Prof. Dr. Robby Vroemans

Robby Vroemans obtained his PhD in Chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Wim Dehaen at KU Leuven in 2019, focusing on the study of naphthyltriazole atropisomers. Subsequently, he moved to the University of Antwerp, where he worked as a postdoctoral researcher under the advisorship of Prof. Bert Maes on lignin-derived plastic additives. Additionally, he conducted research stays in the groups of Prof. Thierry Ollevier (Université Laval, Canada) in 2019 and Prof. Serge Bourbigot (Université de Lille, France) in 2024. Since 2024, he holds an assistant professor position (tenure track) in the ORSY division at the University of Antwerp, with research interests in organic materials for sustainable chemistry.

Dr. Sergey Sergeyev

Sergey obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 2002 from the University of Zürich, Switzerland. After a two-year postdoctoral stay with François Diederich (ETH Zürich)  he spent about five years at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Brussels as research fellow. In 2009, he started his job as a research manager at the University of Antwerp. Since 2020 he holds a position as a research manager of the Center of Excellence “CASCH: Catalysis for Sustainable Organic Chemistry”.

Philippe Franck

Philippe is currently a technician in the ORSY division. His responsibilities include the maintenance and repair of all equipment, training of new co-workers, lab safety and stock management. Philippe studied Chemistry at the KdG Hogeschool in Antwerp and obtained his professional bachelor's degree in 2006. For his bachelor thesis he selected the ORSY division, working under supervision of Prof. Dr. Bert Maes.

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Rui An

Rui is currently a technician in the ORSY division. His responsibilities include the NMR facility, lab safety, training of new co-workers, purchasing, and the chemical inventory. Rui did his master studies in Bologna (Italy) and his PhD studies in the LADCA group at the University of Antwerp under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Vera Meynen, focused on organic-inorganic hybrid materials.

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Dr. Karthik Gadde

Karthik Gadde received his PhD degree from the University of Antwerp under the supervision of Prof. Bert U.W. Maes and Prof. Kourosch Abbaspour Tehrani in 2022. He currently works as a senior researcher in the Maes group. His research interests focus on photocatalysis in organic synthesis, and heterocyclic and medicinal chemistry.

Dr. Xingfeng Bai

Xingfeng Bai obtained his PhD in 2017 under the joint guidance of Prof. Chungu Xia from Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics (LICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Prof. Liwen Xu from Hangzhou Normal University. He worked as an junior researcher in LICP (2017-2018) and as postdoctoral fellow in Prof Yixin Lu’s group at the National University of Singapore (2018-2020). He joined Prof Bert Maes’s group at the University of Antwerp in October 2020 and later was awarded an EU Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellowship (2021). His research interests include asymmetric synthesis & catalysis, and valorisation of bio-based chemicals. He is currently working on the PROMIS project dealing with the development of renewable (blocked) isocyanate building blocks.

Dr. Yoan Preux

Yoan studied chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. He then did a PhD study at the Victoria University of Wellington before joining ORSY as a postdoctoral fellowship holder in the Maes Group, working on high-pressure reactions in water to produce aromatic building blocks from biorenewables, in the framework of the Flemish interuniversity iBOF project Next-BIOREF.

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Dr. Jordan Donat

Jordan studied Life Science-Organic Chemistry at the University of Grenoble (France), obtaining his PhD in 2019 from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), working on the synthesis and study of binuclear iron catalysts for nitrene transfer. He joined Minakem High Potent in Louvain la Neuve in 2020 as an industrial postdoctoral researcher to improve the production of Vinorelbine. In 2021, he joined the Maes Group as a postdoctoral fellow, working on ring expansions. In 2024, he started working on flame retardants in the framework of the LIBRA project.

 

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Dr. Aaron Keeley

Aaron Keeley was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions scholarship in September 2016 and obtained his PhD in November 2020 from the Medicinal Chemistry Research Group at RCNS, Hungary, where he was involved in research projects focusing on fragment-based drug discovery. Aaron then continued his postdoctoral research in the Medicinal Chemistry Research Group at UAntwerp, Belgium, in collaboration with J&J, working on the development of Mtb H37Rv inhibitors. Aaron is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Maes Group at ORSY, working on the IMI Respiri NTM project in collaboration with the company BioVersys. His research focuses on the development of scalable synthetic routes for active pharmaceutical ingredients.

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Dr. Riccardo Pedrazzani

Riccardo carried out his academic formation at the University of Bologna (Italy) under the supervision of Prof. Marco Bandini and Prof. Magda Monari, obtaining his PhD in Chemistry in March 2023. There he worked extensively on ligand design and synthesis for Au(I) mediated transformations. He joined the Maes Group in November 2023 as postdoctoral researcher and he is currently investigating catalyst heterogenization for biomass-derived feedstock valorization into specialty & fine chemicals.

Mathias Bal

Mathias Bal obtained his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemistry from the University of Antwerp in respectively 2016 and 2018. He performed his master’s thesis in the Organic Synthesis research group under the supervision of Prof. Kourosch Abbaspour Tehrani. Currently, he is conducting his PhD in Organic Chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Bert U. W. Maes at the University of Antwerp. His research is centered around the development of sustainable reduction reactions in water and the usage of biorenewable chemicals.

