Craig Day
Assistant Professor (University of Copenhagen)
Craig is a leading expert in the application of catalysis to challenges in sustainable chemistry. He was born in Toronto, Canada, and graduated with a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from York University in 2016 under his advisor Michael Organ. Craig then earned his M.Sc with Deryn Fogg at the University of Ottawa, Canada in 2019. He then earned his Ph.D with Ruben Martin at the ICIQ, Spain while also working with John Hartwig at UC Berkeley, USA studying the mechanism of Ni-catalyzed reactions.
This was followed by a postdoc with Troels Skrydstrup at Aarhus University, Denmark and Jeremiah Johnson at MIT, USA working on polymer upcycling strategies and developing isotope labelling strategies. Craig joined the faculty of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen in 2025 as an assistant professor.
Since starting his independent career, he has received prestigious international and national grants, such as the ERC Starting Grant, DFF: Sapere Aude and NNF RECRUIT grant. Among Craig’s many awards and honors are a IUPAC-SOLVAY PhD award, given to the best 5 chemistry PhDs globally, the Scripps-Sinocompound Young Investigator Award, the BASF PhD award and Lilly-RSEQ PhD award. He is the Danish representitive of the Organometallics Division of EuChemS, is a member of the Danish Young Academy of Science (YATSI) and lives in Copenhagen with his wife, Stephanie, and dog.
Education
2023-2025
Postdoctoral Fellow
MIT, USA
PI: Jeremiah Johnson
Research Topic: Development of novel covalent adaptive polymer networks and interwoven polymer topologies.
Funded through the Novo Nordisk Foundation's MIT Fellowship
2022-2023
Postdoctoral Researcher
Aarhus University, Denmark
PI: Troels Skrydstrup
Research Topic: Development of 13C isotope labelling techniques and polymer upcycling strategies.
2019-2022
Ph.D.
Insitut Catala D´Investigacio Quimica (ICIQ), Spain
PI: Ruben Martin
Thesis: Understanding Nickel Catalysis at the Molecular Level: Insights into C-O Functionalization and Electron Transfer Events.
Awarded recognitions such as IUPAC-SOLVAY PhD Award, BASF-ICIQ PhD award, Doctoral Excellence Award, Lilly-RSEQ PhD award, and graduated Cum Laude.
2017-2019
M.Sc.
University of Ottawa, Canada
PI: Deryn Fogg
Thesis: Efficient New Routes to Leading Ruthenium Catalysts, and Studies of Bimolecular Loss of Alkylidene
2012-2016
B.Sc.
York University, Canada
PI: Michael Organ
Thesis: Immobilization of Pd-PEPPSI-IPentCl
2021 - 6 months
Visiting Researcher
UC Berkeley, USA
PI: John Hartwig
Research Topic: Mechanistic Studies into Fe-Catalyzed Azidation Reactions
Awards and Recognitions
2026 ERC Starting Grant Awardee
2026 Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader
2025 Nominated as Danish Representative of Organometallic Division of EuChemS
2025 Elected Member of YATSI (The Young Academy of Technology and Science)
2025 CSC Young Investigator Workshop 2025, Division of Organic Chemistry
* Representative for EuChemS (Europe)
2025 EuChemS Young Investigator Workshop 2025, Division of Organic Chemistry
* Representative for Denmark
2025 NNF RECRUIT Starting Grant
2024 2024 Scripps-Sinocompound Young Investigator Award
* Invited lecturer at Scripps, San Diago
2023 2023 IUPAC-SOLVAY International Award for Young Chemists (€ 2000)
* Awarded among 5 best chemistry PhD theses globally
2023 BASF-ICIQ 2023 Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis in Chemistry (€ 1250)
* Awarded to best PhD theses in Portugal or Spain from 2020-2023
2023 2023 ICIQ/URV Doctorate Excellence Award
* Awarded among 2 best chemistry PhD theses from the ICIQ and URV
2022 Graduated PhD with Cum Laude distinction
2022 Lilly-RSEQ PhD Award (€ 2000)
* Awarded among 3 best chemistry PhD candidates in Spain
2022 71th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Participant, European Commission Nominee
2020 – 2021 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Participant, European Commission Nominee
2019 – 2022 PREBIST Fellowship BIST-Marie Curie PhD Fellowship Programme (€ 108,000)
2017 – 2019 University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship ($ 30,000)
2015 – 2016 Member of Dean’s Honour Role
2012 – 2013 York University Entrance Scholarship ($ 500)
Funding
ERC Starting Grant (1,500,000 EURO)
Project title: LiGHT-Cat
​Duration: 2026 - 2031
Grant ID: XXXXX
Sapere Aude: DFF-Research Leader Grant (6,336,000 DKK)
Project title: Carboxylation of Native Alcohols
​Duration: 2026 - 2030
Grant ID: 6216-00010B
Novo Nordisk Foundation: RECRUIT Grant (14,000,000 DKK)
Project title: Constructing Sustainable Polymers From Carbon Dioxide
Duration: 2025 - 2032
Grant ID: NNF24OC0089906
Smaller Grants
(1) Carlsberg Symposium grant (80,000 DKK)
Nordic Organometallics Meeting (NOM) 2026
Grant ID: CF26 -0044
(2) opnMe call: The Boehringer Ingelheim ChemKit
