Iris Nandhakumar

Dr. Iris Nandhakumar is an Associate Professor jointly appointed in the Department of Physics and Chemistry at the University of Southampton. She holds a first-class Dipl.-Chem. (equivalent to MSc in Chemistry) from the Technical University of Berlin (1991), a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Southampton (1998), and an MPhil in Physics from the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory (1993). Her research focuses on nanoscale fabrication and characterization of materials, particularly semiconductors that exhibit quantum size effects, with applications in nanoscale devices and energy technologies. She is a core member of the Electrochemistry research group and explores novel materials with controlled nanoarchitectures to enhance electronic, optical, and magnetic properties.

Dr. Nandhakumar has secured over £5M in research funding as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator (Co-I) from bodies like the EPSRC and the Royal Society. She leads the EPSRC-funded project "Flexible Thermoelectric Hybrid Materials" (EP/T026219/1) in collaboration with the University of Oxford. Her work bridges physics and chemistry, yielding widely cited publications (h-index 21) in top journals such as Small, Nano Letters, and Physical Review Letters.

Her current research emphasizes thermoelectric materials, electrochemical fabrication techniques, and nanowire catalysts for energy applications. She also investigates molecular electronics and carbon nanotubes, contributing to advancements in nanotechnology and renewable energy systems. Dr. Nandhakumar actively supervises three PhD students in Chemistry and collaborates internationally, including visiting fellowships at the University of Georgia Athens and University of California, USA.

• Grants & Projects: EPSRC grants (e.g., "Heat Transport In Novel 3D Patterned Nanostructures"), Royal Society of Chemistry funding.
• Labs/Teams: Member of the Electrochemistry Institute for Life Sciences and the Electrochemistry research group.
• Professional Expertise: Over 60 peer-reviewed publications, numerous invited talks at conferences like MRS and ACS meetings.