Jan 2023 – ongoing, Professor of Chemistry (University of Birmingham)

Aug 2017 – Jan 2023, Professor of Chemistry, Royal Society Wolfson Research Fellow (Southampton)

Oct 2014 – Aug 2017, Associate Professor and Royal Society URF (University of Southampton)

Oct 2008 – Oct 2014,  Leverhulme Trust / Royal Society URF (Queen Mary, University of London)

Sep 2007 – Sep 2008, Fixed-Term Lecturer in Organic Chemistry (University of Edinburgh)

May 2005 – Sep 2007, Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof David Leigh (University of Edinburgh)

May 2001 – May 2005, PhD in Natural Product Synthesis, Prof Anthony Barrett (Imperial College London)

Oct 1996 – Jun 2000, MChem (1^st Class Hons / Part II with Prof Sir Jack Baldwin, University of Oxford)

Research: Goldup’s work focuses on the effect of mechanical bonding on the properties and applications of molecules, and in particular, the applications of rotaxanes and catenanes containing mechanical stereogenic units. He has developed some of the most efficient rotaxane-forming reactions disclosed to date and applied them to the synthesis of challenging targets including stereo-defined [n]rotaxanes, multicomponent catenanes, and mechanically interlocked oligonucleotides. He has developed national and international collaborations to demonstrate the potential applications of interlocked structures in coordination chemistry, catalysis, sensing, magnetism, and fluorescence. Beginning in 2018, he has developed a theoretical framework for the discussion of mechanical stereogenic units and used the insights obtained to identify overlooked mechanical stereogenic units and methods to synthesise mechanically chiral rotaxanes and catenanes stereoselectively. In 2020 he demonstrated the first example of enantioselective synthesis with a mechanically planar chiral catalyst.

Mentoring and Training: To date, 17 PhDs, 10 PDRAs and many visiting students from all over the world have graduated from the Goldup Group, including Dr James Lewis (URF). Goldup acts as an informal mentor to several young scientists and in a formal capacity for Dr Langton (URF, Oxford) and Prof Hiscock (FLF, Kent).

Collaborations: To demonstrate the applications of interlocked molecules, Goldup has developed a network of national (Roessler/Imperial, Zysman-Colman/St Andrews, Williamson/Durham, Tavassoli/Soton, Levitt/Soton) and international (McClenaghan/Bordeaux, Trolez/Rennes, Maeda/Kanazawa, Jolliffe/Sydney) collaborators.

Collaborations: To demonstrate the applications of interlocked molecules, Goldup has developed a network of national (Roessler/Imperial, Zysman-Colman/St Andrews, Williamson/Durham, Tavassoli/Soton, Levitt/Soton) and international (McClenaghan/Bordeaux, Trolez/Rennes, Maeda/Kanazawa, Jolliffe/Sydney) collaborators.

Publication Track Record: 73 Publications, 56 as PI, 51 as corresponding author including Nat. Chem., ACS Cent. Sci., Chem, Angew. Chem., Chem. Soc. Rev., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Chem. Sci., Nat. Rev. Chem., Chem. Commun. Total citations >5000 and h-index of 39 (Scopus 1/23). Up-to-date list: http://goldup.soton.ac.uk/publications/).

Funding: SG’s research has been supported by the EPSRC, Royal Society, Leverhulme Trust, ERC and Horizon 2020. Current funded projects include the synthesis and applications of mechanically chiral molecules (Newton Fellowship), applications of the mechanical bond to synthesis (Wolfson Fellowship, Newton Fellowship) and the chemical biology applications of mechanically interlocked DNA (Leverhulme Trust).

Career Achievements: 2020: Finalist in 2020 Blavatnik UK Young Scientist (prize awarded for work towards the practical applications of interlocked molecules) • 2019 Royal Society Wolfson Research Fellowship • 2018 Associate Editor of Chemical Science • 2017 Professor of Chemistry at the University of Southampton • 2016 ERC Consolidator Grant to research the synthesis and properties of mechanically chiral molecules, Bob Hay Lectureship from the MASC discussion group • 2014 Royal Society of Chemistry Hickinbottom Award for contributions to Organic Chemistry, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry • 2012 Member of the Advisory Board for Chemical Society Reviews, Co-organised the MASC annual meeting, David Hill Cup at the Gregynog Synthesis Meeting, Thieme Journal Chemistry Award • 2009 Royal Society University Research Fellowship (renewed 2014) • 2008 Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship.

Independence, Esteem and Leadership Indicators: Widely cited and highlighted (C&E News, Nat Nanotech, Nat Chem, Chemistry World, Synfacts) independent research • Co-chair of the 2019 Gordon Research Conference on Artificial Molecular Switches and Motors • Co-founder of the RSC Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Early Career Meeting (2017) • Secretary and Treasurer of the MASC RSC Interest Group (2016) • One of top 10 reviewers for Chem Soc Rev (2016) and top 5% of reviewers for Angew Chem (2016) • >130 invited research presentations: national (e.g. RSC MASC) and international (e.g. ISMSC, ICCC, ISACS) conferences, university colloquia in the UK and overseas • >30 PhD vivas in the UK and overseas (e.g., Zurich, Oxford, Amsterdam, Bristol, UCL, Imperial, Cambridge, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Otago & NIPER (India).