Nele Konrad

Nele Konrad is a Junior Research Fellow at Tallinn University of Technology's School of Science, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology. She has held this full-time position since September 1, 2023, following a part-time Junior Research Fellow role from September 2019 to August 2023.

Dr. Konrad earned her Master's Degree in 2019 with research on 'Host-guest interactions of metalloporphyrins with a bifunctional thiourea' under Dzmitry Kananovich's supervision. She is currently completing her PhD with the thesis 'Development of New Supramolecular Sensors' supervised by Riina Aav and Dzmitry Kananovich.

Her research focuses on supramolecular chemistry, with expertise in chirality induction, porphyrin-based sensor development, and host-guest interactions. Dr. Konrad's work combines experimental and computational approaches to understand chirality transfer mechanisms in supramolecular systems, with applications in chiral sensing, molecular recognition, and environmental monitoring of chiral pollutants.

She is actively involved in multiple significant research projects including the Centre of Excellence in Circular Economy for Strategic Mineral and Carbon Resources (2024-2030), The separation, processing, and recycling of rare earth metals (2023-2029), and Self-assembled Chiral Hemicucurbiturils as a platform for supramolecular sensing (2024-2028). These projects demonstrate her expertise in applying supramolecular chemistry to resource sustainability and chiral compound separation challenges.

Analysis of her publication record reveals a consistent research trajectory in supramolecular chirality, with a growing emphasis on practical applications for chiral sensing and separation. The integration of porphyrin chemistry with chiral macrocyclic hosts represents an innovative approach to creating highly selective molecular recognition systems.

Dr. Konrad maintains extensive international collaborations, as evidenced by numerous co-authored publications in high-impact journals. Her interdisciplinary work bridges organic chemistry, physical chemistry, and materials science to develop novel solutions for chiral analysis and separation problems.