Rate My Professor Emily Draper

Draper's research centers on designing and characterizing self-assembled organic supramolecular materials for practical devices, including flexible pressure and light sensors for wearable applications, electrochromic materials for smart windows, and viscosurgical agents for ophthalmic surgery such as cataract procedures. Her group employs techniques like small-angle neutron scattering, rheology, and in situ electrochemistry to understand and control assembly processes in real-time. Notable awards include the EPSRC New Investigator Award in 2019, BTM Willis Prize in neutron scattering in 2020, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship in 2021, Royal Society of Edinburgh Lady Margaret Moir Medal in 2023, German Chemical Society Hildegard Hamm-Brücher Prize for Equal Opportunities in Chemistry in 2023, and the Leverhulme Trust Prize in 2025. Key publications feature 'Low-Molecular-Weight Gels: The State of the Art' (Chem, 2017), 'How should multicomponent supramolecular gels be characterized?' (Chem, 2018), 'Controlling photocatalytic activity by self-assembly – tuning perylene bisimide photocatalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction' (Adv. Energy Mater., 2020), 'Photothermal perylene bisimide hydrogels' (Chem. Eur. J., 2023), and 'Application of quasi solid electrolytes in organic based electrochromic devices' (Chem. Eur. J., 2024). She is a founding member of Women in Supramolecular Chemistry and contributes to university committees on diversity and doctoral training.