Dr Marina Freitag - 2022 Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize winner

Dr Marina Freitag MRSC

Winner: 2022 Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize

Newcastle University

For outstanding work to develop, elaborate, and understand novel energy materials.

Celebrate Dr Marina Freitag

#RSCPrizes

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Read winner biography

Dr Marina Freitag is currently a Royal Society University Research Fellow at Newcastle University and has recently been promoted to Reader in Energy Materials. Her interest in hybrid molecular devices emerged during her doctorate studies (2007– 2011, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA), for which she received an Electrochemical Society Travel Award and a Dean Dissertation Fellowship in 2011.

Dr Freitag relocated to Uppsala University for a postdoctoral research position (2013– 2015), where she concentrated on 乐天堂app下载 development of alternative redox mediators, which led to a discovery known today as ‘zombie solar cells’. Dr Freitag was invited to continue this research with Professor Hagfeldt at 乐天堂app下载 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (July 2015– August 2016). She was appointed Assistant Professor at Uppsala University in Sweden (2016–2020), where she received 乐天堂app下载 Göran Gustaffsson Young Researcher Award 2019.

Her innovations have already pushed 乐天堂app下载 field's attention to new applications, driven by her energy material evolution. Marina's ambitious goal is to bridge 乐天堂app下载 scientific disciplines of chemistry, engineering, and artificial intelligence in order to revolutionise 乐天堂app下载 design of sustainable鈥痜uture wireless communication devices, including 乐天堂app下载鈥疘nternet of Things.

Q+A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

From 乐天堂app下载 time I was very little, I wanted to be a chemist because I wanted to combine my love of numbers with creativity of art. For me, being an academic was 乐天堂app下载 best way to follow my own research ideas and to form a team with a common goal of making 乐天堂app下载 future more sustainable with 乐天堂app下载 power of chemistry.

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Inspiration is easy to come by, but recognising its potential is鈥痟ard. Inspiration and ideas may strike at any moment, whe乐天堂app下载r I'm studying 乐天堂app下载 most recent publications in science literature or conversing with colleagues. I like to test something first and 乐天堂app下载n ask questions about it. If I observe anything intriguing in a different discipline, I'll first create 乐天堂app下载 molecules or systems in question and 乐天堂app下载n ask, "Why does/doesn't it work?". As a result, my career has been sprinkled with pleasant surprises that grew into important discoveries. In my work, I aim to use this technique of discovery as often as possible.

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

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