Sylvia Draper

Professor Sylvia Draper is a distinguished academic in the Department of Chemistry at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where she holds the rank of Professor and serves as Dean of FSTEM and CRANN. She has been a key figure in synthetic and inorganic materials chemistry for nearly three decades, contributing significantly to research, education, and institutional leadership.

Her educational background includes a first-class degree in Chemistry from the University of Exeter (1988) and a PhD from the University of Cambridge (1991), where she worked on 'Boron Butterfly Clusters' under Dr. C. Housecroft. Since 1993, she has built a pioneering research career at TCD, focusing on functional molecular materials, optoelectronics, and supramolecular systems.

Draper's research interests span Inorganic Chemistry, Synthetic Materials Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Photodynamic Therapy, and Nanographene Synthesis. Her work has led to the development of nitrogen-heterosuperbenzenes and non-porphyrin NIR photosensitisers with applications in cancer therapy and energy upconversion. She has secured over €7M in research funding as PI, including an SFI-PI grant, and is co-PI in AMBER 2.

Her recent publications highlight trends in triplet photosensitisation, on-surface synthesis, and luminescent materials, appearing in top journals such as Angewandte Chemie, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, and Chemical Communications. These works emphasize molecular design for high-efficiency energy transfer and biomedical applications.

Among her scientific honors are the David Brown Award (2018), Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2017), and the Provost’s Teaching Award (2008). She was the first Trinity recipient of both the Provost Teaching Award and the NAIRTL award.

Draper has supervised numerous PhD and postgraduate students, including award-winning researchers like Junsi Wang (Royal Irish Academy Chemistry PhD Graduate of the Year). She leads multiple research teams and collaborates internationally, including with Johnson Matthey and Henkel Global Ltd. Her leadership extends to gender equality initiatives as Chair of the School of Chemistry's Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team.