Project Team
This project is a collaboration between three partner universities – Kent, Salford and York. The project team comprises of student partners, PIs, summer project supervisors, and other from all three institutions.
The Student Partners
Pinky Naicker
Kent ✦ PhD Student
Pinky collaborates with team at Kent for all project coordination, website development, events organising and data analysis. She is a PhD student in Chemistry.
Preeti Rawat
Kent✦ MSc Student
Preeti is currently pursing a Master’s in materials chemistry and works as a Student Partner, helping coordinate events with the students.
Yara Atto
Salford ✦ PhD Student
Yara collaborates with team at Salford in coordinating all the project related activities.
She is a PhD student in Chemistry.
Heba Elgamodi
Salford ✦ PhD Student
Heba collaborates with team at Salford in managing all the events organised and other admin.
She’s a PhD student in Chemistry.
Project Team
University of Kent
University of Salford
Zeljka Krpetic
Dr Zeljka Krpetic is an Associate Professor in Nanoscience and Bionanotechnology at the University of Salford and an internationally recognised expert in applied gold nanotechnology
Dr. Sarah Withers
Dr Withers is an associate professor and director of the Biomedical Research Centre at The University of Salford. Although her expertise is cardiovascular research, she is passionate about enabling all students and staff to reach their full potential.
Anna Akinshina
Dr Anna Akinshina is a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry at the University of Salford. Anna’s research is in the area of computational chemistry (molecular dynamics simulations), with the focus on lipid systems.
University of York
Summer Projects
GOAL: Advancing Racial Inclusivity in the Chemical Sciences. As part of a national commitment to creating a more equitable and representative chemical sciences community, we are pleased to launch our Summer Vacation Project Scholarships — a transformative opportunity designed to support talented undergraduate students from racially minoritised backgrounds.
These scholarships directly align with the Royal Society of Chemistry’s six strategic goals for racial equity outlined in their Missing Elements report, particularly the call to:
Widen access to high-quality research experiences,
Improve retention and progression,
And ensure racially inclusive environments in academia and research.
Through these summer placements, we aim to close opportunity gaps that have historically limited representation in STEM research pathways.
Each university will award 4 scholarships, each valued at:
£2000 stipend to support living costs during the placement
£600 consumables allowance per project to fund research activity
These projects are more than just academic experiences — they are stepping stones toward long-term inclusion and representation in the field of chemistry. By investing in emerging scholars now, we are shaping a future chemical sciences community that is not only excellent but also equitable.
The Supervisory Team
University of Kent
Mandeep Kaur Chahal
Dr Mandeep Kaur Chahal is a Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Kent. Her main research interests focus on the functionalization of tetrapyrrolic chromophores with an aim to develop them as advanced functional materials for photocatalysis and solution processable porous materials selective for gas uptake.
Felipe Fantuzzi
Dr Felipe Fantuzzi is a Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Kent. His research combines quantum chemical methods to investigate unusual electronic structures, bonding patterns, and molecular reactivity, alongside multiscale modelling to address large-scale phenomena in complex chemical systems.
Tosin Bodumde
Tosin is a chemistry technician at the University of Kent, and his project will be on exploring the effect of substituent ring positioning on gas chromatographic separation of methylbenzoic acid isomers.
University of Salford
Dr Rosa Arrigo
Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Salford and Visiting Scientist at Diamond Light Source.
Dr Robert Hyde
Has a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry and a PhD from the University of Sheffield. His PhD research focussed on synthesising and analysing photoactive supramolecular porphyrin assemblies.
Dr Rachel N. Magwaza
Is a Lecturer in Biomedicine specialising in medicinal chemistry, particularly the discovery and development of new therapeutic agents for malaria. My work lies at the interface of rational drug design, synthetic chemistry, and biological screening. I hold a PhD in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Manchester.
University of York