He graduated with a PhD in supramolecular inorganic chemistry, under the supervision of Prof Peter Tasker, from the University of Edinburgh in 2008. A three year postdoctoral position (2008-2011) with Nobel Laureate Prof Sir J Fraser Stoddart at Northwestern University, USA, saw him research organic interlocked molecules, chemical topology and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). He returned to Scotland in 2011 as a senior research fellow in Prof Lee Cronin’s group at the University of Glasgow, investigating hybrid materials and applications of 3D-printing. After 11 months, he took up his current position.

To date Forgan has published 66 papers and 2 patents, and has given many invited seminars and lectures at conferences and universities around the world. In 2016 he won a highly prestigious ERC Starting Grant, and he was awarded the Sessler Early Career Researcher Prize in 2018. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland, for emerging leaders in science and humanities, the professions, the arts, business and civil society, and is an active contributor to their science communication blog Research The Headlines. He also currently teaches the Chemistry 1 Transition Metals lecture course - click here for additional materials.