Take 10 with... Chris Larsen

1. Describe your research topic to us in 10 words or less.

We harness light to power chemical reactions.

2. Now explain it in everyday terms!

We make molecules that can absorb light, and use its energy to catalyse chemical reactions – this leads to applications in solar energy conversion (renewable energy), sustainable chemical/pharmaceutical manufacturing, as well as next generation medicine (particularly chemotherapy).

3. Describe some of your day-to-day research activities.

Postgraduate students in my group do most of the lab work, synthesising molecules, studying them using spectroscopy and testing them in photochemical applications. Although I do get into the lab occasionally, especially for laser work, I mostly analyse data - particularly synchrotron data we collect with international collaborators. I also develop analytical tools to help students do the same level of data analysis, support their experimental work with computational studies, and write papers and funding applications.

4. What do you enjoy most about your research?

It’s hard to narrow it down to one thing – I really enjoy the variety in our work, from chemical synthesis, to ultrafast laser spectroscopy, using international user facilities like synchrotrons and X-ray free electron lasers, computer-based calculations and data analyses. It is also great to see students get very enthusiastic about particular aspects of research, and to experience their excitement when they make a break-through or discover something unexpected.

5. Tell us something that has surprised you in the course of your research.

I get surprised quite often. Sometimes for bad reasons – like a previously reliable reaction suddenly stopping working – but more often surprises lead to discovery. For example, I took some samples to the University of Queensland to do some specialised laser experiments, and as part of routine checking during sample preparation, we noticed that the sample was changing its composition before the experiment even started (which it wasn’t doing in Auckland). It all came down to the lab in Brisbane getting more sunlight, which was catalysing the change.

6. How have you approached any challenges you’ve faced in your research?

Research without challenges isn’t research, and perseverance is often a learnt skill, not an innate one. I try to train my students to not just persevere, but also pay attention to the clues when something isn’t working – can we figure out why and learn something new?

7. What questions have emerged as a result?

While things working as planned is great, it is arguably better to understand why something doesn’t work, and use that information to improve our molecular design or discover new applications. For example, we developed a new class of molecule to catalyse particular reactions, but it fell apart when light was shone on it – we are now exploring its use in next generation photomedicine. 

8. What kind of impact do you hope your research will have?

There is a lot of applied research looking to improve existing technologies and develop products for market. New technologies can only arise from fundamentally new concepts, which is where we work. We therefore hope that our research will open pathways to unexpected new technologies, and be built upon by other groups across the world.

9. If you collaborate across the faculty or University, or even outside the University, who do you work with and how does it benefit your research?

Collaboration is essential to our research – we collaborate with groups across the world with complementary expertise to enhance both our and their research programmes. One of our main long-term collaborations is with Dr Elisa Biasin (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), a world-class X-ray scientist. Combining our skillsets, we are developing and applying advanced X-ray techniques to gain new insight into photochemical behaviours. To help translate our research to real-world applications, we also collaborate with Prof. Charles Unsworth (Department of Engineering Science and Biomedical Engineering).

10. What one piece of advice would you give your younger, less experienced research self?

I was fortunate to have excellent mentors during the early stages of my research career, and any advice I would give, I already received from them. A key one was to step outside your comfort zones and take risks.