Astha Sharma

Astha Sharma is a Research Fellow at the School of Engineering within the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics at the Australian National University (ANU), affiliated with the Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions (ICEDS) and the ACT-H2 program. Her work focuses on renewable energy technologies, particularly hydrogen production systems, driven by firsthand experiences with climate change impacts during her upbringing in India.

Dr. Sharma earned her PhD in direct solar hydrogen generation from the ANU School of Engineering in 2021. Her academic background as a physicist directly informs her research methodology and technical approach to energy applications.

Her research interests center on developing efficient, clean, and cost-effective renewable hydrogen production technologies through material development, computational modeling of system configurations, and techno-economic analysis for large-scale deployment. She maintains active involvement in the Solar Photovoltaics, Renewable Fuels, and Hydrogen Economy research groups at ANU, with particular emphasis on solar-driven hydrogen generation and materials innovation.

Analysis of her publication record (2016-2022) reveals consistent advancement in solar-to-hydrogen conversion technologies, with key contributions in silicon photocathodes, perovskite-silicon tandem absorbers, and nanostructured catalysts. Her work has achieved milestones including over 20% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency and novel low-cost material systems, demonstrating strong interdisciplinary integration across materials science, photovoltaics, and energy systems engineering.

Dr. Sharma's research within ICEDS and the ACT-H2 program contributes significantly to Australia's climate and energy initiatives, with her work on hydrogen production technologies addressing critical scalability and economic viability challenges for real-world implementation in the Asia-Pacific region.

While specific student advising details are not provided in available sources, her Research Fellow position suggests involvement in mentoring graduate researchers. Similarly, explicit grant information is absent, though her participation in major institutional initiatives like ACT-H2 indicates engagement with substantial funded research programs.