Professor Steve Goldup

Steve obtained an MChem degree from the University of Oxford where he began his research career with a Part II project in the group of Sir Prof. Jack Baldwin. He continued his research training with a PhD in natural product synthesis under the supervision of Prof. Tony Barrett, before shifting focus to apply his synthetic skills to the realisation of mechanically interlocked non-natural products, during post doctoral work with Prof. David Leigh at the University of Edinburgh. In 2007, he was appointed as Fixed Term Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.

In 2008, Steve moved to Queen Mary University of London with the award of a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship and in October 2009 he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. In October 2014, he and his group moved to the University of Southampton, where Steve took up the position of Associate Professor. While in Southampton, Steve was promoted to Professor of Chemistry (August 2017). In February 2023, the group moved to the University of Birmingham.

Research in the Goldup group focusses on the synthesis of novel mechanically interlocked molecules and their application as sensors, catalysts and materials.

Esteem, Leadership and Prizes
  • Winner of the 2025 Royal Society of Chemistry Corday-Morgan Prize
  • 2020 UK Blavatnik Young Scientist Awards Finalist
  • Royal Society Wolfson Research Fellowship 2019 – 2024
  • Associate Editor for Chemical Science
  • In the top 5% of reviewers for Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.
  • One of the “top 10 reviewers” for Chem. Soc. Rev. 2016 – see here.
  • Co-chair of the 2019 Gordon Research Conference on Artificial Molecular Switches & Motors
  • Invited lecture at the 2nd Telleuride Workshop on Molecular Rotors, Motors, and Switches
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Hickinbottom Award 2014 for “pioneering work on the synthesis of rotaxanes“.
  • Invited Feature Article for Chem. Commun. 2014 Emerging Investigator Issue.
  • Invited oral presentation at the Transatlantic Frontiers of Chemistry (2013), an international (UK, US, Brazil, Germany) interdisciplinary meeting for emerging leaders in the chemical sciences.
  • Organised the Royal Society of Chemistry Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry meeting 2012.
  • Dave Hill Cup at Gregynog Synthesis Meeting, 2012.
  • Member of the advisory board for Chem. Soc. Rev. (2012 onwards).
  • Thieme Journal Chemistry Award 2012.
  • Taylor & Francis Poster Prize for Innovation in Supramolecular Chemistry 2009.
Interviews and News

Profile: Early excellence in Physical Organic Chemistry, J. Phys. Org. Chem. 2016, 29 324.
Profile highlighting the Goldup Group’s groundbreaking research in which Steve answers some serious (and some not so serious) questions.

Beautiful molecules ring up with a purpose, Chemistry World June 2020.
Interview with Jennifer Newton about the Goldup Group’s intention to make interlocked molecules useful in chemistry, chemical biology and materials science.

