Training Champions

Paul received his MChem (2006) and DPhil (2010) degrees in Chemistry at the University of Oxford. His DPhil research was carried out under the supervisor of Prof. Simon Clarke and focussed on the structure, magnetism and intercalation chemistry of layered oxychalcogenides.

Paul first joined the Bruce Group in St Andrews as a postdoctoral research fellow working on silicate-based cathode materials as part of a TSB (Innovate UK project). In 2012 he took up a PDRA position on beamline I11 at Diamond Light Source and was involved in the construction of the world's first beamline for long duration experiments. Paul spent a period in industry, first developing materials for sodium ion batteries at Sharp Laboratories of Europe followed by advanced lithium ion cathode materials at Johnson Matthey.

Paul joined the Bruce Group as Research Coordinator in November 2018.

Laura Driscoll is a Senior Research fellow (Group leader) at the University of Birmingham. She has 13 years of experience in the area of battery materials (with a focus on solid state chemistry) across both academia and industry. Her previous research experience covers materials for Na-ion batteries, electrolytes for solid-state batteries and novel routes to recycle waste from Li-ion batteries. Her current research is a continuation of her previous recycling work, exploring new routes to recover critical materials from all forms of batteries regardless of condition/age.

John Griffin is a senior lecturer in Materials Chemistry at Lancaster University. His research focuses on the use and development of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance for the characterisation of materials for energy and the environment. He has authored and co-authored over 80 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, two book chapters, and regular speaks at national and international conferences. He is chair of the Institute of Physics British Radiofrequency Spectroscopy Group, which represents researchers working in applications of magnetic resonance across the UK. He is also a member of the Facility Executive for the UK High-Field Solid-State NMR facility located at the University of Warwick. He is a co-investigator on both the Faraday Institution FutureCat and NEXGENNA projects, working on solid-state NMR characterisation of cathode and anode materials and coatings in both Li and Na-ion batteries.

Dr Alex Kersting is the Faraday Institution’s Degradation Project Programme Manager. In 2012 she attained her PhD with Dr Paul Anderson from the University of Birmingham working on hydrogen storage materials.

Prior to joining the Degradation project she worked at the Royal Society for Chemistry for nine years in both their education team producing teaching and learning resources for schools, and supporting professional chemists to gain statutory qualifications to fulfil their roles.

Dr Melanie Loveridge is an Associate Professor of Electrochemical Materials at WMG. With over 12 years of experience within Li-ion battery research, she has spent equal amounts of time in academic research and as a characterisation specialist for a spin-out company from Imperial College. Her research areas focus on materials discovery and characterisation techniques, but also understanding mechanisms of degradation and battery forensics. Dr Loveridge is a lead inventor on several world patent families around electrode materials, compositions and structures, with > 30 publications in Q1 journals. Since returning to academia, she has won > £ 3 M in research grants from EPSRC calls, Energy Superstore Early Career Research award, The Faraday Institution and H2020’s Graphene Flagship. She sits on many advisory panels and committees for academia and industry and regularly engages with many outreach activities, including the British Science Festival, Radio 4’s Today Program and Costing the Earth, with several media articles published, e.g. The Telegraph. From 2020 Dr Loveridge has been an associate editor for Frontiers in Chemical Engineering and the Special Topics section in MDPI Coatings.

Peter Slater is Professor in Materials Chemistry at the University of Birmingham and Co-Director of the Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage. He has more than 30 years’ research experience in the area of solid state/materials chemistry, ranging from fuel cells to battery materials. His present research is focusing mainly on the development new materials (cathodes/anodes/electrolytes) for Li/Na ion batteries, as well as strategies for recycling such materials. His group is also active in promoting research into Li/Na ion battery technologies in schools, and to general non-scientific audiences.

Dr Darren Walsh is Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry in the University of Nottingham School of Chemistry. The group he leads works on a range of electrochemical topics, many of which are related to electrochemical energy storage and conversation. He is the author of over 50 original research articles and invited book chapters in the areas of physical and analytical electrochemistry. He also enjoys bringing his science to the public. He performs chemistry demonstration lectures for general audiences and is a presenter on the Periodic Table of Videos, an award-winning chemistry channel on YouTube. He gained his PhD from Dublin City University and has held a research position at the University of Texas in Austin.