Rate My Professor Paul Low

Professor Paul Low serves as Winthrop Professor and Head of the School of Molecular Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Born and raised in Elizabeth, South Australia, he graduated from the University of Adelaide with a BSc (double major in Chemistry) in 1992, receiving the David Murray Scholarship in Science and G.M. Badger Prize, and a BSc (Hons) in 1993, awarded the Rennie Scholarship. He completed his PhD in 1997 under Michael I. Bruce, investigating the synthesis and reactions of metal complexes bearing carbon-rich ligands. Low then undertook a Canadian Government Laboratories Visiting Fellowship at the NRC Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences with Arthur J. Carty. In 1999, he joined Durham University as a Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, was promoted to Reader in 2006, awarded an EPSRC Leadership Fellowship in 2009, and elevated to Chair in 2010. In 2013, he was appointed Winthrop Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UWA, supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship.

The research of Professor Low and his group focuses on organometallic chemistry and molecular electronics, encompassing the properties of redox-active organic and organometallic compounds, intramolecular electron transfer, single-molecule conductance measurements using scanning tunnelling microscopy and related techniques, and the fabrication of self-assembled monolayer films. Active projects include molecular transistors, radical approaches to molecular electronics, stimuli-responsive materials, and CO2 capture and utilisation. Representative publications include 'Mixed-Valence Ruthenium Complexes Rotating Through a 2,5-Rotaxane Bridge' (Chemistry - A European Journal, 2014), 'Solvent Dependence of the Single Molecule Conductance of a Ruthenium-Based Organometallic Complex' (Small, 2016), 'A Combined Computational and Spectroelectrochemical Investigation of the Redox-Active [Ru(dppe)2(C≡CPh)2]+/[Ru(dppe)2(C≡CPh)2]2+ Couple' (Inorganic Chemistry, 2014), and 'Methods for the analysis, interpretation, and prediction of single-molecule junction data' (Chemical Science, 2024). Low has been honored with the H.G. Smith Memorial Medal from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (2020), G.J. Burrows Award (2024), Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award (2015), ARC Future Fellowship (2012-2016), and EPSRC Leadership Fellowship (2009). With more than 300 publications cited over 10,000 times, his work has significantly impacted the development of molecular electronic devices through collaborations in the Asia-Pacific and Europe regions.