Xiang Yin, PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Echavarren (ICIQ), has defended his PhD Thesis entitled “Synthesis of Indenes and Indanes by Gold(I)-Catalyzed Decarbenation” (assigned to the Department of Analytical & Organic Chemistry of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili) publicly on November 29th at the ICIQ Auditorium.
The members of the examining committee were: Prof. Pedro Pérez (Universidad de Huelva), Prof. Miquel Costas (Universitat de Girona), and Prof. Rubén Martin (ICIQ).
Dr. Xiang with the members of the evaluation committee and his supervisor, Prof. Antonio M. Echavarren
Dr. Yin is from the Chinese province of Sichuan. He studied Pharmacy and a masters in Pharmaceutical chemistry at the Sichuan University before switching completely to chemistry and joining ICIQ for his PhD. He enjoys playing sports and is a regular member of the ICIQ football training sessions and tournaments.
Why did you become a scientist? What would you want to achieve as a scientist?
My grandfather had health issues, so I wanted to help. I wanted to know how it works when you get sick, what can be the treatment to cure an illness? So, I studied pharmacy and realized after a while that in the pharmacy lab we are actually doing chemistry, so I switched to chemistry for my PhD. I want to know the details behind illnesses and keep on learning.
From the lessons learnt at ICIQ, which one do you value the most?
Seeing how my supervisor, Antonio Echavarren, thinks and works – he’s a very smart guy! He knows how to solve problems and that has helped me, and everyone in the group, do science better.
What ICIQ moment you´ll never forget? What will you miss the most from ICIQ?
In 2015 ICIQ organized a volleyball tournament, and I was the only Chinese person there. When I touched the ball, everybody there cheered and told me what a good job I was doing – I found it very funny how they all encouraged me to play.
What advice do you have for someone who’s starting a PhD now?
Practice English! When I arrived in ICIQ, I couldn’t even say “hi,” so learning English was fundamental to be able to communicate with everyone at ICIQ.
Where are you going next? What will you do there?
I’ll be working on carbene at Stockholm University as a Postdoc, with Abraham Mendoza.