Dr Brianna Heazlewood MRSC

Winner: 2021 Faraday Division early career award: Marlow Award

University of Liverpool

For the development of novel experimental techniques and computational modelling to study reactive collisions at extremely low temperatures.

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The best research cultures enable diverse groups of people to work in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Important gas-phase chemical models suffer from a lack of experimental data and therefore have limited use as predictive tools. Certain classes of gas-phase reactions – for example, those involving ions (atoms or molecules with a net charge) or radicals (atoms or molecules with an unpaired electron) – can exhibit unusual properties, proceeding faster as the temperature decreases. Dr Heazlewood's group have introduced new methods that enable them to control the reaction parameters and precisely monitor reactions at low temperatures. The systems they study are relevant to environments such as the outer atmosphere and interstellar chemistry. Their experimental measurements have advanced our understanding of reaction mechanisms, and will improve the accuracy of models of atmospheric and interstellar chemistry.

Read winner biography

Dr Brianna Heazlewood completed her undergraduate and PhD degrees at the University of Sydney, Australia, under the supervision of Professor Scott Kable. In 2012, she moved to the UK to work with Professor Tim Softley at the University of Oxford. Her awards include a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellowship (2012), a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (2015), and an EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Early Career Fellowship (2016). Dr Heazlewood started an independent research group at the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford in 2016. And in 2020, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant and the Institute of Physics Henry Moseley Medal and Prize. Dr Heazlewood and her research group relocated to the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool in March 2021. Their research examines chemical reaction mechanisms and dynamics at low temperatures using external fields to manipulate the properties of ions, polar molecules and radicals.

Q+A

Who or what has inspired you?

I’ve been inspired by many people; it’s hard to single out just one person! I did enjoy hearing Professor Noel Hush speak about his amazing research career when I was a student at the University of Sydney. Many years later, I now use some of the theories that Professor Hush proposed on electron transfer in my own research.

What motivates you?

There is so much that we still don’t know about how reaction processes occur. I love discovering new things about reaction mechanisms and examining what this can tell us about fundamental chemical reactivity.

What does good research culture look like/mean to you?

The best research cultures enable diverse groups of people to work in a supportive and collaborative environment. When people with different backgrounds and training are brought together, each person can bring a unique perspective to solving a given problem. We need to encourage diversity and embrace creativity.

Why do you think teamwork is important in science?

Teamwork is critical for solving complex problems. Our research has benefited immensely from working with collaborators, as together we can tackle more challenging projects.