Saiful Islam

Saiful Islam is a Professor of Materials Modelling in the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford and a Professorial Fellow at St Anne's College. He holds a BSc and PhD in Chemistry from University College London (UCL). His research focuses on energy materials, including lithium batteries, solid-state batteries, and perovskite solar cells. He leads the Faraday Institution's CATMAT project on next-generation cathode materials and has contributed extensively to understanding atomistic processes in energy storage systems.

Education:

• BSc Chemistry, University College London (UCL)
• PhD in Chemistry, University College London (1988)

Research Interests:

• Lithium-rich cathode materials for Li-ion batteries
• Perovskite solar cell materials
• Solid electrolyte materials for solid-state batteries
• Atomistic modelling and computational materials science

Awards & Honours:

• 2024 Faraday Institution STEM Outreach Award
• 2022 Royal Society Hughes Medal
• 2020 ACS Storch Award in Energy Chemistry
• 2016 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturer
• Declined OBE (2019)

Outreach & Media:

• Presenter of 2016 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (BBC TV)
• Guinness World Record holder for highest-voltage lemon battery
• Featured in BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific (2019)
• Invited speaker at major events like the Compendium of Reason (2022)

Future Engagements:

• 2025 Invited Lectures: E-MRS (Strasbourg), Royal Institution (London), PSCO-25 (Perugia), IBA (Singapore)

Labs & Teams: Leads a research group focused on energy materials, with ongoing projects on perovskite solar cells and sodium-ion battery design.