Gold medal winner 2022
Prof.dr. Erik Garnett
Erik excels in the areas of solar cells and light-induced chemical reactions. He has developed a cross-disciplinary approach by which he integrates various fields of chemistry and physics, in particular, nanomaterials, materials chemistry, photocatalysis and nanophotonics. This approach is unique to The Netherlands, and makes him a world leader in the area of solar applications and light-driven chemistry.
Erik studied chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, and obtained his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley with Peidong Yang in 2009, working on a project on the synthesis of silicon nanowires, their doping, and their implementation in various devices, such as transistors and solar cells. After his PhD he became a postdoctoral fellow at the prestigious Stanford University, where he bridged the groups of Mark Brongersma, Mike McGehee, and Yi Cui, and became acquainted with photonics, photovoltaics and plasmonics. He made the integration of nanophotonics with nanomaterials the prime goal of his research when he started his own independent academic career at AMOLF in 2012. Since 2017 he holds in addition a professor position in Nanoscale Photovoltaics at the University of Amsterdam.
