Profile

Georgia Rowe
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About Me:
I am 28 years old and work as a synthetic chemist making materials called MOFs (which just won the Nobel Prize in chemistry!!) to tackle climate change. I have just moved into my first home with my partner (who is also a scientist!), so I have recently been spending lots of my free time decorating and doing DIY.
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In my free time I also love to read. I set myself an ambitious goal of reading 30 books this year (I am currently at 22!). I mostly read fiction and my favourite genre at the moment is murder mysteries.
To keep fit, I love doing yoga and I try to cycle to work when I can.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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How I use Science in my work:
I work in a lab where I carry out experiments to find the best conditions to synthesise materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). I use a lot of the same equipment that I learned to use in school like round-bottom flasks, beakers, conical flasks, filters, pH probes, and thermometers to name a few.
Once I have synthesised a material, I analyse it to determine whether the molecules and ions are arranged in the correct structure and to determine how porous the material is. Some of these techniques I learned about during my time at school, such as infrared spectroscopy and gas adsorption isotherms. Using these results, I can then adjust my synthesis to try and make it better next time, for example, having a higher yield, a higher porosity, or a more uniform ordering of the structure.
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My Work:
I work in a lab as a synthetic chemist making porous materials composed of inorganic and organic components that can be used for applications such as CO2 capture.
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My job involves conducting experiments to determine the best synthetic conditions to synthesise these porous materials and make them on increasing scales. I do a lot of problem solving and get to use a lot of cool analytical techniques to find out how good my product is.
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My Typical Day:
A typical day at work for me doesn’t really exist because every day can be so different!
Usually, I start my day by checking if I have any meetings where I might need to share my data and findings to the rest of my team. Then I plan out what experiments I want to try in the lab that day and what analysis I need to do.
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The rest of my day is then spent making scientific reports in the form of powerpoint slides and cracking on with my experiments!
This is all split up with a lot of chats with my colleagues about any issues they are facing with their work, which we try to problem solve together.
Sometimes, I don’t go in the lab or office at all and attend a conference. For example, I just went to Crete for a week for a conference where I could speak to all of my international collaborators in the field and learn about breakthroughs people have been making.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I volunteer at a Cub Scouts group and would love to do some really hands-on and exciting activities to help them get their science badge.
I would organise a trip to somewhere like the National Space Centre or the Science Museum and do real experiments during meetings. I would like to get all of the children their own lab coat and goggles and do experiments like paper chromatography to solve a “murder mystery”, extract the DNA from strawberries, and make potato/fruit batteries!
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Education:
I went to state funded infant, junior, and secondary schools in Derby. My secondary school was called Littleover Community School & Sixth Form.
I then went to the University of Lincoln to study an integrated master’s in chemistry (MChem) in 2016. An integrated master’s is where your undergraduate and master’s degrees are combined (saving you money on your loans!). This involved 3 years of a typical undergraduate chemistry course, ending with a master’s year in industry.
At the end of my MChem, covid hit, meaning my plans of continuing to work in industry were put on hold, as most grad-schemes were cancelled. This lead me to think about alterative pathways and I started a PhD in 2020 at the University of Birmingham.
My PhD project was about using porous materials to improve next-generation batteries. This meant I got to learn a lot of organic and inorganic synthesis and analysis and how to make and analyse a battery. My experimental batteries were button batteries, like the kind you might find in a watch or kitchen scales.
During my PhD spent 3 months working on my PhD project at a university in Dresden, Germany, which was a great opportunity to meet other scientists and learn new skills (including learning some German!). I also did a work placement for 3 months in the House of Commons doing energy-related research for MPs!
I finished my PhD in 4 years (people usually take 3.5 to 4 years; 4 is usually the maximum in the UK) and graduated in 2025. I started my job at Promethean Particles in March 2025, where I use what I learned in my PhD to make materials for climate change-related applications.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs (2016):
Biology – A*
Chemistry – A*
Physics – A*
Maths – A
Further Maths – A*
English lit – A
English lang – A
Geography – A*
Art – B
Spanish – A*
Textiles – A*
A-Levels (2020):
Chemistry – B
Biology – B
Psychology – A
Maths & Statistics (AS-Level) – A
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Work History:
1-week work experience in a reception class at a primary school during my GCSEs
Part-time babysitting during GCSEs and A-Levels
1-week work experience at Crown Paints during my A-Levels
Part-time bar tender at a pub during uni holidays
2-month summer research placement in Prague at end of 2nd year uni
1-year industrial placement at Lubrizol in Manchester during master’s year
4 years of PhD in Birmingham, including some teaching of undergraduates
3-month research placement in Germany during PhD
3-month work placement at the House of Commons during PhD
Now – 6-months into my job as a research chemist at Promethean Particles
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Current Job:
Synthetic chemist
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Employer:
Promethean Particles
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
kind, curious, chemist
What did you want to be after you left school?
a forensic scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
I might have forgotten to do my homework sometimes...
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I could use the other skills from my PhD and work in lithium-ion battery research
Who is your favourite singer or band?
the wombats
What's your favourite food?
pasta
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I'd wish I could teleport, that my dogs would live forever, and that all my friends lived closer (although, if dream 1 came true, this would be less of an issue)
Tell us a joke.
Somebody just told me Albert Einstein was a real person! All this time I thought he was a theoretical physicist!
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