Sumei Kinzelbach was born in 2003 in Zurich, Switzerland. She studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, where she completed both her BA and MSci degrees. Her academic path brought together Materials Science, Evolutionary Biology, and Chemistry, before she ultimately specialized in Chemistry. For her Master’s thesis, she worked under the supervision of Prof. Robert Phipps on manganese-catalysed, regioselective C–H oxygenation reactions, developing a strong interest in tuning chemical selectivity. In September 2025, she joined the research group of Prof. Sijbren Otto as a PhD student within the Evolve program. Her current research explores catalysis within coacervate compartments, using self-replicating fibres, with the aim of tying these two systems together through a shared “metabolism”.
