Rate My Professor Andrew Dove

Professor Andrew Dove is Professor of Sustainable Polymer Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham, where he joined in January 2018 to lead the Dove Research Group, a multinational team addressing challenges in polymer and materials science. He obtained his MChem (Hons) from the University of York in 1999 and his PhD from Imperial College London under the supervision of Professor Vernon C. Gibson FRS, focusing on metal catalysed co-ordination insertion polymerisation. Dove conducted postdoctoral research with Professor Robert M. Waymouth at Stanford University, California, and as a CPIMA postdoctoral fellow at IBM, San Jose, under Dr James L. Hedrick and Professor Waymouth. He was awarded an RCUK Fellowship in Nanoscience in September 2005, advancing to Assistant Professor in 2006, Associate Professor in 2009, and Full Professor in June 2014. His accolades include the RSC Corday-Morgan Prize (2022), Fellow of the American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (2022), MacroGroup UK Medal (2019), RSC Emerging Technologies Award (2018), Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Young Researcher Award (2016), ERC Consolidator Grant (2016), RSC Gibson-Fawcett Award (2014), and Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2013). Dove serves on the editorial boards of Biomacromolecules, Macromolecules, ACS Macro Letters, and Biomaterials Science, and has been a review editor for Frontiers and associate editor for Green Materials.

Dove's research specializations encompass sustainable polymer chemistry, including strategies for controlled polymer degradation, green methodologies for polymer synthesis, plastics recycling via organocatalytic depolymerisation of poly(ethylene terephthalate), and development of degradable biomaterials for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and 3D printing applications. He investigates polymer stereochemistry to tailor material properties and behavior, collaborating with engineers, biologists, and industry partners. As a member of the Birmingham Plastics Network, his work contributes to tackling plastics pollution and advancing circular economy solutions aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals on responsible consumption and production. Key publications include "Critical advances and future opportunities in upcycling commodity polymers" (Nature, 2022), "Plastics recycling with a difference" (Science, 2018), "Organocatalysed depolymerisation of PET in a fully sustainable cycle using thermally stable protic ionic salt" (Green Chemistry, 2018), "Stereocontrolled ring-opening polymerisation of lactide" (Chemical Society Reviews, 2010), and "Guanidine and amidine organocatalysts for ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters" (Macromolecules, 2006). He has delivered 125 invited, keynote, and plenary lectures and participated in committees such as EPSRC prioritisation panels and the Royal Society Newton International Fellowship Award Panel.