The School of Chemistry welcomes new staff member Professor Richard Catlow FRS

The School of Chemistry is very pleased to welcome a new member onto the academic staff. Professor Richard Catlow FRS joins us on 1 October 2015. His appointment means that he will hold a joint position with University College London and Cardiff University.  

Professor Catlow has been awarded a prestigious list of prizes and honours and is one of the leading scientists in his field, with an outstanding reputation for internationally pioneering world-class research. His work uses a powerful combination of computational and experimental techniques to explore a wide range of challenging problems in materials chemistry. Strong focus is placed on prediction of reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysis, prediction of crystal and nano-particle structures, and elucidation of mechanisms of crystal growth and nucleation.

Richard’s research exploits the latest high performance computing technologies, which are combined with experimental studies using synchrotron radiation techniques, to explore structures, properties and reactivities of complex materials. Examples of some materials investigated include catalysts, electronic ceramics, minerals, fast ion conductors and molecular materials. His computational approach develops and applies both force-field and quantum mechanical techniques; while the focus of his experimental work is structure determination using diffraction and X-ray spectroscopic techniques, employing both laboratory and synchrotron radiation sources.

Professor Catlow is just the most recent of a number of newly appointed academic staff as the School continues to grow; opening up new research opportunities and delivering enhanced student experience and excellence in teaching.