Current Group Members
Staff Members
Dr Gokhan Yilmaz
Assistant Professor (2022 - Present)
He obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 2016 under the guidance of Prof. Remzi Becer at the University of Warwick. Following several years of postdoctoral experience, including positions at Queen Mary University of London in the School of Engineering and Materials Science and at the University of Nottingham in the School of Pharmacy, he returned to Warwick Chemistry to join the ITN BIOMOLMACS Project under the coordination of Remzi Becer.
His research project is primarily focused on the synthesis of precision glycopolymers and their subsequent evaluation for binding affinity with various types of human lectins, with the aim of applying these findings in diverse biological applications. Furthermore, he has a keen interest in developing glyco-based nanoparticles through various synthesis techniques to enhance their applicability in biomedicine.
Dr Bhagyashree Kulkarni
Post-Doctoral Fellow (2024 - Present)
Bhagyashree completed her PhD in 2019 under the guidance of Prof. M. Jayakannan at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India. She then pursued postdoctoral research with Prof. Nikos Hadjichristidis at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. Currently, she is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie EUTOPIA-SIF Cofund Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Remzi Becer. Her project is focusing on synthesizing 2-oxazoline-based polymers for biomedical applications.
Dr James Lefley
Post doctoral researcher
James completed his Bachelors degree at Newcastle University in 2018. After that he enrolled at the University of Warwick and completed his Masters degree in Polymer Chemistry in 2020. During his Masters, James studied and published a review on the macromolecular design and preparation of polymersomes with Prof Remzi Becer. He eventually stayed on with the Becer Group to start an industrially funded PhD with Infineum (2024). James’ research focuses on Poly(oxazoline)-based smart materials, amphiphilic block copolymers, and self-assembly.
Dr Dan MacKinnon
Post doctoral researcher
Dan completed an integrated Masters degree in Chemistry at the University of York from 2016-2020. In his final year, he completed a research project based on bio-based step-growth polyesters while working for Innospec in Ellesmere Port. In 2020, he started his PhD in the Becer group at the University of Warwick working on sustainable polymers and published a journal article utilizing multicomponent reactions for polyamide synthesis. In his second year, Dan received industrial funding from CreateMe to work on reversible adhesives. The remainder of his PhD focused on designing polymers to meet specific property criteria and utilising reversible chemistries to develop CANs (Covalent Adaptable Networks). Since starting his post-doc in 2024, he has been working on mechanically-robust baroplastics, a class of polymers which can be processed at reduced temperatures under high pressure.
PhD Students
Caity Nutting
PhD Student - Year 3
Caity completed her bachelors degree at the University of Warwick in 2022. She commenced her masters degree in the Becer group investigating cholesterol-conjugated glycans, before transitioning to a PhD position at the start of 2023. Caity's research focuses on glycopolymers with the aim to make novel pharmaceuticals and biomaterials.
Abeer Aljubailah
PhD Student - Year 3
Abeer obtained her BSc and MSc degrees in Chemistry from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. In Summer 2023, she started her PhD in the Becer group. Abeer is conducting her PhD research project in the field of sustainable polymers.
Angie Cheung
PhD Student - Year 2
Angie completed her BA at the University of Cambridge in Natural Sciences with her final year specialising in Materials Science in 2024. She is currently working on poly(2-Oxazoline)s for lubricant applications.
Silvana Miele
PhD Student - Year 1
Silvana completed her MChem in the Becer Group at the University of Warwick in 2025, which included a Year in Industry at Lubrizol. Following her degree, she began her PhD in Engineering focusing on the development of novel polymeric binders for sustainable cathode production in lithium-ion batteries.
Oguzhan Aslanturk
PhD Student - Year 1
Oguzhan completed both his BSc and MSc degrees in Chemistry at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in Turkey. Upon completion of his master's studies, he started his PhD as a member of the Becer Group within the NATPRIME Doctoral Network. Oguzhan’s research project centres on poly(2-oxazoline) based polymeric lipids and their evaluation in both lipid nanoparticle (LNP) and polyplex formulations. His work further involves the sequence-controlled polymers and multicomponent reactions to develop polymeric materials for various applications.
Matilde Capra
PhD Student - Year 1
Matilde is working on poly(2-oxazoline) based glycopolymers.
Master Students
Damini Bakrania
MRes Student
Damini completed her BSc in Chemistry at the University of Leicester. She is currently a Master's student focusing on the design and synthesis of polymeric binders for lithium-ion batteries with a particular emphasis on poly(2-oxazoline) based systems.
Abi Barnett
MChem Student
Abi started her MChem at the University of Warwick in 2022 and she is now completing her MChem research within the Becer group. She is currently working on poly(2-oxazoline)-based glycopolymeric block copolymers for lectin binding applications.
