Academic CV example: postdoctoral researcher in Chemistry

Chemistry · Postdoctoral researcher · ACS citations · Modern template

This academic CV example is written for a postdoctoral researcher in synthetic and physical organic chemistry with three years of postdoctoral experience. It illustrates how to present a chemistry CV in ACS citation style, with a publication list as the centrepiece, alongside fellowships, conference presentations, and technical skills sections — the structure expected by hiring committees for faculty and industry research roles.

Citations follow American Chemical Society (ACS) style: author surnames and initials, italicised journal abbreviation, bold volume number, year, and page range. Equal-contribution and corresponding-author notations are included where applicable. Section ordering follows the convention for chemistry postdocs: Education and appointments first, then publications, then funding and activities.

Illustrative example. Dr. Mira Svensson is a fictional researcher and the publications below are fabricated for demonstration — any resemblance to a real person or work is coincidental.

Dr. Mira Svensson, PhD

Postdoctoral researcher in synthetic and physical organic chemistry

Department of Chemistry, Alderwick University · Bristol, United Kingdom

Education

  • PhD in Organic Chemistry — Alderwick University, Bristol, UK (2018–2022). Thesis: 'Strain-Release Cyclisation Strategies for the Synthesis of Bicyclic Lactams.' Supervisor: Prof. T. Hargreaves.
  • MSc in Chemistry (Distinction) — University of Vastholm, Vastholm, Sweden (2016–2018). Thesis: 'Solvent Effects on the Asymmetric Mannich Reaction Using Bifunctional Thiourea Catalysts.'
  • BSc (Hons) in Chemistry, First Class — University of Vastholm, Vastholm, Sweden (2013–2016).

Research appointments

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate — Department of Chemistry, Alderwick University, Bristol, UK (Jan 2023–present). Supervisor: Prof. C. Oduya. Developing photoredox-mediated C–N cross-coupling reactions for the rapid assembly of medicinally relevant nitrogen heterocycles.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow (EMBO Short-Term Fellowship) — Institute of Chemical Biology, ETH Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland (Jul–Dec 2022). Host: Dr. F. Brandt. Mechanistic studies of radical-mediated desymmetrisation of meso-epoxides.
  • Graduate Research Assistant — Hargreaves Group, Alderwick University, Bristol, UK (2018–2022). Total synthesis of strained bicyclic scaffolds and development of novel ring-opening/closing metathesis sequences.

Publications

  • Svensson, M.; Oduya, C. Photoredox-Enabled C–N Coupling of Aryl Bromides with Secondary Amines Under Mild Aqueous Conditions. *J. Am. Chem. Soc.* **2025**, *147*, 8312–8325. (Corresponding author)
  • Walters, P.; Svensson, M.; Oduya, C. Visible-Light-Driven Decarboxylative Radical Addition to Imines: Scope and Mechanistic Insight. *ACS Catal.* **2024**, *14*, 11204–11219.
  • Svensson, M.*; Brandt, F.* Stereocontrolled Radical Desymmetrisation of meso-Epoxides via Chiral Phosphoric Acid Catalysis. *Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.* **2023**, *62*, e202214877. (*Equal contribution)
  • Svensson, M.; Hargreaves, T.; Lindqvist, A. Strain-Release [2+2] Cycloaddition of Bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes with Nitrosoarenes: A Route to 2-Azabicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes. *J. Org. Chem.* **2022**, *87*, 9540–9553.
  • Hargreaves, T.; Svensson, M.; Maddox, R.; Yuen, K. Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerisation of Oxanorbornene Derivatives for Functional Polymer Synthesis. *Macromolecules* **2021**, *54*, 7781–7794.
  • Svensson, M.; Lindqvist, A.; Hargreaves, T. Diastereoselective Construction of cis-Fused Lactam Cores via Intramolecular Aza-Michael Cyclisation. *Org. Lett.* **2020**, *22*, 4103–4107.
  • Lindqvist, A.; Svensson, M.; Ekberg, J. Enantioselective Hydrophosphonylation of Ketimine Derivatives Catalysed by Bifunctional Cinchona Alkaloids. *Synthesis* **2019**, *51*, 3872–3882.
  • Svensson, M.*; Persson, H.* Solvent Polarity Effects on Reaction Rate and Enantioselectivity in Thiourea-Catalysed Mannich Reactions: A Combined Kinetic and Computational Study. *Chem. Eur. J.* **2018**, *24*, 14567–14576. (*Equal contribution)
  • Ekberg, J.; Svensson, M.; Lindqvist, A. Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of 2,4-Disubstituted Thiazolopyridines as Potential Kinase Inhibitor Scaffolds. *Synlett* **2017**, *28*, 2209–2214.
  • … and 2 additional peer-reviewed articles.

