Jianing Xie, PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Arjan W. Kleij (ICIQ), has virtually defended his PhD thesis entitled “Advancing Pd-catalyzed Stereoselective Allylic Substitution Reactions” (assigned to the Department of Analitical and Organic Chemistry of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili) publicly on October 15th.
Dr. Xie with the members of the evaluation committee
The members of the evaluation committee were: Prof. Cyril Godard (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Prof. M. Ángeles (Tati) Fernández-Ibáñez (University of Amsterdam) and Prof. Ivana Fleisher (University of Tuebingen).
Dr. Xie is from Hengshui, a city in China’s Hebei province. He obtained his bachelor’s in Chemistry from the Qingdao University of Science &Technology and his Master’s in Chemistry at Nankai University. In 2016, he joined the group of Prof. Arjan W. Kleij at ICIQ as a PhD student. He likes to play sports, in particular: table tennis, badminton and basketball.
Why did you become a scientist?
I was impressed by the “magical” chemical changes when I was a kid. The main thing that attracted me to become a scientist was that I could design interesting chemical reactions and make fascinating discoveries by applying my knowledge and experience.
From the lessons learnt at ICIQ, which one do you value the most?
The periodic group seminars have been of great value to me. Participation in group seminars helped me a lot in improving my communication skills, teamwork and the organization of a presentation.
What ICIQ moment you´ll never forget? What will you miss the most from ICIQ?
I will never forget the first hike with my group members. I was surprised by the spectacular scenery.
Undoubtedly, I will miss everything from ICIQ. I will miss the people, the friendly atmosphere, the discussion moments either on chemistry or life and particularly, the way of doing research.
What do you wish you had known at the beginning of your PhD?
The importance of patience. I became frustrated after many failed attempts in my first project, which diminish my passion and persistence. During these four years of PhD, I have learnt that scientific research is always full of challenges, and patience is crucial for achieving success.
Where are you going next? What will you do there?
I am going to the Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund (Germany) to continue my postdoctoral research on biological chemistry.
If you were a piece of lab equipment, what would you be?
I would like to be a “Single crystal X-ray diffractioner” to understand the essence of things and their inner connections.