joint PhD graduate 2021. Now an Associate Professor Xi'An Jiaotong University, China.
Previous group photos
