Dr Giustino wins Research Leadership Award to study solar energy harvest

The Leverhulme Trust awards only a handful of Research Leadership grants once every few years. Dr Giustino will use the grant to build computer models of biomimetic photovoltaic devices as part of a project nicknamed 'ELYSIA', after the photosynthetic sea slug elysia chlorotica.

Dr Giustino said: 'I would like to use the Leverhulme award in order to fill the gap between the fundamental science and the technological applications of bio-inspired photovoltaics. Given its far-reaching societal implications, solar energy research calls for a multifaceted approach where we ask ourselves two questions at once: what are the fundamental mechanisms of biomimetic light harvesting, and how can we use them to harness energy?'

Feliciano Giustino is a University Lecturer in the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford and the Co-Director of the Materials Modelling Laboratory. His work focuses on the development and use of computational methods based on quantum mechanics for modelling the structural, electronic, and optical properties of solar energy materials at the atomic scale.

To listen to Dr Giustino talk about this award and the research it will fund, listen to this interview on BBC Radio Oxford, from 2.37 onwards. 

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