Recent and upcoming talks
  1. Corday Morgan Prize Lecture at University College London, London, UK, October 2026
  2. Plenary lecture at the XLIV Meeting of the Organometallic Division of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry, Logroño, Spain, July 2026
  3. Plenary lecture at the 3rd International Supramolecular Chemistry Summer School, Santa Margherita di Pula, Sardinia, Italy, May 2026
  4. Corday Morgan Prize Lecture at Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK, March 2026
  5. Invited lecture at the University of Loughborough, UK, March 2026
  6. Invited lecture at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) joint meeting, Doha, Qatar, November 2025
  7. Invited lecture at the Molecular Rotor Workshop 2025, Prague, Czechia, September 2025
  8. Leads workshops at the Jyväskylä Summer School on the Applications of Interlocked Molecules, Jyväskylä, Finland, August 2025
  9. Invited lecture at the ERC Grantees Meeting, Porvoo, Finland, June 2025
  10. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC), Kyoto, Japan, May 2025
  11. Invited lecture at Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan, May 2025
  12. Invited lecture at Kagurazaka campus, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan, May 2025
  13. Invited lecture at Komaba campus, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, May 2025
  14. Invited lecture at Katsushika campus, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan, May 2025
  15. Invited lecture at Durham University, UK, March 2025
  16. Invited lecture at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down, Salisbury, UK, January 2025
  17. Invited lecture at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, November 2024
  18. Invited lecture at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, November 2024
  19. Invited lecture at the University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, November 2024
  20. Plenary lecture at the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand, November 2024
  21. Invited lecture at National University of Singapore, Singapore, November 2024
  22. Plenary lecture at the International Symposium of Nano and Supramolecular Chemistry, Sardinia, Italy, October 2024
  23. Invited lecture at 12th Angewandte Advances Symposium, Beijing, China, August 2024
  24. Keynote lecture at the International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry (ICPOC), Beijing, China, August 2024
  25. Invited lecture at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, August 2024
  26. Invited lecture at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Shanghai, China, August 2024
  27. Invited lecture at Nanjing University, Nanjing, China, August 2024
  28. Invited lecture at Southeast University, Nanjing, China, August 2024
  29. Invited lecture at the EUChemS meeting 2024, Dublin, Ireland, July 2024
  30. Invited lecture at the University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, June 2024
  31. Keynote lecture at the Girona Seminar conference, Girona, Spain, May 2024
  32. Keynote lecture at the French Supramolecular Chemistry Congress (Supr@Paris), Paris, France, May 2024
  33. Invited lecture at the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Supramolecular Science & Technology (ETSST 2024), SRM University, Chennai, India, online, March 2024
  34. Invited lecture at the Porous Organic Polymers meeting, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, February 2024
  35. Invited lecture at the EUChemS “Highlighting Organic Chemistry in the UK” symposium, online, November 2023
  36. Invited lecture at the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, September 2023
  37. Invited lecture at the SPSJ International Polymer Conference (IPC 2023), Sapporo Converntion Centre, Hokkaido, Japan, July 2023
  38. Keynote lecture at the International Symposium on Chirality (CHIRALITY 2023), Rome, Italy, July 2023
  39. Invited lecture at the Gordon Research Conference on Artificial Molecular Switches and Motors, New London, NH, USA, June 2023
  40. Invited lecture at the University of Warwick, Warwick, UK, May 2023
  41. Invited lecture at a symposium to honour Professor John Fossey and commemorate his contribution to the supramolecular chemistry community, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, March 2023
  42. Invited lecture at the RSC-IISERK Symposium with Chemical Science, Kolkata, India, January 2023
  43. Invited lecture at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India, January 2023
  44. Invited lecture at the Chemical Science Leaders in the Field Symposium, Bengaluru, India, January 2023
  45. Invited lecture at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, online, October 2022
  46. Keynote lecture at the International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC), Rimini, Italy, August to September 2022
  47. Invited lecture at the Summer School of the Artificial Molecular Machines EU-funded ITN, UK, July 2022
  48. Invited lecture at the Telluride Science Research Conference on Molecular Rotors, Motors, and Switches, Telluride, CO, USA, July 2022
  49. Plenary lecture at the Italian National Conference on Supramolecular Chemistry (XV SupraMol), Salerno, Italy, June 2022
  50. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC), Eugene, OR, USA, June 2022
  51. Invited lecture at the Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China, online, June 2022
  52. Plenary lecture at the Chirality Symposium organised by the van’t Hoff Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 2022
  53. Invited lecture at University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland, May 2022
  54. Invited lecture at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, online, March 2022
  55. Invited lecture at the Leaders in the Field Symposium organised by RSC Chemical Science in partnership with JNCASR Bangalore, online, December 2022
  56. Invited lecture at the University of Loughborough, Loughborough, UK, online, December 2021
