Nurtalya Alandini, PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Melchiorre (ICIQ), has virtually defended her PhD thesis entitled “1,4-Dihydropyridines as Versatile Reagents in Photochemical Carbon-Carbon Bond-Forming Processes” (assigned to the Department of Analytical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili) publicly on July 8th.

The members of the examining committee were: Prof. Félix Rodríguez (Universidad de Oviedo), Dr. Geraldine Masson (Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles -CNRS) and Dr. Mónica H. Pérez-Temprano (ICIQ).

 

Dr. Alandini grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia. She moved to Germany to study Chemistry at the RWTH Aachen University, where she obtained both her BSc and Master’s degree. In 2017, she joined the Prof. Melchiorre group to do her PhD thanks to the Phototrain MSCA-ITN predoctoral fellowship. She likes to read books, to go to live concerts and spicy food.

Why did you become a scientist?

Honestly, I don’t know! I’ve always been interested in science. But I had some mentors who motivated and encouraged me to pursue a career in Chemistry.

From the lessons learnt at ICIQ, which one do you value the most?

I learned that some things are inevitable. For example, experiments sometimes don’t work, so we can just learn from it and move forward. Also, ICIQ offers great training, seminars and talks, which I think are invaluable.

What will you miss the most from ICIQ?

I will definitely miss the lab and my colleagues, especially when we sang music together while working in the lab.

What advice do you have for someone who’s starting their PhD now?

Doing a PhD can be overwhelming, so allow yourself to take it easy and move at your own pace. Also, don’t be shy to talk or ask questions to your colleagues and supervisor, they’re there to help you too.

Where are you going next?

I’m going to take a short break and then I want to keep on doing research in Europe.

If you were a piece of lab equipment, what would you be? 

Not a typical lab equipment, but a LED because I like the idea of spreading energy and making your surroundings brighter.