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

Martin joined the group in 2023 to work on photocatalytic materials.
Email:mvappleby1@sheffield.ac.uk

Nikki joined the group in 2020 for her PhD with Dr Natalia Martsinovich and Dr Adrien Chauvet. She is currently working on graphene and graphene-based materials, with the hope of fine-tuning them for sensing purposes. Her project fits within the larger Signal in the Soil. The ultimate aim of this UK-USA collaboration is to improve our understanding and management of our soils and find ways to preserve it for our future generations.
Email: nnmansouriboroujeni1@sheffield.ac.uk

Benedict Smith was awarded his MSc with distinction in green chemistry and sustainable industrial technology by the University of York in 2020. In the same year, he begins study for his PhD at the University of Sheffield co-supervised by Dr Adrien Chauvet and Dr Jonathan Foster. His research is a joint synthetic and spectroscopic study of the enhancement of the selectivity of graphene-based sensors by the addition of metal organic nanosheets for the realtime detection of phosphate and other small molecules in soil.
Email: bjsmith4@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

Ibtisam joined the group in 2023 to work on photo-acid molecules. The goal of her project is to better understand the spectral properties of this unique class of molecules. Her work is expected to enable us to spectroscopically study proton transfers.
Email: iisalzahrani1@sheffield.ac.uk