Dr Sebastiaan Van Dyck - University of Southampton

UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships 2026

The challenge

A major challenge in public safety is the inability to determine the origin of illicit and harmful drugs, limiting the effectiveness of law enforcement and regulatory interventions. Despite record numbers of drug seizures in the UK, current forensic methods rarely reveal where seized substances were produced because synthetic routes and precursor materials are often unknown.  

The research

Dr Sebastiaan Van Dyck’s fellowship addresses this gap by developing site-specific isotopic analysis using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (PSIA-NMR) to identify origin-specific isotopic fingerprints that persist through chemical synthesis. Combined with statistical databases and computational provenance models, this approach will enable robust geographic source attribution, strengthening criminal investigations, regulatory oversight, and evidence-based prevention strategies. 

Dr Van Dyck’s research will develop a generalisable workflow that combines multifaceted NMR measurements, site-specific isotopic fingerprinting, and statistical inference. By focusing on isotopic signatures preserved in conserved molecular fragments during chemical synthesis, the approach enables provenance estimation even when synthetic pathways are unknown. The goal is to develop these principles into a practical NMR-based tool for the intelligence community that can determine chemical provenance from minimal prior information, supporting prevention, forensic analysis, and national security. 

The researcher

Dr Van Dyck completed a PhD in Physical Chemistry at École Normale supérieure in Paris, specialising in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methodology and its application to real-world analytical challenges. His research has focused on developing innovative NMR technologies, including a first-of-its-kind quadruple parallel NMR probe for high-throughput analysis and long-lived spin state methods for studying protein-ligand interactions. This work combines fundamental scientific expertise with practical NMR innovation for real-world applications.    He is motivated by applying advanced NMR methods to evolving analytical challenges in forensic science, illicit drug detection, and national security, where his skills can contribute to intelligence-led analytical capabilities and public protection. 

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