Professor Laura Herz FRSC

Winner: 2022 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division mid-career Award

University of Oxford

For pioneering work advancing the development of solar cells through fundamental understanding of electronic, structural and chemical properties of next-generation light-harvesting materials.

Celebrate Professor Laura Herz

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The best research outcomes arise from a group of scientists with different backgrounds discussing a problem from substantially different angles.

Professor Herz’s work is helping our understanding of how the energy provided by sunlight can be converted into electricity in solar cells based on new absorber materials. While silicon solar cells currently dominate the market, more efficient materials may enable us to pay less for the energy we consume. Such advances in solar cells are needed so we can make the switch to renewable energy generation affordable: to address climate change and for energy security.

New organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite materials have recently emerged as active materials in solar cells, exceeding power conversion efficiencies of 25%. Professor Herz’s group has been at the forefront of developing an understanding of the fundamental processes that underpin the impressive performance of these materials.

Read winner biography

Laura Herz is Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford where she directs the Semiconductors Group at the Clarendon Laboratory, and is the Associate Head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division for Research. She received her PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge in 2002 and was a Research Fellow at St John's College Cambridge from 2001–2003, after which she moved to a faculty position at Oxford Physics.

Professor Herz has published over 150 peer-reviewed research articles and is currently listed by Clarivate Analytics/Web of Science as a Highly Cited Researcher. Her research interests lie in the area of organic, inorganic and hybrid materials, pursuing the fundamental understanding of electronic, structural and chemical properties, including nano-scale effects, self-assembly, charge-carrier dynamics, energy-transfer and light-harvesting for solar energy conversion.

In 2018, she was awarded the Nevill Mott Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics and the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Bessel Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She is an Associate Editor of Applied Physics Reviews, Chemical Physics Reviews (AIP) and a member of the editorial advisory board for Energy and Environmental Science (RSC) and ACS Energy Letters.

Professor Herz is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics, and University College Oxford.

Q+A

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?

I would tell young people considering a career in chemistry or science in general that this is a great time to join. When I started my career, female scientists were relatively rare, but this has improved significantly and there are now many female scientists with kids such as myself, which has made for a much more enjoyable atmosphere. The realisation that science is important to resolve societal and climate challenges has arguably also never been higher.

What does good research culture look like/mean to you?

An excellent research culture has many different facets. It is inclusive and nurtures new and upcoming talent. It allows discourse and diverging scientific views to be aired at any time, in a courteous manner. It properly values and acknowledges the research contributions from all. It provides an atmosphere that is stimulating, exciting, but not pushy and stressful. It encourages and helps early-career researchers while they seek out new opportunities. It takes mental health seriously through a culture that embeds healthy practices. It celebrates success, while supporting those who struggle. It promotes sciences as curiosity-driven enterprise with societal benefits, rather than a competitive arena.

Why do you think teamwork is important in science?

Teamwork is absolutely critical to the research area I work in, simply because it is so interdisciplinary, and no-one can know everything. The best research outcomes arise from a group of scientists with different backgrounds discussing a problem from substantially different angles. That diversity of viewpoints is what can lead to amazing breakthroughs.

What is your favourite element?

My favourite element is carbon because of its versatility and being a building element for molecular light harvesting – it's much too good to end up in CO₂, so let's stop it from happening!