Prof. Bahareh Kherzi

Dr. Bahareh Khezri studied Chemistry at Isfahan University of Technology and Isfahan University, as BSc (1999-2001) and MSc (2003-2006) in Iran. In 2008 she was granted the prestige Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA). As a result, she joined the distinguished research group of Professor Richard D. Webster at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, for my PhD (2008-2012), where she conducted research on the chemical composition of airborne particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀), aerosols (PM_2.5), inorganic trace gases, and precipitation in Singapore which involved close collaboration with the world-leading instrumental chemistry companies Agilent, Waters and Metrohm. After finishing her PhD, she was granted A*STAR postdoctoral fellowship (2012-2014). Where she made a significant shift in her research focus from analytical (instrumental) chemistry to electrochemistry. In January 2015, she joined the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES). This Cambridge Centre research program served the Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technology (C4T) initiative. She was involved in the research of the group “Electrochemical Multi-scale Science, Engineering and Technology (EMSET)” where she targeted the development of multi-scale electroanalytical tools for the investigation of catalytic reactions and the adoption of electro-synthesis as a potential source for clean and selective routes for chemical production. she underwent specialized training in microfluidic and reactor fabrication at the University of Cambridge under supervision of Prof. Adrain C. Fisher. In November 2017, she moved to Advanced Functional Nanorobots Centre directed by Prof Martin Pumera at University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (VSCHT) where she gained more experience in 2D-materials, synthesis and exfoliation, water splitting, 3D printing and synthetic micro/nanorobots. In December 2019, she received a research grant from the Czech Science Foundation (GACR) and appointed as Principal Investigator at Inorganic Department of University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague to lead her own research group. After receiving the Beatriu de Pinós fellowship in 2021, in November 2021 she moved to “Institut Català d’Investigació Química” to expand her expertise in energy application in the research group of Prof. Jose Ramon Galan Mascarós where she also learned about polyoxometalate as promising molecular catalyst.

Currently, Dr. Bahareh Khezri is holding a joint appointment as “Ramon y Cajal Investigator” at URV and “Associated Researcher” at ICIQ. She is the head of the “Smart multi-Functional Materials for Green Energy and Robotics: SFM-GE&R” research group, which operates at the forefront of nanoscience. SFM-GE&R focuses on designing and developing hybrid multifunctional materials for energy-related applications such as water splitting and CO₂ reduction, as well as artificial self-propelled micro/nanorobots for various purposes. The group’s research interests are centred around creating functional nanostructured hybrid materials and using them as photo/electrocatalysts for energy applications, and using them as scaffolds for encapsulating, storing, reacting, collecting, degrading, and delivering molecules of interest. SFM-GE&R’s main contributions are in the design and development of hybrid functional materials, including doped/functionalized 2Ds beyond graphene and sustainable materials, which have countless applications in Energy, Catalysis, the Environment, and Life Science.