My story
… is a still work in progress. In the meantime I will be adding some basic information about me and useful projects I worked on over the last years. There will also be parts unrelated to my (photo)chemical career.
The beginning
Perhaps unsurprisingly my affinity to chemistry didn’t start at school but rather at home. Already when I was a kid I liked reading comic books, novels, but above all encyclopedias which infected me with the desire to know more. Anything related to space, engineering and more broadly natural sciences was and still is to this day resonating with me in a way only a similar enthusiast can understand. When I was attending secondary school, I was always looking for the classes of physics and biology. But the real change came in the 8th grade. By this time I already had a few simple experiments under my belt. Things on the level of mixing baking soda and citric acid seemed at that time beyond cool, but the real breakthrough came in the 8th grade when the classes of chemistry started and suddenly the sky was the limit. We had a great teacher thanks to who I started to appreciating the omnipresence of chemistry which affects our daily lives. This realization also lead me to think about more complex experiments which could be done and after a while sole thinking was not enough and I started visiting pharmacies and drugstores to spent my allowance on various chemicals instead of chocolate and computer games. From today’s perspective getting compounds like calcium carbide, potassium permanganate or sulfuric acid was perhaps a bit dangerous for a boy of my age but the amount of fun and sometimes painful experiences I got was priceless.
Career Overview Summary
- 2023–2026: Postdoctoral Researcher, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Group of Prof. Stefan Hecht- Developement of novel spiropyran-based photoswitching systems for Xolography and broader applications
- Expansion of the spiropyran chemical space using machine learning
- Preparation and contribution to grant applications
- 2022–2023: Postdoctoral Researcher, Universität Münster
Group of Prof. Ryan Gilmour- Collaboration with DSM Vitamin
- Advanced olefin manipulations applicable in vitamin synthesis
- 2018–2022: PhD Student, Universität Münster
Group of Prof. Ryan Gilmour- Design of new photochemical reactions using triplet sensitization and ConPET
- Exploration reaction mechanisms with probes, spectroscopy and calculations
- Supervision Master’s and Bachelor’s students
- 2017–2018: Research Assistant, Universität Regensburg
Group of Prof. Burkhard König- Design and characterized novel flavin-based photocatalysts suitable for demanding reductive processes
- 2011–2018: Undergraduate Researcher, University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague
Group of Prof. Radek Cibulka- Developement of systems for photochemical oxidation of sulfides
- Optimization of reaction conditions , mechanism study and and application to biologically relevant substances