Dr Alex Ramadan (she/her)
Group Leader
Dr Alex Ramadan is a Lecturer in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sheffield. Alex received a MSc in Chemistry in 2011, a MRes in Plastic Electronics in 2012, and a PhD in Physics in 2016 all from Imperial College London. For her PhD research she worked under the supervision of Professor Sandrine Heutz (2016). In 2017 she received a UK-US Fulbright Scholarship to study highly crystalline organic solar cells at Princeton University. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford with Professor Henry Snaith FRS on perovskite semiconductors and their optoelectronic devices. In 2022 she was awarded the Rank Prize Research Visionary Award in optoelectronics. Her research looks at developing and understanding new semiconductor materials for next generation photovoltaic devices. She predominantly works with perovskite and organic semiconductors with a particular focus on understanding and optimising the surfaces and interfaces of these semiconductors within optoelectronic devices. Her work is interdisciplinary ranging from surface science, device fabrication and development, and advanced imaging characterisation.
Alongside her research Alex is passionate about improving research culture and making physics a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive research field. She is the lead for culture in her school and is involved in a wide range of EDI activities.
Dr Grace Tabi, Postdoctoral Researcher
Grace Tabi is a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in the New and Emerging Semiconductor (NES) research group at the Sheffield University. Grace studied for her PhD at the Australian National University, where she made significant contributions to the field of photovoltaic research. Her PhD research focused on halide perovskite solar cells, emphasising on the design and optimisation of the perovskite absorber, interface engineering, and modifying the transport materials to enhance the solar cell performance, stability and reliability. Currently, she’s diving into understanding the electronic structure in wide band gap metal halide perovskites.
Grace has been recognised for her outstanding work at several prestigious conferences. She received the Monica Oliphant Prize for Outstanding Poster Presentation by a Female Student at the Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference (APSRC) in 2022, held in Newcastle, Australia. In 2023, she was awarded the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 15th International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV23) in London, United Kingdom. Most recently, she was honoured with the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF) award, which supported her participation and presentation at the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Physics in 2024, Lindau, Germany.
Grace is passionate about advocating for women in STEM and committed to fostering a research environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive for everyone. Her commitment to these values is reflected in her work and her active engagement in initiatives that promote diversity in the scientific community.
Grace is our sustainability lead in the NESG lab.
Sophie Tucker, PhD Student (October 2023 - )
Sophie grew up in Cornwall and completed her MPhys at the University of Oxford in 2023. Her master’s project focused on exploring different fabrication routes for 2D perovskites, with an emphasis on photovoltaic applications. She moved to Sheffield in 2023 to begin her PhD with Dr Alex Ramadan, to continue working on perovskite photovoltaics. Sophie is passionate about making physics more accessible for those disproportionately underrepresented in the field, and in her free time enjoys painting, wild swimming, and writing bad movie reviews.
Rehmat Goodwin, PhD Student (October 2023 - )
I am a PhD student in the Department of Physics, University of Sheffield, taking part in research within the New and Emerging Semiconductors Group. I am interested in the behaviour of semiconductor materials, and how they can be applied across various technologies. I completed my BSc in Physics at the University of Surrey in 2022, and my final year project was on light-emitting devices and the different solutions for improving efficiency and colour rendering for commercial and domestic use. I have also recently completed my PG Diploma in Quantum Photonics and Nanomaterials in 2023, where I studied polariton non-linearity in 2D inorganic semiconductor photonic lattices, specifically 2D micropillar Lieb lattices. I am interested in making the jump to looking at new and emerging semiconductors, specific to applications in solar cells, with a wider goal of improving renewable energies. This includes ensuring that renewable energies are more sustainable in terms of materials and manufacturing, as well as making sure they are accessible to a wider range of the world population. As well as my research interests, I am passionate about outreach, with a goal of increasing equality, diversity and inclusion, in physics and the wider STEM community. I believe fostering passion for STEM subjects, especially those such as maths, physics and computer science is the key to building a more diverse, and therefore a stronger STEM community overall.
Charlie Nicholls, PhD Student (Oct 2024 - )
Charlie comes from Kendal in the Lake District and finished his MChem at Oxford in 2024. In his Masters project, Charlie worked on perovskite nanoplatelets studying their growth chemistry and stability. Charlie’s PhD focuses on tracking the energy transfer in solar cell devices; in particular probing energy losses and examining the stability of mixed halide perovskite solar cells. In his spare time, Charlie enjoys a wide range of sports such as running, cycling, cricket and football.
