Ceri Hammond

Royal Society University Research Fellow, Head of Research Group 

Background

Ceri Hammond is a Royal Society University Research Fellow, and heads the Catalysis Engineering research group, which currently consists of 1 PI, 2 PDRA, 7 PhD students and several undergraduate students (MSc/BSc/Erasmus).

Curriculum

Ceri obtained his PhD under the guidance of Prof. Graham J. Hutchings FRS at the Cardiff Catalysis Institute. His research during this period was recognised by the biennial “Best European PhD Thesis Award” of the European Federation of Catalysis Societies (EFCATS). Following periods at ETH Zürich (post-doctoral research fellow with Prof. Ive Hermans, 2011-2014) and Stanford University (RSC Mobility Fellow with Prof. Edward I. Solomon, 2014-2015), he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. The first four years of his fellowship were held at the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, prior to proleptic appointment as senior lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.

Research interests and output

The Hammond group sits on the chemistry/chemical engineering interface, and specializes in the development of heterogeneous catalytic processes through a combination of kinetic studies (transient, steady state), materials design, in situ spectroscopy and reaction engineering. The three main strands of research are (1) the development of chemical processes catalysed by solid catalysts, with a particular focus on liquid phase applications; (2) advanced mechanistic studies of catalytic materials and mechanisms through micro-kinetic analysis and in situ spectroscopic study, particularly with (resonance) Raman, UV-Vis, FT-IR and XAS, and (3) the intensification i.e. upscaling, of catalytic processes. Overviews of some research projects currently on-going in the Hammond lab are available here.

To date, Ceri has co-authored > 60 articles (>3100 citations and h-index 24 as of September 2019), has obtained 2 international patents, and has provided > 30 oral presentations worldwide (24 invited). Since starting his independent career, Ceri has obtained over £1.5Mi of research funding as PI, and currently holds financial support from several research councils, charities, societies and industry.

Major awards and honours

2019      Appointed to Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London

2018      Appointed to the Early Career Advisory Board of ACS Catalysis

2017      Highlighted as an “Emerging Investigator” by Green Chemistry

2016      Awarded a Bürgen Fellowship by the Academia Europaea

2015      Invited named lectureship: Irvine Review Lecture at the University of St. Andrews

2015     Awarded a University Research Fellowship by The Royal Society

2015      Appointed as Visiting Scholar at Stanford University

2013      Awarded the ‘Best European PhD Thesis Prize’ by EFCATS

2008      Awarded a PhD fellowship to pursue self-funded post-graduate study

2008     MSc 1st class (hons) from Cardiff University