Fellowships & grants

  • Royal Society of Chemistry Researcher Mobility Grant (£4,800) — 2024. Collaborative visit to the Kramer Laboratory, University of Mannheim, Germany.
  • EMBO Short-Term Fellowship (CHF 6,000) — 2022. Institute of Chemical Biology, ETH Lausanne.
  • Alderwick University PhD Excellence Scholarship (full fees + £18,000 stipend p.a.) — 2018–2022.
  • Swedish Chemical Society Travel Award (SEK 15,000) — 2017. Attended IUPAC World Chemistry Congress, São Paulo.

Conference presentations

  • Svensson, M. 'Photoredox C–N Coupling in Water: Scope and Synthetic Applications.' Oral, RSC Organic Division Early Career Symposium, Manchester, UK, March 2025.
  • Svensson, M.; Walters, P.; Oduya, C. 'Radical Decarboxylative Additions to Imines Under Visible-Light Irradiation.' Poster, American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, August 2024.
  • Svensson, M.; Brandt, F. 'Chiral Phosphoric Acid-Catalysed Radical Desymmetrisation of meso-Epoxides.' Oral, ORCHEM 2023 (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker), Berlin, Germany, September 2023.
  • Svensson, M.; Hargreaves, T. 'Bicyclo[1.1.0]butane Ring-Opening as a Gateway to Strained Heterocyclic Scaffolds.' Poster, RSC Synthesis in Biology & Medicine, Cambridge, UK, November 2021.

Teaching & mentoring

  • Undergraduate practical demonstrator, 2nd-year Organic Synthesis Laboratory — Alderwick University (2019–2022, ~80 h/year).
  • Guest lecturer, MSc module 'Advanced Synthetic Methods' (two 1-hour lectures on C–N bond formation) — Alderwick University, 2024.
  • Primary mentor for two final-year MChem project students (Alderwick, 2023–2024); both students subsequently enrolled in PhD programmes.
  • Peer tutor, Organic Chemistry I for first-year students — University of Vastholm (2017–2018).

Awards & honours

  • RSC Organic Division Prize for Best Oral Presentation by an Early-Career Researcher — 2025.
  • Alderwick University Faculty of Science Best PhD Thesis Prize — 2023.
  • IUPAC Poster Prize (Physical Organic Chemistry) — IUPAC World Chemistry Congress, São Paulo, 2017.

Technical skills

  • Synthesis & techniques: multi-step total synthesis; photoredox catalysis; asymmetric organocatalysis; olefin metathesis; flow chemistry; Schlenk/glovebox air-free operations.
  • Characterisation & instrumentation: 1H/13C/31P NMR (up to 600 MHz, including 2D COSY/HSQC/HMBC/NOESY); high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS, APCI); FT-IR; UV-Vis; polarimetry; X-ray crystallography (data collection and SHELXL refinement).
  • Chromatography & purification: preparative HPLC (chiral and achiral); flash column chromatography; MPLC; GC-MS.
  • Computational: Gaussian 16 (DFT geometry optimisations, transition-state searches); SPARTAN; SciFinder; Reaxys; Python (data processing, reaction visualisation with RDKit).
  • Languages: English (fluent), Swedish (native), German (conversational).

Build your own academic CV

SigmaCV builds a clean, citation-formatted CV like this from your ORCID and OpenAlex record — free and open source. You curate what appears and export to PDF, DOCX, LaTeX or Markdown.

Build your academic CV free

Related

← All examples