TheGroup

Niamh Bayliss

PhD Student

Topic: Aqueous Multi-Phase Systems as Environment for Enzymatic Catalysis

Niamh studied chemistry at the Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, where she worked on polyesters for her Master’s project. She started her PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2022. Her research is about the self-assembly of novel double hydrophilic block copolymers and the phase separations of hydrophilic polymers with the aim of enzymatic catalysis.

Haotian Duan

PhD Student

Topic: Responsive Aqueous Multi-Phase Systems

Haotian studied applied chemistry at South China University of Technology, where he worked on polycarboxylate superplasticizer for his master’s project. He began his PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2025. His research focuses on new approaches to responsive aqueous multi-phase systems.

Iona Farrell

PhD Student

Topic: Multi-compartment hydrogels for biomedical applications

Iona joined the University of Glasgow in 2022 in the PGT Chemistry programme after finishing her undergraduate studies at the University of Washington. After her Master’s project in our group she stayed for her PhD studies. Her project focusses on new Carbon Nitride-based hydrogel structures. The main aim of the project is the translation of these materials to applications in biomedicine.

Rekha Keetoon

PhD Student

Topic: New approaches to molecular skin surrogate partitioning via analytical and synthetic approaches for assessing chemical dermal absorption

Rekha studied chemistry at the University of Sheffield working on drug delivery systems during her master’s project. She joined the group in January 2026 to work on partitioning of small molecule compounds on skin surrogates. The project is a BBSRC ICASE studentship in close collaboration with Unilever.

Athena Mattheou

PhD Student in collaboration with the Thomson group

Topic: Polymer-Resilin hybrid materials

Athena joined the group in 2023 as part of the LifETIME Centre of Doctoral Training after finishing her bachelor studies at Northumbria University and master’s studies at the University of Glasgow. Her PhD project deals with the investigation of resilin-based hybrid peptide/polymer biomaterials that will be used in 3D cell culture and tissue engineering. The goal of the project is the development of new elastomeric materials with mechanical and physical properties that provide improved environments for cell proliferation.

Jack Murphy

PhD Student

Topic: Degradable water-soluble polymers

Jack received his bachelor’s degree with honours in chemistry from the University of Glasgow, where he worked on aqueous two-phase systems of hydrophilic polymers. Subsequently, he joined the Schmidt Group in 2025 as a PhD student. His project involves synthesising and studying the degradation of degradable hydrophilic polymers, and macromolecular structures formed by these polymers.