  57. Invited lecture at the University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany, online, November 2021
  58. Invited lecture at the 2021 Blavatnik Science Symposium, USA, July 2021 – postponed due to COVID-19
  59. Invited lecture at the University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland, online, June 2021
  60. Invited lecture at GECOM-CONCOORD 2021 meeting – postponed due to COVID-19
  61. Invited lecture at the New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, online, March 2021
  62. Invited lecture at the University of Sussex, Brighton and Hove, UK, online, March 2021
  63. Invited lecture at the Chiral Materials UK Meeting, online, March 2021
  64. Invited lecture at the University of Milan, Milan, Spain, online, January 2021
  65. Plenary lecture at the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Supramolecular Chemistry Meeting, online, December 2020
  66. Invited lecture at the ChemPhysChem Symposium on Supramolecular Chemistry, online, October 2020
  67. Plenary lecture at SECO57, France, September 2020 – postponed due to COVID-19
  68. Invited lecture as part of the RSC Desktop Seminar series, online, September 2020
  69. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry 2020, Australia, July 2020 – postponed due to COVID-19
  70. Invited lecture at the Korean Chemical Society – Royal Society of Chemistry joint meeting on Inorganic Supramolecular Materials, July 2020 – postponed due to COVID-19
  71. Public lecture as part of the New York Academy of Sciences “Game Changers: 9 Young Scientists Transforming Our World” Symposium, London, UK, March 2020
  72. Invited lecture at the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, January 2020
  73. Keynote lecture the International Conference on Synthetic Chemistry and Catalysis, Singapore, January 2020 – cancelled due to family ill health
  74. Invited lecture at Kanazawa University, Japan, January 2020 – cancelled due to family ill health
  75. Invited lecture at Kyoto University, Japan, January 2020 – cancelled due to family ill health
  76. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on the Molecular Engine, Chiba, Japan, January 2020 – cancelled due to family ill health
  77. Invited lecture at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, October 2019
  78. Invited lecture at the Chemical Science Symposium on Advanced Materials, London, UK, September 2019
  79. Invited lecture at the Foresight Meeting on The Future of Molecular Machines, Evanston, IL, USA, September 2019
  80. Invited lecture at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, August 2019
  81. Oral presentation at the International Symposium on Chirality (CHIRALITY 2019), Bordeaux, France, July 2019
  82. Invited lecture at the University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, May 2019
  83. Plenary lecture at the C5 Symposium on Supramolecular Chemistry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China, April 2019
  84. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Supramolecular Chemistry, Fudan, China, April 2019
  85. Invited lecture at the Organic Chemistry Division of the French Chemical Society, Paris, France, March 2019
  86. Invited lecture at the Chiral Functional Materials Symposium, Imperial College London, London, UK, January 2019
  87. Invited lecture at the ERC Grantees Conference, Rehovot, Israel, November 2018
  88. Invited lecture at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, October 2018
  89. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Advanced Molecular Sciences, Shanghai, China, October 2018
  90. Invited lecture at Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, October 2018
  91. Invited lecture at the University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, October 2018
  92. Invited lecture at the Joint CSJ RSC Symposium: Designing Molecular Function at the Nano-Scale: Catalysis, Materials, London, UK, October 2018
  93. Invited lecture at the UK-India Symposium on Advances in Organic Chemistry, Jesus College, Oxford, UK, September 2018
  94. Invited lecture at the International Conference on Coordination Chemistry, Sendai, Japan, July 2018
  95. Invited lecture at the Early Career Researchers’ Meeting for the Dial-a-Molecule and Directed Assembly EPSRC Grand Challenge Networks, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, June 2018
  96. Invited lecture at the University of Cardiff, Cardiff, UK, March 2018
  97. Invited lecture at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, February 2018
  98. Invited lecture at the University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK, January 2018
  99. Invited lecture at Imperial College London, London, UK, December 2017
  100. Invited lecture at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, October 2017
  101. Invited lecture at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, October 2017
  102. Invited lecture at the Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan, October 2017
  103. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Center of Excellence for Innovative Material Sciences Based on Supramolecules, Kanazawa, Japan, October 2017
  104. Invited ‘John van Geuns’ Lecture at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 2017
  105. Invited lecture at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, September 2017
  106. Invited lecture at Groupe d’Etude en Chimie Organique (GECO 58), Dinard, France, August to September 2017
  107. Invited lecture at Chirality 2017, Tokyo, Japan, July 2017
  108. Bob Hay Lecture at the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC), Cambridge, UK, July 2017
  109. Discussion leader at the Gordon Research Conference on Molecular Switches and Motors, Holderness, NH, USA, June 2017
  110. Invited lecture at the British-Chinese Symposium on Supramolecular Chemistry, Zheijian University, Hangzhou, China, May 2017
  111. Invited lecture at the C3 Symposium on Supramolecular Chemistry, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, April 2017
