Professor Helen Aspinall

What inspired you to pursue a career in STEMM?

I fell in love with science when I was about 6 or 7, and apart from a brief dalliance with medicine (which my mother considered the acceptable choice for a scientifically inclined daughter), I wanted to be a chemist from the age of about 10. I did my BSc and PhD at UCL, followed by postdoctoral research, first at Columbia University in New York, and then at Queen Mary College in London. I took up a lectureship here at Liverpool in 1986, and became a Professor in 2015.

Do you have an area of expertise / research?

My research is mainly based around chemistry of the lanthanide elements (very much a minority interest in the 1980s). Over the years we have developed new lanthanide based catalysts and, through collaboration with materials scientists at Liverpool we have developed precursors for the growth of thin films of lanthanide (and other metal) oxides.

Why are you passionate about your subject / career / research / STEMM?

I get a great deal of satisfaction from the teaching aspect of my job. My first experience of teaching was gained as a part time science teacher in a boys' comprehensive in Inner London while I was a PhD student. After this baptism of fire, undergraduates present little challenge! I still do a great deal of work with schools, and I lead outreach for the Faculty of Science and Engineering. I lead an undergraduate module where students work with local schools, and I have seen first-hand the impact that this has on the schools. I also represent the University as vice-chair of governors at one of its co-sponsored academies, University Academy Birkenhead.

I'm very fortunate to be in my ideal job: the University environment is not really like any other. I have the luxury of working with very smart colleagues, I get to know a whole new batch of undergraduates each year, I have significant freedom to do things the way I want, and there is a great deal of variety (e.g. I spent the first week of the 2014 Easter vacation in Malta, making 'farting putty' with hundreds of small children at a Science Expo).

Do you have any advice you'd like to share?

I believe it's essential (though not always easy) to have a life outside work. I love the garden (and home-grown vegetables), I'm an enthusiastic bell ringer, and I enjoy cycling and hill walking with my husband (who is also a chemist).

Find out more about Helen.