Karel Weemaes

Karel studied chemistry at the University of Antwerp and obtained his MSc in Chemistry in 2019. His master thesis was performed in the Medicinal Chemistry division at J&J in Beerse (Belgium). He subsequently joined the Maes Group to pursue a PhD in Organic Chemistry, focusing on the development of novel and greener synthesis methodologies, particularly for blocked isocyanates. His PhD work was supported by a Fundamental Research Scholarship of Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). He is currently working on the PROMIS project dealing with the development of renewable (blocked) isocyanate building blocks.

Céderic Ver Elst

Céderic studied chemistry at the University of Antwerp and obtained his MSc in Chemistry in 2019. His master thesis was performed in the Drug Chemistry group at J&J in Beerse (Belgium). He subsequently joined the Maes Group to pursue a PhD in Organic Chemistry, focusing on the synthesis of biorenewable platform molecules, particularly levulinic acid derivatives. His PhD work is supported by an Strategic Basic Research Scholarship of Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).

Marjo Waeterschoot

Marjo studied chemistry at the University of Antwerp and obtained her MSc in Chemistry in 2020. During her master she did a research stay in the group of prof. Lutz Ackermann at the University of Göttingen. She subsequently joined the Maes Group to pursue a PhD in Organic Chemistry, focusing on the development novel synthesis methodologies involving C-H activation and blocked isocyanates. Her PhD work is supported by a Strategic Research Scholarship of Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).

 

Dries De Vos

Dries De Vos obtained his BSc and MSc degree in chemistry at the University of Antwerp in 2018 and 2020, respectively. His master thesis was performed in the group of Prof. Carsten Bolm at RWTH Aachen University. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Organic Chemistry at ORSY, focusing on the development of visible-light mediated photocatalytic reactions using organosulfur compounds. His PhD work is supported by a Fundamental Research Scholarship of Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).

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Ewoud Smet

Ewoud Smet obtained his BSc degree in Bioscience Engineering from the University of Antwerp and his MSc degree in Bioscience Engineering from the University of Ghent. He conducted his master’s thesis project in the SynBioC research group under the supervision of Prof. Christian V. Stevens. He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Maes Group of ORSY in the framework of the Flemish interuniversity iBOF project Next-BIOREF. His research is focused on biorenewable chemicals from ligno-cellulose and flow chemistry.

 

Loïc Mineur

Loïc studied chemistry at the University of Namur. He performed his master thesis in the group of prof. Berionni and obtained his MSc in Chemistry in 2020. He subsequently joined the Maes Group to pursue a PhD in Organic Chemistry in 2021, focusing on the valorisation of biobased waste streams towards building blocks for the chemical industry. His PhD work is supported by a BOF concerted research action (GOA) grant.

Marappan Pradeep Kumar

Marappan Pradeep Kumar holds a BSc in Chemistry from Bharathiar University (2018–2021) and an MSc in Chemical Sciences from Pondicherry University (2021–2023). He gained research experience through a summer research fellowship at IIT Madras under the guidance of Prof. G. Sekar. Currently, he serves as a Project Assistant in the OMC research group at the National Institute of Technology Karaikal, Puducherry, working under the supervision of Dr. Vasudevan Dhayalan. His research interests encompass Organocatalysis and Green Chemistry. In 2025, he starts as a PhD student in the Maes Group.

 

Shiping Zhong

Shiping Zhong obtained her MSc degree in chemistry at Shaanxi Normal University in 2024. She is currently pursuing a PhD in the Maes Group at ORSY, focusing on the development of novel mechanochemical reactions. Her PhD work is supported by the China Scholarship Council (CSC).

 

Thijs De Vos

Thijs obtained his MSc of Chemistry degree from the University of Antwerp in 2023. He performed his Master Thesis in the group of Prof. Frank Glorius at the Universität Münster. Afterwards, he joined the Maes Group as PhD student, where he works on the development of alternative synthetic routes towards organofluorides. His doctoral research is supported by a Fundamental Research Scholarship of Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO).

Arno Goddé

Arno studied chemistry at the University of Antwerp and obtained his MSc in Chemistry in 2023. He performed his master thesis in the Maes Group. His current research is focusing on the synthesis and testing of lignin-derived plastic additives such as plasticizers, flame retardants and antioxidants.

 

Jonas Wuyts

Jonas obtained his MSc in Bioscience Engineering: Catalytic Technology at KU Leuven, where he did his master thesis in the group of Prof. Dirk De Vos. Captivated by research, he decided to pursue a PhD in organic chemistry within the Maes group. He is currently working on the AC2GEN Moonshot project (Catalisti - VLAIO), in which he is developing a novel method to obtain acrylates from second-generation sugars.

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Marnix van der Kolk

Marnix received his BSc and MSc in Chemistry from the Radboud University in Nijmegen where he performed undergraduate research in the group of Prof. Wilson and Prof. Rutjes. During his master he performed a research stay in the group of Prof. Cardenas at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Afterwards, he worked on a Eurostars project under Prof. Rutjes on allosteric CNS modulators before starting his PhD at the University of Antwerp in the Maes Group. His current research entails the application of graphenes in organic synthesis.

Daniël S. Verdoorn

Daniël S. Verdoorn obtained his master’s degree in chemistry, as a joint-degree title from the University of Amsterdam and the VU Amsterdam. He performed his undergraduate research on the synthesis of aspidosperma alkaloids in the group of Prof. Ruijter. Afterwards he started as a joint doctoral student in the research group of Prof. Maes (University of Antwerp) and in the research group of Prof. Orru (University of Maastricht). Currently, his research is focusing on base-metal catalyzed isocyanide insertion, radical isocyanide multicomponent and cascade chemistry.