Four Independent Postdoctoral Fellowships awarded

24 May, 2023

The MacDiarmid Institute is delighted to announce that four new Independent Postdoctoral Fellowships have been awarded, there were three successful domestic candidates and one successful international candidate.

The call for Independent Postdoctoral Fellowships took place in late 2022, with the requirement for candidates to be supported by a MacDiarmid Institute host Principal or Associate Investigator at one of the MacDiarmid Institute partner organisations and that research proposals aligned with at least one of the MacDiarmid Institute research programmes (Catalytic Architectures, Future Computing, Mātauranga Māori and Reconfigurable Systems). 

Meet our successful Independent Postdoctoral Fellows below:

Dr Caitlin Casey-Stevens

Dr Caitlin Casey-Stevens completed both her undergraduate and PhD study at the University of Otago. Dr Casey-Stevens' PhD research, working with Principal Investigator Associate Professor Anna Garden, used computational chemistry to understand the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate on copper palladium nanoparticles. This Independent Postdoctoral Fellowship gives Dr Casey-Stevens the opportunity to work with Associate Investigator Associate Professor Franck Natali at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, to investigate the formation of ammonia on rare earth species. 

Under host Associate Professor Natali, Dr Casey-Stevens will be working in alignment with the Towards Low Energy Tech - Hardware for Future Computing research programme.

Dr Kim Tien Nguyen

Dr Kim Tien Nguyen received his Bachelor of Science degree (2012) in mechanical engineering from the Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education, Vietnam, and his Master of Science degree (2015), and PhD degree (2019) in mechanical engineering from Chonnam National University, South Korea. He is now a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Medical Microrobotics. His research interests include Micro-actuator/ Microrobot, Micromanipulation of bio-medical devices/applications, and reconfigurable magnetic micro-robotic systems. In this Independent Postdoctoral Fellowship, MacDiarmid Institute Associate Investigator Dr Ebu Avci from Massey University and Dr Nguyen propose a cost-effective and biocompatible reconfigurable system by developing and controlling magnetic microrobot swarms.

Under host Dr Avci, at Massey University, Dr Nguyen will be working in alignment with the Towards Zero Waste - Reconfigurable Systems research programme.  

Dr Amy Yewdall

Fascinated by protein self-assembly, Dr Amy Yewdall organises nano-scale proteins in space and time to not only better understand these systems within disease contexts, but also to enhance protein function and innovate new technologies. The MacDiarmid Institute Independent Postdoctoral Fellowship supports her research on combining enzymes networks into droplets to capture carbon into useful precursor molecules.

Under host Principal Investigator, Professor Renwick Dobson, at the University of Canterbury, Dr Yewdall will be working in alignment with the Towards Zero Waste - Reconfigurable Systems research programme. 

Dr Bicheng (Amy) Zhu

Dr Bicheng (Amy) Zhu is currently a research fellow at the School of Chemical Sciences, the University of Auckland. She received her PhD degree under the supervision of Principal Investigator, Professor Jadranka Travas-Sejdic, in 2017 at the University of Auckland. Before she joined the University of Auckland as a research fellow in 2019, she worked in a New Zealand start-up company for 1.5 years. She received her Postgraduate Certificate in Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship funded by the MacDiarmid Institute Alumni Business Scholarship at the University of Auckland in 2020. With the support of the MacDiarmid Institute Independent Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr Zhu aims to develop metal-free, eco-friendly and cost-effective heterogeneous graphene-based catalysts for the electroreduction of CO₂.

Under host Professor Travas-Sejdic, at the University of Auckland, Dr Zhu will be working in alignment with the Towards Zero Waste - Reconfigurable Systems research programme.