Professor Stuart Mackenzie
News
August 2026 - New Publication in JPCC
As part of the New Directions in Molecular Scattering programme grant, a collaboration between the Mackenzie group and those at Heriot-Watt University has lead to a new publications in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C. This study investigates how laser ablated aluminium atoms and ions can be used to probe the surfaces of ionic liquids.
August 2026 - Student Visit
At the start of this month we had a visit from Boris Heeb, a PhD student in the group of Prof. Jennifer Meyer at RPTU Kaiserslautern. This was a great opportunity to find out more about each other's research, and we encourage any keen students to reach out to Stuart for similar opportunities!
July 2026 - New Publication on Carbon Dioxide Activation in JACS
Continuing our collaboration with Dr. Joost Bakker at HFML-FELIX, the group has published a new article in JACS investigating CO2 activation on anionic rhodium clusters. Interesting size-selective activation of CO2 was observed.
July 2026 - Part II Vivas Complete
Three Vivas completed in one (very hot) day, congratulations all round!
June 2026 - Dan is Done!
Applause all round for Dan who completed his DPhil Viva today, congratulations on becoming Dr. Cubbin!
June 2026 - Part II hand in day
Well done to all the Part II students this year in the Mackenzie-Timmel group, all that hard work paid off!
May 2026 - FELIX Beamtime
Another year, another beamtime. The group is back at HFML-FELIX working with Dr. Joost Bakker to investigate carbon dioxide activation on metal clusters. A few late night repairs didn't stop us coming back with a great data set!
April 2026 - Gordon Research Conference
The cluster team (Peter, David, and Christian) attended the 2026 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Molecular and Ionic Clusters, along with the associated seminars (GRS) in Tuscany! This meeting was chaired by both Stuart and Dr. Laura McCaslin, and was a great opportunity to hear about the forefront of science in the field of clusters.
April 2026 - NDMS Showcase Meeting
The group heads to Edinburgh for the showcase meeting which marks the end of the New Directions in Molecular Scattering (NDMS) EPSRC programme grant! This was another great opportunity for the group, especially newer members, to familiarise themselves with the grant-associated labs in Heriot-Watt University.
January 2026 - SDG Conference Warwick
The start of 2026 sees the Mackenzie group attending the RSC Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group meeting at the University of Warwick. David gave a fantastic talk on his work looking at carbon dioxide binding to rhodium clusters while Peter, Alex, and Isabel presented posters on recent work done at FELIX and in the laboratory here in Oxford.
A huge well done to David for also winning a prize for his talk, very well deserved!
December 2025 - Christmas Dinner at Magdalen College
Another year, another fantastic Mackenzie-Timmel Christmas dinner, this time hosted by Prof. Stuart Mackenzie at Magdalen college.
December 2025 - New publication on thermionic emission from tantalum clusters
The group has published a new paper investigating neutral tantalum clusters, where photoionization was observed upon absorption of many tens of infrared photons. This data was acquired from our first beamtime at HFML-FELIX and is the second paper published as part of the ongoing collaboration between the Mackenzie group here in Oxford and the group of Dr. Joost Bakker on the FELICE beamline.
December 2025 - Congratualtions Dr. Pearcy!
A big well done to Dr. Philip Pearcy who completed his viva, some celebrations are in order wethinks!
November 2025 - FELIX Beamtime
The group is off to the HFML-FELIX facility in Nijmegen again for another beamtime, working with the group of Dr. Joost Bakker at the FELICE beamline.
October 2025 - New Paper on Platinum Nitrosyl Complexes
Philip Pearcy has published a new paper in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics investigating the structures of gas-phase platinum nitrosyl ion–molecule complexes.
October 2025 - Prof. Lai-Sheng Wang
We are pleased to welcome Professor Lai-Sheng Wang this Michaelmas term, as he will be joining the group for his sabbatical as a visiting fellow at Magdalen College.
October 2025 - Alumni Cross Paths
Peter Watson and Alexander Gentleman, two ex-postdocs of the Mackenzie group, bumped into each other at the University of Adelaide!
October 2025 - Welcome back David
After successfully completing his MChem in the Mackenzie group, David rejoins the cluster team as a DPhil student.
