Dan Preston

Dr. Dan Preston is a Research Fellow at the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University (ANU), supported by ARC Future Fellowship and DECRA Fellowship. He holds a PhD from the University of Otago and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Canterbury under Rutherford Postdoctoral Fellowship. His research focuses on supramolecular chemistry, particularly the design of metal-ion-based architectures using organic ligands, with an emphasis on solution-phase discrete systems. Key interests include metallosupramolecular cages, dynamic covalent chemistry, and applications in materials science.

He leads projects on mixed-metal clusters for catalysis and optical systems, self-assembled supramolecular architectures, and complementary ligand pairings. Recent work explores palladium(II) sequestration, ligand-anisotropic metal complexes, and excited-state photosensitizers. Awards include ARC Future Fellowship (2024–2027) and DECRA Fellowship. He supervises research students and collaborates internationally in structural chemistry and photophysical systems.