Charlie is the recipient of the prestigious Overli Foundation Scholarship. Charlie is co-supervised by Dr Robbie Oliver (Sheffield Materials).
Fay Babenko, PhD Student (Oct 2025 - )
Fay is from Derbyshire and moved to Liverpool to undertake an integrated masters in Chemistry for Sustainable Energy, which she graduated from in 2025. Her masters project involved the monitoring of single crystal growth with machine computer vision machine learning, to streamline the discovery of organic crystalline materials.
Her enthusiasm for sustainability and renewable energy research led her move to Sheffield to undertake a PhD split between the New and Emerging Semiconductor group and the Optoelectronic Devices group, where she is co-supervised by Dr Robbie Oliver and Professor Haiping Lu. Her project focuses on perovskite solar cells, in particular using a combined experimental and machine learning approach to predict stability.
In addition to her research interests, Fay is passionate about STEM outreach particularly with sustainability at the forefront, to create a new generation of scientists with the drive and skillset to tackle climate issues. She also enjoys bouldering, gardening, van-trips and doing sodukus.
Fay is part of the CDT Materials 4.0 cohort and her project is additionally partnered with Exciting Instruments.
Avan Farhan, PhD Student (Oct 2025 - )
Avan Hayder Farhan is originally from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She obtained her BSc in Physics in 2012, followed by an MSc from the College of Science at Salahaddin University–Erbil in 2018.
Avan was awarded the highly competitive HCED Iraq Scholarship to pursue her PhD at the University of Sheffield.
Her doctoral research focuses on investigating the influence of metal oxide interfaces on the stability of perovskite solar cells, with the aim of enhancing device robustness and long-term performance.
She is deeply committed to the advancement of solar energy technologies and is driven by a strong interest in contributing to global sustainability efforts, particularly within Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. In her personal time, she enjoys writing about her life and maintaining a reflective journal.
Richard Reynolds, PhD Student (Oct 2026 - )
Richard grew up in KuGompo City, South Africa, before moving to England in 2019. In 2022, he completed his Duke of Edinburgh Gold award. Later in 2022, he started his undergraduate in physics at the University of Sheffield and received his Integrated Master's degree in July of 2026. He also received the TEG Hansley-Taylor scholarship from The Elephant Group for his undergraduate. Richard's master's project was focussed testing perovskite thin films in temperatures expected at low Earth orbit and investigating their decay via absorption spectroscopy.
Richard has continued his studies within the NESG group in Sheffield for his PhD and is focussing on perovskite radio-voltaics. He hopes to investigate ionising radiation's effects on perovskite photo-voltaics, which may allow for superior solar cells and radio-voltaic devices in our effort to achieve net zero. In his free time, Richard enjoys walking in the peak district, taking photos of nature and playing squash.
Sarah Aldakheel, PhD Student (2026 - )
Sarah is from Saudi Arabia and completed her Master's degree at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, USA, in 2018. After graduating, she gained experience in nanoparticle synthesis and characterisation at IRMC. She then joined KAUST, where she gained experience in perovskite single-crystal fabrication. Following this, she spent some time at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), focusing on the simulation of tandem solar cells.
These experiences sparked her passion for solar energy and inspired her to pursue a PhD at the University of Sheffield in the New and Emerging Semiconductors Group. Her research focuses on perovskite solar cells for space applications, with the long-term goal of making solar energy more affordable and accessible worldwide.
Sarah has been teaching physics since 2020 at universities in Saudi Arabia. Outside research, she enjoys travelling, discovering new countries and cultures, exploring cafés, drinking coffee and trying new adventures.
Sushi, Best cat and group mascot
Sushi is originally from the Sheffield RSCPA shelter and joined the group in late 2024. She is passionate about solar energy and spends much of her time lying and sleeping in the sun and converting its energy into big meows.
Group Alumni
Lucy Miller (2026) - UG
Richard Reynolds (2026) - UG
Grace Spencer (2026) - UG
David Hayler (2026) - UG
Alex McKenna-Cuthbert (2026) - UG
Callum Hudson (2026) - UG
Oliver Williams (2025) - UG
Gabe Bowbanks (2025) - UG
Dinesh Behera (2025) - MSc
Toby Fleming (2025) - UG
Wiktor Jackiewicz (2024) - UG
Tom Locks (2024) - UG