Amit Kumar

Dr. Amit Kumar is a Principal Research Fellow and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the University of St. Andrews' School of Chemistry. He leads the Kumar Research Laboratory (KuRLa), focusing on green homogeneous catalysis for circular economy applications, including renewable polymers, plastic depolymerization, and CO₂ transformation. His research aims to develop sustainable chemical processes and hydrogen storage materials.

Education:

• Integrated M.Sc. Chemistry (2007-2012), Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (Institute Silver Medalist)
• PhD (DPhil) in Synthetic Organometallic Chemistry (2012-2016), University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar)
• Postdoctoral Research at Weizmann Institute of Science (2016-2019, PBC Fellowship)

Research Interests:

• Catalytic depolymerization of plastics
• CO₂ valorization into chemicals/materials
• Design of hydrogen storage materials
• Sustainable polymer synthesis

His lab emphasizes scalable, environmentally benign processes to address global challenges in energy and waste management.

Key Awards:

• FGS Prize for Outstanding Postdoctoral Research (2018)
• Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship (2020)
• UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (2022)

Advising & Funding:

• Supervises PhD students in polymer chemistry and catalysis
• Funded by UKRI, Leverhulme Trust, and industry partnerships

His lab collaborates on projects with academic and industrial partners, advancing from fundamental catalysis to applied solutions.

Labs & Teams:

• KuRLa (Kumar Research Lab) at University of St. Andrews
• Prior work in Prof. David Milstein's group at Weizmann Institute