Professor Sir Richard Catlow HonDSc, HonFRSC, FRS began his career at Oxford University, and is currently a Professor of Chemistry at Cardiff University and University College London, and an honorary visiting Professor at Tsinghus University. He was a Professor at the University of Keele (1985-1989), and was Wolfson Professor at the Royal Institution (RI) from 1989 – 2006, and Director of the Davy-Faraday Laboratory at the RI(1998-2006). He served as Head of UCL Chemistry (2002-2007) and Dean of UCL Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (2007 – 2014). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the German National Science Academy, the Leopoldina, of the Academia Europaea and of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He served as Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society from 2016 -2021 and was co-President from 2021-2022 of the Inter Academy Partnership (IAP) – a global alliance of more than 140 academies of science, engineering and medicine. He was knighted in 2020 for Services to Leadership in Science and Research”
His research programme is based on the development and application of computational techniques used in direct conjunction with experiment in probing the properties of complex materials. He has played a leading role in developing the field both in the UK and internationally. His programme comprises the study of energy materials, catalysis, nano-chemistry and surface chemistry. His work has also exploited the synergy between computation and experiment using synchrotron radiation and neutron scattering methods,especially in catalytic science, where he is one of the founder members of the UK Catalysis Hub He has published extensively with over 1250 research articles, reviews and book chapters.
He is strongly committed to public engagement in science and led the Royal Instution Science for Schools programme from 1989 to 2002. He has given five Royal Institution Discourses and lectured to student and general audiences around the workd including in Buenos Aires, Seoul, Hong Kong and Beijing.
