Rate My Professor Reuben Leveson-Gower

Dr. Reuben Leveson-Gower serves as Assistant Professor in the Biocatalysis Section of the Department of Biotechnology within Delft University of Technology's Faculty of Applied Sciences, a role he assumed in June 2024. Originally born in Canberra, Australia to British parents and raised primarily in the United Kingdom, he pursued his undergraduate studies in chemistry at Durham University, graduating first in his year in 2017 with an MChem degree. For this achievement, he received the national Salters’ Institute Graduate Prize. During his studies, Leveson-Gower completed an industrial internship in organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis at SASOL UK in St. Andrews, Scotland. He then earned his PhD from the University of Groningen in 2023, awarded with the highest distinction cum laude, under the supervision of Prof. Gerard Roelfes. His doctoral research centered on the design and evolution of artificial enzymes incorporating non-canonical amino acids. As part of this work, he conducted a two-month research stay at the Autonomous University of Barcelona with Prof. Jean-Didier Maréchal to study enzyme mechanisms computationally, supported by a FEBS Short-Term Fellowship.

Leveson-Gower's research focuses on engineering enzymes to catalyze novel chemical reactions by bridging concepts from synthetic chemistry and biocatalysis. His group develops new enzymatic transformations through protein engineering and directed evolution, constructs robotic platforms for automated laboratory evolution, and explores mechanistic enzymology to enhance biocatalyst efficiency for sustainable synthesis of valuable molecules. A key project, funded by a 2025 NWO Veni grant titled "Teaching Life New Chemistry," aims to evolve enzymes mimicking organocatalytic reactions for greener chemical processes. He has received further accolades, including the Dutch Catalysis Society Thesis Prize and a best poster award at the USIC 2017 conference. Notable publications include "Biocatalytic Friedel-Crafts Reactions" (ChemCatChem, 2022), "Designing Enzymatic Reactivity with an Expanded Palette" (ChemBioChem, 2025), and contributions to works on noncanonical amino acids in enzyme engineering. Leveson-Gower also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of ChemCatChem, contributing to advancements in catalysis.