  112. Invited lecture at the Fluorochem 50th Anniversary Organic Symposium (OrgSyn 50), Manchester, UK, February 2017
  113. Invited lecture at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France, February 2017
  114. Invited lecture at the RSC Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (MASC) discussion group meeting, Edinburgh, UK, December 2016
  115. Invited lecture at the University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, November 2016
  116. Invited lecture at the Symposium of Promoting International Joint Research, Ueda, Japan, October 2016
  117. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Center of Excellence for Innovative Material Sciences Based on Supramolecules, Kanazawa, Japan, October 2016
  118. Invited lecture at Eli Lilly (Erl Wood site), Windlesham, UK, September 2016
  119. Invited lecture at the Telluride Workshop on Molecular Rotors, Motors, and Switches, Telluride, CO, USA, July 2016
  120. Invited lecture at the Hickinbottom Symposium, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK, April 2016
  121. Invited lecture at the National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan, March 2016
  122. Invited lecture at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, March 2016
  123. Invited lecture at the University of Osaka, Osaka, Japan, March 2016
  124. Invited lecture at the University of Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, March 2016
  125. Invited lecture at the International Symposium on Center of Excellence for Innovative Material Sciences Based on Supramolecules, Kanazawa, Japan, March 2016
  126. International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem): Molecular Containers Symposium, Honolulu, HI, USA, December 2015
  127. University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, October 2015
  128. Gordon Research Conference on Artificial Molecular Switches & Motors (poster presentation), Easton, MA, USA, June 2015
  129. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA, June 2015
  130. RSC Hickinbottom Award Lecture, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, May 2015
  131. University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, April 2015
  132. RSC Organic Division, South and West Regional Meeting, University of Reading, Reading, UK, February 2015
  133. RSC Organic Chemistry Community South and East Regional Meeting, Imperial College London, London, UK, February 2015
  134. RSC Hickinbottom Award Lecture, University of Sheffield, Sheffiled, UK, November 2014
  135. RSC Hickinbottom Award Lecture, University of Bath, Bath, UK, November 2014
  136. Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes, University of Rennes, Rennes, France, November 2014
  137. Universidad Federal de Río Grande del Sur, Porto Alegre, Brazil, October 2014
  138. International Symposium on Advancing the Chemical Sciences: Challenges in Organic Chemistry (ISACS14), Shanghai, China, August 2014
  139. East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, June 2014
  140. Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, June 2014
  141. International Forum of Supramolecular Chemistry and Smart Materials (Inaugural Purple Mountain Conference), Nanjing, China, June 2014
  142. International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC), Shanghai, China, June 2014
  143. Frontiers in Molecular Recognition and Function Symposium, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China, June 2014
  144. East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China, June 2014
  145. University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, April 2014
  146. University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, April 2014
  147. Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK, February 2014
  148. RSC Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Meeting (MASC), Glasgow, UK, December 2013
  149. University College London, London, UK, November 2013
  150. Pfizer-Neusentis Symposium, Oxford, UK, October 2013
  151. Transatlantic Frontiers of Chemistry Symposium, Kloster Seeon, Germany, August 2013
  152. International Symposium on Advancing the Chemical Sciences: Challenges in Organic Materials & Supramolecular Chemistry (ISACS10), Kyoto, Japan, June 2013
  153. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, May 2013
  154. Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, January 2013
  155. University College London, London, UK, November 2012
  156. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK, October 2012
  157. Gregynog Synthesis Meeting, Gregynog, UK, September 2012 – awarded Dave Kelly Cup for best presentation
  158. International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry (ICPOC), Durham, UK, September 2012
  159. University of Bath, Bath, UK, June 2012
  160. Young Chemists 2012, London, UK, March 2012
  161. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, March 2012
  162. University of York, York, UK, February 2012
  163. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, February 2012
  164. National University of Singapore, Singapore, February, 2012
  165. University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, February 2012
  166. International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC), Dunedin, New Zealand, February 2012
  167. Otago University, Otago, New Zealand, January 2012
  168. RSC Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Meeting (MASC), Bath, UK, December 2011
  169. European Symposium on Organic Chemistry (ESOC), Hersonissos, Crete, July 2011
  170. Imperial College London, London, UK, May 2011
  171. Frontiers of Science Meeting (organised by the Royal Society, Jung Academy, and Alexander von Humbolt Foundation), Chicheley Hall, London, UK, May 2011
  172. RSC Organic Chemistry Community South and East Regional Meeting, London, UK, April 2011
  173. Warwick University, Warwick, UK, September 2010
  174. American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting, Washington, Washington D. C., USA, August 2009