Federica Cester

Dr. Federica Cester is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ) in Tarragona, Spain. Her research focuses on organic synthesis, materials design, and catalytic systems. She holds a PhD from the University of Parma (Italy), where her work included the development of calix[6]arenes and functional metallacrowns for bioimaging applications. She conducted postdoctoral research under Prof. Antonio M. Echavarren at ICIQ, advancing chiral gold(I) cavitand catalysts for asymmetric transformations.

Education:

• Bachelor’s in Chemistry (2016, University of Parma, 108/110)
• Master’s in Industrial Chemistry (2018, cum laude, University of Parma; research at University of Michigan under Prof. Vincent Pecoraro)
• PhD in Chemistry (University of Parma, supervised by Profs. Andrea Secchi and Gianpiero Cera)

Her research interests span supramolecular chemistry, asymmetric catalysis, and novel materials synthesis. She has held industry-funded fellowships and collaborated internationally, including a visiting student role at ICIQ. Currently, she contributes to Prof. Echavarren’s group, focusing on innovative catalyst design and polyunsaturated substrate transformations.

Grants and Collaborations:

• Research fellowship supported by Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. (2018)

Labs/Teams: Member of the Prof. Antonio M. Echavarren Group at ICIQ, collaborating with PhD students and researchers in organic synthesis and catalysis.