Dr Lindsey J. Munro
Head of Department of Natural Sciences | Reader in Chemistry Education | Computational Chemistry
My profile
Biography
Biography
Lindsey J. Munro was appointed Head of Department of Natural Sciences in July 2021 and is a Reader in Chemistry Education.
Lindsey’s interests include initiatives to drive improvements in the student experience with a particular focus on enhancing graduate outcomes. She has been involved in the development of extracurricular awards to widen students’ skills and build confidence, as well as peer mentoring, personal tutoring and student career planning schemes. She is the co-author the textbook “Maths for Chemistry” (OUP), which uses chemical examples to demonstrate the application of mathematical concepts. Her teaching is focus on the introduction of Quantum Chemistry, molecular modelling techniques and computational drug design. In 2014, she was awarded the “Best Teacher” Award by the Student Union. She has a research background in computational chemistry including the development of computational optimisation algorithms and the application of these techniques to modelling materials, coffee aroma and biosensors.
Lindsey received her BA (Hons) degree in Natural Sciences and PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of Cambridge. Following this, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh and then at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in Switzerland. She spent a year as a Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, before joining Manchester Metropolitan University as a Senior Lecturer. She was promoted to Principal Lecturer in 2013 as the Faculty Lead for Employability and to Reader in 2018. She was appointed Deputy Head of Department (Chemistry) from 2018 - 2021.
Teaching
Why do I teach?
It’s a huge privilege to be able to inspire the next generation of scientists. I enjoy challenging the students and helping guide them to understand complex concepts and solve problems. Tackling these topics enables them to build confidence and resilience through their hard work.
How I’ll teach you
I teach through a mixture of:
- Interactive classes
- Concept videos
- Worked Examples
- Modelling labs related to the theory taught
It requires lots of hard work … by both the students & me!
Why study…
Theoretical chemistry is a challenging subject that requires you to be able to analyse problems, identify the key questions and apply a wide range of techniques to produce solutions. It’s a mixture of core chemical principles and lots of mathematics to develop models that can be applied to lots of real world applications. Thus, it is possible to study:
- Thermodynamics
- Kinetics
- Reaction Mechanisms
- Molecular Simluations
- Protein-ligand Interactions
- Drug Design
- …
Computational calculations enable you to analyse a large number of systems, provide an understanding of processes at an electronic level & guidance to experimentalists as to where they should focus their efforts.
The complexity and variety of the subject make it compelling - never boring.
What I teach
- Quantum Chemistry
- Molecular Modelling
Research outputs
My research extends from the development of computational optimisation algorithms and inter-atomic potentials to probing real-life applications using a range of computational levels of theory and techniques.
Areas of interest include:
- Aroma chemistry
- Antioxidant properties of flavonoids
- The role of odorant binding proteins in olfaction
- Materials modelling
- Interaction of atoms, molecules and clusters with surfaces.
- Effect of defects, impurities & functional groups on surface interactions. - Synthesis and electronic properties of self-assembling nanodevices.
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
MONK, P. MATEMATICA PARA QUIMICA UMA CAIXA DE FERRAMENTAS DE CALCULO.
Monk, P., Munro, L.J. (2021) Maths for Chemistry A Chemist's Toolkit of Calculations. Oxford University Press.
Monk, P., Munro, L.J. (2010) Maths for Chemistry. OUP Oxford.
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Journal articles
Robertson, T.B.R., Antonides, L.H., Gilbert, N., Benjamin, S.L., Langley, S.K., Munro, L.J., Sutcliffe, O.B., Mewis, R.E. (2019) 'Hyperpolarization of Pyridyl Fentalogues by Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange (SABRE).' ChemistryOpen, 8pp. 1-9.
Liauw, C.M., Taylor, R.L., Munro, L.J., Wilkinson, A.N., Cheerarot, O. (2014) 'Effect of triclosan on self-assembly of alkyl ammonium surfactants adsorbed within montmorillonite galleries in silicone elastomer composites.' Macromolecular Symposia, 338(1) pp. 45-53.
Bingley, G.D., Verran, J., Munro, L.J., Banks, C.E. (2012) 'Identification of microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) emitted from fungal isolates found on cinematographic film.' Analytical Methods, 4(5) pp. 1265-1271.
Brownson, D.A.C., Munro, L.J., Kampouris, D.K., Banks, C.E. (2011) 'Electrochemistry of graphene: Not such a beneficial electrode material?.' RSC Advances, 1(6) pp. 978-988.
Munro, L.J., Curioni, A., Andreoni, W., Yeretzian, C., Watzke, H. (2003) 'The elusiveness of coffee aroma: New insights from a non-empirical approach.' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 51(10) pp. 3092-3096.
Munro, L.J., Tharrington, A., Jordan, K.D. (2002) 'Global optimization and finite temperature simulations of atomic clusters: Use of Xe
n Arm clusters as test systems.' Computer Physics Communications, 145(1) pp. 1-23.Kumeda, Y., Munro, L., Wales, D.J. (2001) 'Transition states and rearrangement mechanisms from hybrid eigenvector-following and density functional theory. Application to C10H10 and defect migration in crystalline silicon.' Chemical Physics Letters, 341(1-2) pp. 185-194.
Munro, L., Johnson, J.K., Jordan, K.D. (2001) 'An interatomic potential for mercury dimer.' The journal of chemical physics, 114(13) pp. 5545-5551.
Munro, L.J., Wales, D.J. (1999) 'Defect migration in crystalline silicon.' Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 59(6) pp. 3969-3980.
Munro, L.J., Wales, D.J. (1997) 'Rearrangements of bulk face-centred-cubic nickel modelled by a Sutton-Chen potential.' Faraday Discussions, 106pp. 409-423.
Wales, D.J., Munro, L.J., Doye, J.P.K. (1996) 'What can calculations employing empirical potentials teach us about bare transition-metal clusters?.' Journal of the Chemical Society - Dalton Transactions, (5) pp. 611-623.
Wales, D.J., Munro, L.J. (1996) 'Changes of morphology and capping of model transition metal clusters.' Journal of Physical Chemistry, 100(6) pp. 2053-2061.
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Conference papers
Munro, L., Coulthwaite, L., Marshall, J., Saunders, F. (2020) 'Transforming student aspirations: Embedding 5 year plans in the curriculum.' In Advance HE STEM Conference 2020. The Studio, Manchester, 29/1/2020 - 30/1/2020.
Simbanegavi, N., Birkett, P., Tosheva, L., Banks, C., Munro, L.J. (2014) 'Designing self-assembling nanomolecules: An integrated computational and experimental approach.' In 248th National Meeting of the American-Chemical-Society (ACS). 248. San Francisco, CA, 10/8/2014 - 14/8/2014. AMER CHEMICAL SOC,