
Dr Beatrice Collins
Phd (Cantab.), MSci (Cantab.), BA (Cantab.)
Current positions
- Royal Society Research Fellow/Proleptic LectureshipSchool of Chemistry
Contact
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Biography
Beatrice studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and was awarded an MSci (first class) in 2009. She then stayed at Cambridge to undertake PhD studies under the supervision of Professor Matthew Gaunt in the field of transition metal catalysis. In 2014 Beatrice moved to the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, where she spent two years undertaking postdoctoral research with Professor Ben Feringa in the field of molecular switches and motors. In 2016 she moved back to the UK to take up a postdoctoral research position in the group of Professor Varinder Aggarwal FRS at the University of Bristol. In 2018 Beatrice was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to establish her own independent career and has since founded her own research group at the University of Bristol focused on the design and development of autonomously operating molecular motors.
Research interests
Autonomous molecular-level motion is ubiquitous in Nature, and will be a key constituent of the artificial complex molecular systems which will form the basis of future technologies.
Our research is focused on the design and development of autonomously operating molecular motors. Our approach involves the use of modern synthetic methodologies—transition metal catalysis, photoredox catalysis, enzymatic biocatalysis—to tackle the challenges posed by the development of these out-of-equilibrium functional molecular systems. A central aspect of our research programme is the development of cyclic reaction networks and their design, optimization, and analysis underpin our pursuit of controlled motion at the molecular level.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
- Oxidation State Modulation for Cyclic Chemical Reaction Networks and Controlled Molecular-Level Motion- Principal Investigator- Managing organisational unitSchool of Chemistry- Dates- 27/04/2024 to 26/04/2027 
- Does Motherhood Need Mitigating? A Collective Examination of Parenting and Academic Practice- Role- Collaborator - Managing organisational unitDepartment of History (Historical Studies)- Dates- 01/01/2023 to 31/07/2023 
- Royal Society - Enhanced Research Expenses- Principal Investigator- Managing organisational unitSchool of Chemistry- Dates- 01/03/2022 to 28/02/2026 
- Oscillating Photostationary States for Molecular Cargo Transport- Principal Investigator- Managing organisational unitSchool of Chemistry- Dates- 01/07/2021 to 30/06/2023 
- 8083 Royal Society URF- Principal Investigator- Managing organisational unitSchool of Chemistry- Dates- 01/10/2018 to 30/09/2023 
Thesis supervisions
- Transition metal catalysis for chemically fuelled rotary molecular-level motion- Supervisors
- [1,n]-Rhodium Migrations for Directional Translational Motion- Supervisors
- EXACT and Semi-Real Time acquisition methods to accelerate the acquisition of quantitative 13C spectra and to reduce chemical shift scaling experiments power- Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
05/06/2025[1,n]-Metal migrations for directional translational motion at the molecular level
Nature Communications
Redox-powered autonomous directional C–C bond rotation under enzyme control
Nature
Solvent-Dependent Ultrafast Photochemical Dynamics of N-Methyl Oxindole Overcrowded Alkene Molecular Motors
Journal of Physical Chemistry A
Dynamic Kinetic Resolution and Dynamic Kinetic Asymmetric Transformation of Atropisomers
Science of Synthesis
Biocatalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of Atropisomers
Accounts of Chemical Research



