Ben completed both his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge. He carried out his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Steven V. Ley and his research focussed on using flow techniques to perform catalytic transformations. He then moved to France to work at École Polytechnique in the group of Prof. Fabien Gagosz. During this time he investigated novel gold-catalysed routes to rapidly access complex polycyclic indoles. Subsequently, he was awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Fellowship to join the group of Prof. Bill Morandi, with whom he was fortunate to work at both the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung and ETH Zürich. With Prof. Morandi, he worked on the development of novel reversible catalytic reactions and their applications.

In 2021, Ben initiated his independent research career with a Christina Miller Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh and, in 2023, he was awarded a Chancellor’s Fellowship. Since 2022, Ben has been a member of the Early Career International Advisory Board of Helvetica Chimica Acta.