Laia Francàs

Laia holds a degree in Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) (2006), where she later completed her doctorate within the homogeneous catalysis programme. Her research falls within the framework of molecular catalysts for oxidising water, mimicking the process of plant photosynthesis. She continued her research at the Catalan Institute for Chemical Research (2011-2014) and at Imperial College London (2015-2018), where she studied the function of these catalysts as well as their interaction with light in order to incorporate them into a device capable of using sunlight and water to produce hydrogen. After managing and assisting with a number of European projects at Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), she currently holds a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship at UAB, where her group develops and studies catalysts for solar fuels applications. Over this period, she also took part in a number of outreach activities, such as Chemistry and Family at ICIQ, the Imperial Festival in London and several editions of the Youth and Science programme.