Sjoerd Verbeek
Current position: March 2020 graduate MSc Research in Chemistry, from the University of Leiden
Stay in Dunedin: late August 2019 until early February 2020
Photo: Sjoerd at Franz Joseph glacier
I joined Sally’s group for a 5 ½ months internship (30 ECTS) during my MSc degree. This project was part of my curriculum to finish my master’s degree at Leiden University. My main research project was already performed with Professor E. Bouwman (Universiteit Leiden). In Sally’s research group I worked on a research project regarding her current focus on catalysts for HER and CO2RR.
The research project involved the synthesis of a N4-donor macrocycle which was functionalized with a pyrene moiety, I worked on both organic synthesis as well as coordination chemistry. Part of my project involved determining the X-ray crystal structure of one of the complexes, and another part involved testing these complexes for their ability to electro-catalytically reduce protons (HER) or carbon dioxide (CO2RR). I thoroughly enjoyed the different aspects of this project and I hope Sally and her students will continue down this pathway and obtain new and interesting results!
My stay in Dunedin was very pleasant. I found my first accommodation through a Facebook group looking for flatmates. In this big house at the end of George street I lived with 8 kiwi guys who were final year bachelor students. Although they sometimes made quite some noise, I enjoyed living with them and learned a bit about Dunedin student culture. My second accommodation, which I found through another international student I had met, was located close to the Octagon, on York Place. This was a lot quieter, since most of the students were away over the summer break and I was only living with 2 other people, which was a lot better for sleeping!
The Brooker research group is very international and all of them are great to work and chat with. I really enjoyed their company and I hope we can meet again in the future. I found the supervision and communication with both Sally and other students in the group to be of a high level and enjoyed these scientific discussions both in and outside the lab.
Overall I really enjoyed my time in Dunedin. Whilst it is often quite grey and wet, it does show its tremendous beauty when the sun shines! I also joined the Scorpions volleyball club during my stay, so I was often at the beach during good weather, to play beach volleyball with some of them which was really great. During the Christmas period, as well as some weekends, I enjoyed some trips around the South Island – this was a really great adventure and I’ll surely return! As of writing this I am travelling through New Zealand, with my parents and brother, to see a lot more of this beautiful country!
