New outstanding scientist at Hereon

Francesca Maria Toma was awarded a Helmholtz Distinguished Professorship, established by the Helmholtz Association to recruit outstanding international female scientists, allowing her to found a new institute focused on sustainability at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. At the beginning of November, she accepted the appointment at Helmut Schmidt University (HSU) in Hamburg at the Faculty of Mechanical and Civil Engineering as well as at Hereon.

Dr Francesca Maria Toma

For the past ten years, Dr Toma has been working as a Staff Scientist in the Chemical Sciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California. She has served as the Program Lead for the Liquid Sunlight Alliance and as the Photoelectrochemistry Technology Lead for HydroGEN, which are two highly visible US projects focused on solar fuels production. “I am very much looking forward to working with scientists at Hereon and to come back to Europe to help the transition to a sustainable future. I have a broad background in materials for nanomedicine and energy and I am excited to bring my expertise to further Hereon’s mission!”, says Toma. From the Marie Curie Fellowship to awards from the Italian Science Academy, the Royal Society of Chemistry and many more: Francesca Toma has received numerous scientific honours and is one of the leading personalities in photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation and CO2 reduction worldwide.

“We are excited that this young and outstanding scientist is joining the research team here and will boost efforts to fight climate change with new ideas and technical solutions”, says Prof Matthias Rehahn, scientific director of Hereon.