September 2025 - New Part II Students Arrive
A warm welcome to the new Part II students in the cluster group!
July 2025 - HFML-FELIX User Meeting
Christian, Peter, and David attended the 2025 HFML-FELIX user meeting this summer in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Christian was invited to give a talk on the groups' past and present studies of molecular activation at metal clusters using free-electron lasers. Peter also gave a talk focussed on the recently published work investigating nitric oxide binding to cationic cobalt clusters, while David presented a poster on the work he carried out for his MChem project looking at carbon dioxide activation on rhodium clusters.
June 2025 - First Publication from HFML-FELIX
The first paper from beamtime at HFML-FELIX has now been published as part of the Mike Duncan Festschrift special issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry A. The work in this paper was carried out during our first beamtime run at HFML-FELIX, as part of the collaboration between the Mackenzie group here in Oxford and the group of Dr. Joost Bakker on the FELICE beamline.
June 2025 - Part II hand in day
A big congratulations to all the Part II students this year in the Mackenzie-Timmel group for working so hard!
May 2025 - Beamtime at HFML-FELIX
Christian and Peter head to Nijmegen again to work with Dr. Peter Watson and his two Honours students Neve and Cosi on the FELICE beamline in collaboration with Dr. Joost Bakker. This time carrying out a series of IRMPD experiments on astrochemically relevant metal clusters, a beamtime led by Dr. Watson.
April 2025 - New publication in JPCA
Dr. Peter Watson has published a new paper in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A as part of the Mark A. Johnson Festschrift special issue. This is an IRPD study of cationic NO and NO2 clusters which was part of an ongoing project from Peter's time at the University of Oxford.
January 2025 - SDG Conference Leicester
Peter Rubli attends the RSC Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group meeting in Leicester at the beginning of January to give a talk on his work looking at nitric oxide binding to cobalt cluster cations.
December 2024 - Christmas Dinner at New College
The Mackenzie-Timmel group enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner hosted at New College by Prof. Christiane Timmel.
November 2024 - Dinner with Dr. Michael Burt
Stuart invites Ellen and Dr. Michael Burt to a delicious meal at Magdalen College, where an array of scintillating discussions ensued.
November 2024 - Max Planck-Radboud University Center for IR-FEL spectroscopy User Meeting
Stuart and Peter Rubli attend the IR-FEL user meeting for the Max Planck-Radboud University Center for IR-FEL spectroscopy hosted in Schloss Ringberg, a castle located in the Bavarian Alps.
November 2024 - FELIX Beamtime
Peter Watson, Christian, Peter Rubli, ellen, and David head to Nijmegen for beamtime at HFML-FELIX, working on the FELICE beamline with the group of Dr. Joost Bakker.
September 2024 - New Part II Students
A warm welcome to our new part II students David and Chloe.
October 2024 - Au revoir Dr. Peter Watson
We say a sad goodbye to Dr. Peter Watson who is leaving after an excellent post-doc in the cluster group to start his own group back in Perth, Australia at Curtin University. A crochet Magdalen college crest and deer (made by Peter Rubli) as a leaving present.
October 2024 - Ellen Joins the Cluster Group
We welcome Ellen Jones into the cluster group after she spent the first years of her DPhil in the Burt group. Our team dynamic is infinitely improved.
August 2024 - FHI Conference Berlin
Christian and Peter attended the "Infrared Free-Electron Lasers: The State of the Art 2024" conference hosted at the Fritz-Haber-Institut in Berlin.
July 2024 - Radboud University IR-FEL Summer School
Peter Rubli attended the Radboud University summer school for infrared free-electron lasers.
June 2024 - Part II Hand In
Congratulations to this year's part II students, the hard work paid off!
December 2023 - Christmas Dinner at Magdalen
November 2023 - Moving Labs to the CRL
The lab move from the PTCL to the CRL is now complete! The end of an era, and the start of a new one.
October 2023 - Ed Brewer Viva Celebration
Well done to Dr. Ed Brewer who completed his viva today, a celebration at Al-Andalus was definitely in order!
September 2023 - Welcome New Cluster Members
Say hello to the newest members of the cluster group: Dr. Christian Haakansson, Peter Rubli (DPhil candidate), and Ruby Spratt (Part II).