Yichuan Zhang

Yichuan graduated from the MSc Materials Chemistry degree programme in 2014 and was later drawn back to Edinburgh to complete his PhD.

Name Yichuan Zhang
Degree MSc Materials Chemistry and PhD
Year of graduation 2014 and 2019

Your Time at the University

After graduating from Jilin University (China, 2013), I did my MSc in Materials Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh (2013-2014).

The MSc programme opened a window for me toward the Chemistry. So that I understand more fully what research is about and what a researcher does. Besides hard work and pressure, chemistry also brought me excitement and a sense of achievement. That is the mainly reason why I came back to the University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry for my PhD.

The most valuable part of my degree was the research project and dissertation. I did my project under the supervision of Prof. Mike Shaver. Besides his kindly help and warm talk about both research and my future career, I gained a lot from the research itself. It was a bit tricky at the beginning, but it became really interesting and exiting when I actually make some nice polymers. I was very proud of myself when I made my first polymer. All of these experiences have given me motivation to do my PhD and guide me to becoming a researcher in the future.

Yichuan Zhang

I presented my PhD work in the Joseph Black Conference in June. I was really happy to share my research experience with so many people. It is also a good chance to practice giving presentation in such a large theatre and in front of a large audience. At the same time, it is also very interesting to learn more about the research other people are working on.

Your Experiences Since Leaving the University

After graduating I worked in State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Chemistry and Materials in Jilin University as a visitor for one year (2014-2015) before coming back to Edinburgh and joining the Bradley group as a PhD student (2015-2019).

Alumni Wisdom

If you spend more time on your research, you will probably get a lot more than you thought.

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