People

Adrien obtained his PhD in Biophysics from Purdue University (USA, 2012) in Prof. Sergei Savikhin’s laboratory of ultrafast spectroscopy working on photosynthetic protein complexes. He then moved to Switzerland in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) under a Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Majed Chergui followed by a senior postdoc position at the University of Geneva (2015) with Prof. Jean-Pierre Wolf, working on new techniques for the elucidation and control of ultrafast photo-chemical processes. In 2016 he was appointed to a lectureship in physical chemistry at the University of Sheffield.
Since then, Adrien established himself as an interdisciplinary scientist dedicated to tackling the world’s grand challenges through his research and through community empowerment. His research expertise bridges across the fields of physics, biology, chemistry and engineering. In his research, Dr Chauvet develops and applies novel laser-based spectroscopies and imaging techniques to characterise and assist the synthesis of novel functional materials; be it solid materials, single molecules, molecular complexes, polymers, and whole organisms. Adrien is part of the cross-faculty Institute for Sustainable Food as well as the Energy Institute, for which he leads the development of early career researchers by upholding the equality, diversity and inclusion ethos. Beyond the university, he is a social activist working closely with local communities. CV
Email: a.chauvet@sheffield.ac.uk

Mohrah joined the group in 2022 to work on investigating the photophysical properties of porphyrins. The goal of her project is to correlate between structural modification of porphyrins and their consequences on the porphyrins’ photodynamics.
Email: malqahtani1@sheffield.ac.uk

Norah joined the group in 2023 to work on carbon-based materials, such as carbides. She is exploring their photophysical properties to better understand their behaviour, and ultimately correlate these with the materials’ electrochemical properties.
Email: noalatas1@sheffield.ac.uk

Fawad joined the group in 2024 to work on the extrusion of soap bars. His research aims at modelling the extrusion process while benefitting from experimental rheology and spectroscopic analysis of the material. Fawad’s work is in collaboration with Prof Mo Zandi (primary supervisor) and Prof. Rachel Smith from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Unilever.
Email:fahsan1@sheffield.ac.uk

Lucy joined the group in 2024 to work on characterising quinine-based antimalarial drugs.
Email: lwhitmore1@sheffield.ac.uk