In 2020, Alfred started his PhD from the UK, since he was not able to travel to Denmark due to Covid lock-down. Not being able to work in the lab meant that Alfred and fellow PhD student Julia Santos started the "Pathway to a PhD" podcast and blog.

Alfred is a whirlwind of social energy, always making sure everyone feels included and connected. Whether he’s taking the lead on initiatives or bringing people together at Friday bars, he has a natural ability to build community.

Alfred has a deep and genuine passion for science. He is dedicated, driven, and independent - never hesitating to explore new ideas, find new research partners, or chart entirely new research directions.

The work presented in his thesis aimed to examine amino acids, to investigate their formation in the interstellar medium. The most simple amino acid, glycine (NH2CH2COOH), has been shown to have several formation routes under interstellar conditions, and will therefore likely interact with atomic hydrogen.

This interaction was investigated experimentally in this thesis and lead to the hypothesis that this interaction will lead to the formation of a larger amino acid. The interstellar medium contains many different sources of energetic processing which amino acids would be exposed to. This has implications as to the origins of life and the consideration that, if the inheritance of these molecules from the interstellar medium is significant, life may be more widespread than previously thought.

Congratulations Alfred and well done.