Scientia Professor Rose Amal

Professor Rose Amal is a UNSW Scientia Professor and was an ARC Laureate Fellow. Prof. Rose Amal is a chemical engineer and the leader of the Particles and Catalysis Research Group, and Co-Director of ARC Training Centre for the Global Hydrogen Economy (GlobH2E). Professor Rose Amal is recognised as a pioneer and leading authority in the fields of fine particle technology, photocatalysis and functional nanomaterials having made significant contributions to these related areas of research over the past 20 years. Her research contributions span from fundamental chemistry to applied chemical engineering fields; from material science and nano-research to a specialised photochemistry field. Her current research focuses on designing catalysts for solar and chemical energy conversion applications (including photocatalysis for water and air purification, water splitting, CO2 reduction to make Syngas and NOx reduction to generate ammonia)  and engineering systems for solar induced processes, using the sun’s energy as a clean fuel source.

Over the last 20 years, she has successfully attracted over $50M to UNSW from the Australian Research Council and industry partners (including an ARC Laureate Fellowship, ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, ARC Centre of Excellence for Carbon Science and Innovation, ARC Training Centre for the Global Hydrogen Economy),  Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Australian Trailblazer Program, as well as grants from NSW government, such as as NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub.  She has published > 500 journal publications which have cumulatively received over 38,390 citations, resulting in an H-index of 102 (as of Jan 2023, Google scholar).

She has successfully supervised over 75 PhD students, 20 Masters students and more than 200 honours students in fields relating to environmental and energy technologies.

Professor Rose Amal has received numerous prestigious awards including James Cook Medal (2021), CHEMECA medalist (2021), named as 2019 NSW Scientist of the Year, being listed in the Australia's Top 100 Most Influential Engineers (2012-2015), the ExxonMobil Award (2012), the Judy Raper Women in Engineering Leadership Award (2012), the NSW Science and Engineering Award - Emerging Research  (2011),  and the Freehills Award (2008). She is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (FTSE), a Fellow of Australian Academy of Science (FAA), Fellow of Royal Society NSW (FRSN) Fellow of IChemE, and Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia. She has received the nation’s top civilian honour – the Companion of the Order of Australia – as part of the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for her eminent service to chemical engineering, particularly in the field of particle technology, through seminal contributions to photocatalysis, to education as a researcher and academic, and to women in science as a role model and mentor.