Moritz Riede

Professor Moritz Riede is a Professor of Soft Functional Nanomaterials in the Condensed Matter Physics Subdepartment at the University of Oxford's Department of Physics, where he leads the Advanced Functional Materials and Devices (AFMD) Group. He is also a Governing Body Fellow of Wolfson College. After six years working as PostDoc and head of a junior research group at the Institut für Angewandte Photophysik of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, he joined Oxford's Department of Physics as University Lecturer in May 2013.

Professor Riede's primary research interests focus on renewable energies, particularly organic photovoltaics (OPV), with significant contributions to the understanding of solar cell mechanisms, stability, and commercialization pathways. His work spans fundamental materials science to applied energy solutions, with particular attention to the societal responsibilities of researchers and tackling global challenges through science. He has published extensively on topics including charge transfer dynamics, degradation mechanisms in organic solar cells, energy level engineering, and novel materials for photovoltaic applications.

His recent publications (2023-2024) demonstrate continued leadership in organic photovoltaics research, with studies on charge transfer state dynamics, deposition temperature effects on charge carrier dynamics, and roadmap development for sustainable photovoltaic materials. His work shows a consistent trajectory from fundamental materials science toward practical energy applications, including his 2020 review 'Organic solar cells—the path to commercial success' which addresses both technical challenges and potential applications like building-integrated photovoltaics.

Scientific Recognition

• Elected Fellow of the International Science Council (December 2023)
• Member of the Global Young Academy (2014-2019), including three years on the Executive Committee (one year as Co-Chair)

Professor Riede is actively engaged in translating research into practical applications, having co-founded Ark Metrica in January 2020 (an open science hardware startup) and TerraChange Solar more recently (a venture in organic PV and 2024 graduate of Oxford's Climate Stream in the Creative Destruction Lab). His work bridges academic research with entrepreneurial initiatives aimed at addressing energy challenges.

His research group maintains strong international collaborations, as evidenced by co-authorship with researchers across Europe and beyond. The group's work combines experimental characterization techniques with theoretical modeling to advance understanding of organic semiconductor materials and devices.