Andrew Swarts MSc, PhD

Andrew is currently employed as an Associate Professor of Inorganic Chemistry within the School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand. He was awarded the Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Prof Selwyn Mapolie from Stellenbosch University in 2014. His doctoral studies focused on organometallic synthesis and catalysis. Since 2014 he has established a research niche within the Catalysis and Synthesis Research Group in the Research Focus Area: Chemical Resource Beneficiation (RFA: CRB) at NWU, focused on the development and mechanistic elucidation of benign homogeneous catalysts for redox catalysis. This research has been supported by a number of sources: the NWU Young Researcher Grant, the NWU Research Infrastructure Grant, and an NRF Grant. To date, total grants have been in excess of ZAR 5 million.

Andrew spent five months in 2018 in the laboratory of Prof Martin Albrecht, University of Bern, Switzerland, an internationally renowned expert in organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. Funding support for the research visit was provided by an NRF/ERC Collaborative Grant, NWU Mobility Grant, and Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Sabbatical Scholarship.

Andrew has served as Reviewer for ISI journals in the following categories: "Inorganic Chemistry", "Catalysis", "Organic Chemistry" and "Organometallic Chemistry", published by the ACS, RSC, Wiley, and Elsevier. He also served and continues to serve as a panel review member and moderator for NRF funding instruments for the period 2014-current. In addition, he has served as an internal and external examiner for a number of MSc and Ph.D. candidates. Institutions include UCT, SU, NWU, UFS, UKZN, and WITS.

Andrew was a member of the CATSA National Executive Committee (2018-2020), a member of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Board (2018-2020), and leader of the Catalysis and Synthesis Research Group at North-West University (2018-2021). He was awarded a Y-rating from the NRF (2020-2025). Andrew moved to WITS in April 2021 where current research interests revolve around the theme: Catalysis for Sustainability. Within this, his group develops catalytic protocols which employ earth-abundant metals under benign reaction conditions for the preparation of a variety of high-value chemical commodities and applications in energy.