Page 4 - Periodic Issue 04

A Day in the Life

of an organic chemistry DPhil student

Name: Laia Josa-Culleré
College: Balliol
Group: Professor Mark Moloney
Graduate training programme: Oxford
Innovative Organic Synthesis for Cancer
Research (OxIOSCR)

I originally come from Barcelona, a beautiful city in the north
of Spain, where I did my undergraduate studies. I first moved to
the UK to do a Master’s Degree at the University of Cambridge,
where I worked on the synthesis of chemical probes for cancer
imaging. I really enjoyed the interdisciplinary nature of my
research project, and I was certain that I wanted to pursue
a similar path during my PhD. The OxIOSCR Marie Curie
Innovative Doctoral Programme (IDP) programme seemed like
the perfect fit to my ambitions, as it afforded an opportunity experiments properly and interpret results, but planning
to work on collaborative projects between chemists and cancer the experiments requires reading the relevant literature,
biologists. having creative and independent thinking, decision making,
prioritising work… In spite of this, results are likely to be
As an organic chemistry researcher, for me there is no such thing
as a typical day. Most likely, it will involve setting and working unexpected and it is important to be ready to change the plan
up some reactions, purifying the product (and/or by-products), for the day, week or even the research project.
usually with flash column chromatography, and analysing Being a PhD student in Oxford has given me the privilege of
results. We can also be found discussing NMR experiments in being surrounded by highly talented chemists and attending
the basement, queuing to use the IR in the ground floor, waiting lectures and symposia from leading researchers; sharing
impatiently for MS results, preparing reports and presentations, knowledge and discussing science is indeed one of the beauties
attending group meetings, answering questions from Part II of the academic world. Oxford also offers many training
students and, if time permits, having tea breaks with the other courses and workshops, as well as the opportunity to teach
group members in the atrium. undergraduate students in either demonstrations or tutorials.
Even though finishing our project, writing a thesis and passing
As I have been involved in collaborative projects with the the viva might seem to be our main objectives, in my opinion
Department of Oncology, some of my days would also require a PhD should be more than that, and we should take the
cycling up to the Old Road Campus and working with cancer opportunities that Oxford offers us to develop ourselves not
cells. Although this has taken time outside the lab, learning how only as organic chemists but also as scientists and professionals.
to run cell cultures and handling biological material it has been
very rewarding to see the application of the compounds that I Despite frequent frustrating results, long working hours and
had designed and synthesised. the pressure to have enough data for high-impact publications
and a good thesis, that rare day when we manage to obtain good
I consider that one of the most important tasks of our day is results or to finally see our name in a paper (and, maybe one day,
deciding what to do – which reaction to try, which conditions, our name after the “Dr”), we all remember why we all like and
what route to choose for our synthesis… It is a matter of time actually enjoy being organic chemistry researchers.
and experience to get used to the lab and know how to run

Through the University’s extensive expertise in organic synthesis, fundamental cancer
biology and medicinal chemistry, OxIOSCR (Oxford Innovative Organic Synthesis for
Cancer Research) is a Marie Curie IDP providing an interdisciplinary training programme
http://oxioscr.chem.ox.ac.uk for 13 graduate organic chemists, to develop optimal synthetic routes to natural products

and their analogues with anti-cancer activity. Working with a network of eight Associated Partners distributed across six
European countries, the project encompasses synthetic chemistry, exploring new technologies of biocatalysis, electrosynthesis and
flow chemistry. oxioscr.chem.ox.ac.uk, Twitter: @OxIOSCR

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Periodic The Magazine of the Department of Chemistry