CSIRO solar cell scientist awarded a Royal Medal

CSIRO Fellow and Royal Medal recipient, Professor Andrew Holmes

Its list of recipients include Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Francis Crick – and now also CSIRO scientist Professor Andrew Holmes.

This prestigious award is the Royal Medal, three of which are presented annually by the Royal Society London for the most important contributions in the physical, biological and applied or interdisciplinary sciences. This year Professor Holmes has become the only Australian in ten years to receive the award. He has been recognised for his contributions at the interface of the materials and biological sciences that have lead to outcomes that benefit society.

One such outcome is organic solar cell technology, an area in which CSIRO is actively working and which has been mentioned previously on this blog. Professor Holmes has been involved in research into semiconducting polymers (the basis of the technology) from its inception, and he currently leads the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium, of which CSIRO is a partner. The consortium aims to deliver efficient, flexible, low-cost printed solar cells for electricity generation.

For more information on Professor Andrew Holmes and his research, see the CSIRO media release here.

The Royal Medal. Image via The Royal Society, London: royalsociety.org