21 Aug 2014
Each year, SCI awards scholarships to help members support their studies. Alistair received a one year scholarship in 2013. Here he tells us what it has enabled him to do.
What has the Scholarship from SCI enabled you to do that would not have been possible otherwise?
The main opportunity will be attending the ACS conference in the summer using the funds provided by SCI to present my work.
I have also recently presented at the SET for Britain event in the House of Lords.
As well as the opportunity to travel and attend international conferences, my involvement with SCI has enabled me to meet people from Industry and other scholars at SCI events and meetings.
What has been the most valuable part of receiving the scholarship?
Having the funding has been very valuable as it has enabled me to attend the ACS conference.
Equally valuable has been the opportunity to meet other scholars.
It has also offered me many opportunities to add to my CV. For example having a page on the SCI website offers an opportunity for me to share what I am doing with a wider range of people than I would otherwise be able to.
Which achievement are you most proud of in your academic career so far?
I have recently had my work on organocatalysts published (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 16348) and patented (Dixon, D. J., Farley, A. J. M., Núñez, M. G.; Bifunctional Organic Catalysts; WO2014064466).
This has led to other opportunities to have my paper published.
I have also received the Lily prize for excellence for my first year report
What impact do you think receiving the scholarship will have on your future career?
It offers a way for me to stand out, and looks very good on my CV. SCI's close ties to industry have meant that I have met many people from Industry and this could be seen favourably by future employers.
It also helps when applying for other funding and scholarships.
What next?
I complete my final year in March. After that I will be participating in a doctoral prize scheme at Oxford where I will be working on ways to commercialise my research.
On completing that, I hope to undertake a post doc somewhere overseas.
Once I have completed my studies I will look to work for a pharmaceutical organisation.
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