Eli Zysman-Colman was born in April of 1975 in Montreal, Québec, Canada. He received his BSc in physics from McGill University in 1998.  He completed his doctorate in chemistry at McGill University under the supervision of Prof. David N. Harpp. There he studied the physical properties and isomeric relationships of polychalcogens: Notably dialkoxy disulfides, thionosulfites and polysulfides. After obtaining his PhD  in 2004, Eli started as a FQRNT postdoctoral fellow at the Organisch-chemisches Institut at the Universität Zürich in Zürich, Switzerland with Prof. Jay S. Siegel. The primary focus of his work there was the total synthesis of a molecular trefoil knot. Eli then moved to Princeton University in 2006 to work with Prof. Stefan Bernhard in the chemistry department as a PCCM fellow. While at Princeton, Eli worked on improving the design of light emitting electrochemical cells (LEECs) through ligand modification about iridium complexes. Eli began as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Université de Sherbrooke in July, 2007. In 2013 Eli moved his research group to the School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews where he is presently Professor of Optoelectronic Materials, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is the holder of a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship. His research program focuses on the rational design of: (I) luminophores for energy-efficient visual displays and flat panel lighting based on organic light emitting diode (OLED) and light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEEC) device architectures; (II) sensing materials employed in electrochemiluminescence; and (III) photocatalyst developing for use in organic reactions.