Head of 2DMD Group

Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy,
University of Cambridge,
27 Charles Babbage Road,
Cambridge, CB3 0FS
Email: mc209@cam.ac.uk
Contact number: +44 (0)1223 767061

Prof. Manish Chhowalla

Manish Chhowalla is the Goldsmiths’ Professor of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge. His research interests are in the fundamental studies of atomically thin two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). In particular, his group studies the properties of different phases of 2D TMDs. He has demonstrated that it is possible to induce phase transformations in atomically thin materials and utilise phases with disparate properties for field effect transistors, catalysis, and energy storage. Prof. Chhowalla is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), Materials Research Society, and Churchill College. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Applied Materials Today, Associate Editor of ACS Nano, and is now the Editor-in-Chief of MRS Energy & Sustainability. He has been on the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers since 2016. Prior to Cambridge, he was a Professor at Rutgers University in NJ, USA.

Professional Preparation:

• Rutgers University, Materials Science and Engineering, B.S., 1992
• University of Cambridge, (UK), Electrical Engineering, Ph.D., 1998

Appointments:

• Chair in Emerging Technologies: Atomically thin semiconductors, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2024
• Partner and Research Area Lead of Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Cambridge
• Goldsmiths’ Professor of Materials Science, Department of Materials Science, University of Cambridge.

Awards & Honors:

• Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering; elected in 2024
• Fellow of Materials Research Society; elected in Jan 2017
• Fellow of Institute of Physics; elected in 2015.
• Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry; elected in 2014.
• Clarivate (formerly Web of Science) Most Highly Cited Researchers (2016, 2017, 2018).
• Institute of Physics of Ireland Lectureship (September 2013).
• Donald H Jacobs Chair in Applied Physics (Jan 1, 2009 – Dec 31, 2012).
• Distinguished Visiting Professor in Department of Applied Physics, Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (June 30, 2016 - Present).
• UK Royal Society’s Wolfson Merit Award (2018 & 2009).
• U.S. National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award for Young Investigators (April 2006)
• Sigma Xi Outstanding Young Investigator for the Mid-Atlantic Region (2006).
• Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship, University of Cambridge (2001–2003).
• Wolfson College (University of Cambridge) Junior and Senior Research Fellow
• > 200 Invited Talks at Major International Conferences.
• >104,100 citations and H-index = 118 (Google Scholar).

Selected Professional Activities:

• Editor-in-Chief of MRS Energy & Sustainability, 2024
• Member of MRS, AAAS, ACS
• Founding Editor-in-Chief of Applied Materials Today (May 2015 – May 2016)
• Associate Editor of ACS Nano (June 1, 2016).
• Editorial Boards of ACS Nano, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, NPG 2D Materials and Applications
• Director of Nanotechnology for Clean Energy NSF IGERT Graduate Training Program for US Students (Aug. 2009 – Aug. 2015).
• Co-Founder of GraphenEx –Start-up Company Supplying high-quality graphene and related materials.
• MRS Webinar on 2D Materials, July 22, 2015.

2DMD PI

Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy,
University of Cambridge,
27 Charles Babbage Road,
Cambridge, CB3 0FS
Email: yw472@cam.ac.uk

Dr. Yan Wang

Dr Yan Wang received her PhD from University of Cambridge in 2021 and become an independent PI at University of Cambridge in 2024. She is a research fellow at St John’s College at Cambridge. Her research focuses on developing ultra-low power electronics based on two dimensional (2D) materials. These include ferroelectric field effect transistors (FETs) and tunnel magneto resistance devices. She develops innovative methods to study atomic interfaces between 2D semiconductors, metals, and oxide dielectrics using imaging, spectroscopic, and electronic techniques, leveraging these approaches to investigate how the interfaces of 2D materials affect the overall device performance.

Awards & Honours:

• Title A Fellow Elect, St John's College, 2024 - Present
• Postdoctoral By-Fellow, Churchill College, 2022 - 2024
• Armourers and Brasiers Company Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2022
• MRS Fall Meeting Gold Graduate Student Award, 2019
• Trinity-Henry Barlow Scholarship, Cambridge University-Trinity College, 2018 - 2021

Professional Activities:

• Member of MRS, IEEE, EPSRC Peer Review College
• Reviewer for Nature, Nature Electronics, ACS Nano, Nature Communications, Nano Lett, Matter, npj 2D Materials and Applications, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Materials Today Electronics, Nanoscale and other journals
• Editorial Advisory Board member for APL Electronic Devices
• Guest editor for npj 2D Materials and Applications
• Co-organizer of international conferences (2D TMDs 2023 and 2D TMDs 2025), UK- Japan 2D Symposium (Sep. 2024)

Publications:

• Soumya Sarkar*, Saeyoung Oh, Peter J. Newton, Yang Li, Yiru Zhu, Maheera Abdul Ghani, Han Yan, Hu Young Jeong, Yan Wang* & Manish Chhowalla*, Spin injection in graphene using ferromagnetic van der Waals contacts of indium and cobalt. Nature Electronics, 2025.
• Yan Wang*, Soumya Sarkar, Han Yan, Manish Chhowalla*, “Perspectives on critical challenges in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides for electronics”, Nature Electronics, Accepted.
• Yiru Zhu, Juhwan Lim, Zhepeng Zhang, Yan Wang* , Soumya Sarkar, Hugh Ramsden, Yang Li, Han Yan, Dibya Phuyal, Nicolas Gauriot, Akshay Rao, Robert L. Z. Hoye, Goki Eda, Manish Chhowalla*, “Room temperature photoluminescence mediated by sulfur vacancies in 2D molybdenum disulfide”, ACS Nano, 17, 13545-13553, (2023) 
• Yan Wang, Jong Kim, Yang Li, Kyung Yeol Ma, Seokmo Hong, Minsu Kim, Hyeon Suk Shin, Hu Young Jeong, Manish Chhowalla, “P-type electrical contacts for 2D transition metal dichalcogenides”, Nature, 610, 61–66 (2022)
• Kyung Yeol M, Leining Zhang, Sunghwan Jin, Yan Wang, Seong In Yoon, Hyuntae Hwang, Da Sol Jeong, Shahana Chatterjee, Gwangwoo Kim, A-Rang Jang, Jieun Yang, Hu Young Jeong, Rodney Ruoff, Manish Chhowalla, Feng Ding, “Epitaxial single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride multilayers on Ni (111)”, Nature, 606, 88–93 (2022)
• Yan Wang, Manish Chhowalla, “Making clean electrical contacts on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides”, Nature Reviews Physics, 4, 101–112 (2022) [Invited Expert Recommendation]
• Yan Wang, Jong Chan Kim, Ryan J. Wu, Jenny Martinez, Xiuju Song, Jieun Yang, Fang Zhao, Andre Mkhoyan, Hu Young Jeong, Manish Chhowalla. “Ultra-clean van der Waals contacts between three-dimensional metals and two-dimensional semiconductors”, Nature, 568, 70–74 (2019)
• Yan Wang, Raymond Fullon, Muharrem Acerce, Christopher E. Petoukhoff, Jieun Yang, Chenggan Chen, Songnan Du, Sin Ki Lai, Shu Ping Lau, Damien Voiry, Deirdre O'Carroll, Gautam Gupta, Aditya D. Mohite, Shengdong Zhang, Hang Zhou, Manish Chhowalla. "Solution-Processed MoS₂/Organolead Trihalide Perovskite Photodetectors." Advanced Materials, 29, 4, (2017)