Meet the team: Lisa Lenz

Lisa joined our team in January 2025 as a PhD student / Doctoral Researcher, having completed her Master thesis on the topic of supported gold nanoclusters for selective hydrogenation of alkynes in the ClusCat Lab and after a research stay in Valencia. As you can also read in Leon's text below, Lisa is not only a talented scientist but also a genious baker and meme curator, playing a key role in keeping the lab happy when the experiments don't go according to plan.

Read here what our Bachelor student Leon writes about Lisa:

Meet Lisa Lenz: Queen of Macrocycle Mania

If you've ever walked through our lab, or, really, anywhere at our university, you've likely encountered Lisa Lenz. And even if you haven't, there's a good chance that she already knows who you are.

Already at age 23, Lisa is pursuing her PhD, leaving the rest of us agonizing over whether she enrolled in university by mistake at the age of 12. But don't be intimidated, Lisa is the least scary genius you'll ever encounter. She's the sort of person who will fix your mental meltdown as she serves you a piece of homemade cake and a well-thought-out joke.

Lisa's superpower: Being liked instantly. New to University? Lisa is there for you. Regardless how far you’ve come in your academic journey, Lisa will assist. Even lost delivery guys wandering around the chemistry building are most often directed by Lisa. Some would call her Spider-Woman the way she creates her network.

In the lab, Lisa is a tornado of ideas, laughs, and slightly misplaced pipette tips. She is always striving for innovation, discovering new methods. Is her workbench tidy? No. Is she the right person to ask if you seek any advice? Absolutely. Her methodology of organization is illogical but have faith in disorder, it’s called organized mess. She is in possession of the problem-solving gene and will stand her ground against any challenge that might occur in- or outside the lab.

Her research includes building macrocycles; the most prominent example would be PCT. Tirelessly looking for new synthesis routes as well as possible introductions of functional groups to the macroest of cycles. Aiming to save the world, she will probably change our planet in some way or another.

Aside from science, Lisa is our mood mechanic as well. Having a bad day? She'll fix that. Having a good day? She'll make it better. With memes, cookies, and in-situ lab parties always flowing, morale gets kept up and spirits even higher.

Here's to Lisa Lenz, scientist, meme curator, chaotic, baker, and friend to everyone. Every lab deserves one. We just happened to get lucky.