Rate My Professor Stephen Wallace

Professor Stephen Wallace is Professor of Chemical Biotechnology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. He joined the university in 2017 as Lecturer in Biotechnology and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2020 and to full Professor in 2023. His academic background includes an MChem in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry with Industrial Experience from the University of Edinburgh (2008) and a DPhil in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford (2012). Prior to his independent career, he held postdoctoral positions at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and visiting appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology.

Wallace’s research focuses on the interface of synthetic chemistry and synthetic biology, particularly the use of engineered microorganisms and biocompatible reactions for sustainable chemical synthesis from renewable feedstocks. He has received several honours, including the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (2020), the Royal Society of Chemistry Norman Heatley Award (2023), the Biochemical Society Colworth Medal (2022), and an ERC Consolidator Grant (2024). In 2025 he was appointed Director of the UKRI Carbon-Loop Sustainable Biomanufacturing Hub. Key early publications include work on designer micelles for engineered metabolism (Angewandte Chemie, 2016) and interfacing microbial styrene production with biocompatible reactions (Angewandte Chemie, 2015). He also serves in leadership roles such as Director of the Carbon-Loop Hub and contributes to editorial and committee activities in chemical biotechnology.