9th April 2024

The O’Reilly Group attended the Bristol Synthesis Meeting, the largest one-day chemistry meeting in Europe. There was an exciting line-up of speakers, including Frances Arnold, Martin Burke, Veronique Gouverneur, Tehshik Yoon and Kimoon Kim.

25-29th June 2023

La Rochelle, France

In June, the O’Reilly Group travelled to La Rochelle in France to attend BioTrans 2023, the 16th International Symposium on Biocatalysis and Biotransformations. The event brought together new and established researchers in the field of biocatalysis to share their findings, and encourage new collaborations. BioTrans 2023 comprised a week-long series of engaging talks and the opportunity to present the group’s recent findings via poster presentations. The trip also gave the time to explore the seaside town of La Rochelle and meet fellow researchers during the conference dinner and other post-conference activities. 

6-8th June 2023

Belfast, Co Antrim

Congratulations to Adam and Amber on their recent talks at the Nordic-Irish Process Chemistry Forum! The forum provided an exceptional platform to foster new collaborations and had a diverse range of topics in the fields of flow chemistry, biocatalysis, and organocatalysis. Adam and Amber were also accompanied by some of the Baumann group from UCD who showed them all Belfast had to offer. Well done Adam and Amber!

31st May 2023

Dublin, Ireland

Congratulations to Kathryn and Adam on presenting their research at the Dublin Chemistry third year talks! Kathryn presented her work on the development of biocatalytic cascades in a presentation titled “Biocatalytic cascade synthesis of iminosugars from monosaccharides”. Adam showcased his work on transaminase-triggered reactions in a talk titled “Development of transaminase-triggered cascades for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing natural products and analogues”.

18-19th April 2023

Graz, Austria

The O’Reilly Group recently had the privilege of attending the 3rd annual NextGenBiocat Conference, held at TU Graz in the picturesque city of Graz, Austria. The event brought together young researchers in the field of biocatalysis to share their findings, foster collaborations, and explore the future prospects of this rapidly evolving field. The NextGenBiocat Conference not only provided our research group with an exceptional opportunity to engage with peers from around the world and present our findings via poster presentations, but it also allowed us to explore the vibrant city of Vienna, adding an extra layer of inspiration to our scientific journey!

5-8th January 2023

Lillehammer, Norway

In the beginning of January Marianne presented the O’Reilly group’s research on the biocatalytic synthesis of iminosugars at the 36th organic chemistry winter meeting, organised by the Norwegian chemical society in Skeikampen skiresort, Lillehammer, Norway.

9th December 2022

Dublin, Ireland

The group were delighted to attend the 21st annual CSCB symposium hosted in the new UCD village building. The meeting was attended by postgraduate students from all over the country and packed full of excellent PhD talks and a diverse display of high quality posters. Our group each presented a poster describing some of the most recent work carried out in the O’Reilly group.

6-7th December 2022

Dublin, Ireland

In December, Marianne and Amber attended the Bioeconomy Research Symposium Ireland - BiOrbic’s biggest early career researcher-led Symposium. It was an exciting two day lecture series and panel discussion. At this event there was a poster presentation, where Amber presented her recent work. The symposium provided the chance to learn about new discoveries in the field! Thank you to all the organisers for putting this event together and to all the inspiring talks and discussions, we learnt a lot!

8-9th August 2022

Dublin, Ireland

The group were delighted to attend ChemBioIreland - the first Chemical Biology conference in Ireland - which took place right here at UCD, during one of best weeks for Irish weather, great timing! Adam, Aoife, Amber and Kathryn participated in the poster session and got the opportunity to showcase some of this year’s research progress, a first poster session for some, well done! Thank you to Marina Rubini and the organisers for putting on this event with brilliant talks and discussions, we all learnt a lot and look forward to next time!

19th July 2022

Belfast, Co Antrim

The O’Reilly group attended the Biocatalysis & Biomass Symposium in Queens University Belfast. Each of the speakers were highly engaging and gave very informative talks.

07 June 2022

Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow

One morning as a break from the lab, group members took a scenic drive down the road to visit the beautiful Powerscourt Waterfall - the largest waterfall in Ireland – in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow.

NextGenBiocat

25-26th April 2022

Delft, Netherlands.

Kathryn and Marianne attend NextGenBiocat symposium in Delft, Netherlands. It was great to meet other young researchers in our field, for many it was the first in-person conference experience, and the excitement was felt throughout talks and discussions. One highlight on the second day was commuting to the conference venue at TU Delft by bicycle, alongside hundreds if not thousands of other cyclists, vastly outnumbering the cars on the road! ­­

Rachels Parting Gift

A big thank you to our master’s student Rachel for the handmade crocheted ‘biocatalysis’ bunting, adding some much-needed decoration to the group office. Besides all the research skills and lab techniques showcased during the year, you hid this particular talent of yours well until the last moment!  

Justyna attends Journey Climate KIC

Journey Climate KIC is the world’s largest climate innovation summer school and involves three weeks of workshops about climate change and climate business challenges. However, perhaps the most important and interesting aspect for the students was learning how to transform that knowledge into the innovative business solution.

Participants were tasked with developing an innovative idea, which has a positive climate impact. The business had to mitigate, enable or adapt technologies to combat climate change. Justyna and her coworkers were provided with workshops that helped them build a business plan.

We are proud to report that Justyna’s team won the audience award for the pitch and business idea!!

Biotechnology YES

Biotechnology YES is an innovative competition to promote entrepreneurship and commercialization of ideas among early career researchers in the UK. The competition was hosted in Syngenta and the business idea had to relate to plants, mcrobs or the environment.

Justyna took part in the competition in 2018 and was part of a diverse team. Their business, called SporeRadical Solutions, aimed to fight fungal pathogens and reducing usage of fungicides by applying an automated in-field early detection system to detect and identify airborne spores.

The team gave a pitch in front of investors who were interested in biotech broadly. The team also had an interesting tour around Syngenta greenhouses, where they screen plants against various chemicals.

The O’Reilly Group Expands

The newest member of the O’Reilly Research Group has arrived. Welcome to baby Molly Phyllis Murphy!

Off on Maternity Leave

Last day at the University of Nottingham before beginning my maternity leave. Thanks to my colleagues for joining me for coffee and cake. The real work now begins!

BIOCAT2018

Ryan, Justyna and Stelios enjoying the food, drink, company and of course the science at BIOCAT 2018.

Christmas dinner 2015

Lab Moving Day

It was a busy weekend moving labs but we are now settling into our new (temporary) lab in Chemistry, which has a lot more space. Below, there are some pictures of our new lab, which is due for completion in about a month.

Gregynog Synthesis Workshop

A few snaps from the Gregynog Synthesis Workshop that took place Wednesday 9th-Friday 11th September. Good weather two years in a row!

More pictures to come so please visit again!