Stamatakis Research Group

Prof. Michail Stamatakis

Michail is Professor of Computational Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford (Inorganic Chemistry Lab), since September 2023. Prior to joining Oxford he was a member of Academic Staff (Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Professor) at the Department of Chemical Engineering at UCL. He conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Delaware (Newark, DE, USA) under the supervision of Prof. Dionisios G. Vlachos, after obtaining his PhD from Rice University (Houston, TX, USA), where he worked under Prof. Kyriacos Zygourakis and Dr Nikos Mantzaris. Michail also holds a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (Greece), where he did his Diploma Thesis research under the advising of Prof. Andreas Boudouvis, as well as Dr Nikos Mantzaris in the context of two short placements to Rice University as a Visiting Scholar.

Full CV (opens pdf in new window) • Oxford Chemistry page • Google Scholar profile.

Yuhong Luo

Yuhong completed his undergraduate studies at Hebei University of Technology in 2023, graduating with a first-class honours degree. He then joined the lab as a PhD student in 2024. His work focuses on using density functional theory calculations and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to guide the synthesis of catalytic materials and to investigate the dynamics of catalytic behaviour and complex reaction pathways.

Alec Elias Sigurðarson

Alec completed his BSc in Chemistry in 2021 and his MSc in 2023 at the University of Iceland, under the supervision of Prof. Hannes Jónsson, graduating with a first-class honour degree. He joined the group as a PhD student in 2024, focusing on developing and improving computational methodologies based on the kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method for the simulation of complex reaction kinetics on solid surfaces, with a particular focus on photo(electro)-catalysts.

Jiawei Xu

Jiawei completed his undergraduate studies in Nanjing Normal University, China, 2021. Then he moved to Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and completed an MSc in Physical Chemistry in 2024. In the same year, he started his D.Phil. under the joint supervision of Prof. John McGrady and Prof. Michail Stamatakis. His current work focuses on understanding reaction processes by utilizing high-accuracy electronic structure methods.

Geofrey Njovu

For his undergraduate studies, Geofrey attended the University of Edinburgh where he graduated with First Class Honours in Chemistry in 2022. His PhD at Oxford is jointly supervised by Prof. Bill David and Prof. Michail Stamatakis. His research seeks to employ computational and experimental methods to discover and develop high-performance ammonia synthesis catalysts that are commensurate with the intermittent supply of renewable energy.
His work experience includes stints in capital raising for renewable energy startups and an R&D internship at Johnson Matthey. Geofrey currently works as a research analyst at the Ammonia Energy Association where he tracks technology, finance and policy developments in the burgeoning ‘ammonia-as-an-energy-vector’ industry.

Mingyu (Marvin) Luo

Marvin completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 2022. He then moved to Imperial College London, and completed an MSc in Materials Science in 2023. In the same year, he started his D.Phil. under the joint supervision of Prof. Edman Tsang and Prof. Michail Stamatakis. His current work focuses on the catalytic pathways of ammonia decomposition in the bulk of Dion-Jacobson perovskites and electrides, using DFT, molecular dynamic simulations and the quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) method.

Zeyu Wu

Zeyu completed his undergraduate and master’s studies at University College London in 2022, graduating with a first class honour degree. He then joined the lab as a PhD student in 2022. His work focuses on developing and using predictive modelling approaches (quantum chemistry calculations and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations) to guide the development of catalytic materials and processes that prevent deactivation via poisoning.

Weitian Li

Weitian completed his undergraduate studies at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China, in 2019. He subsequently obtained an MSc in Materials for Energy and Environment at University College London in 2020, before joining the lab in the same year as a PhD student. His work focuses on the catalytic pathways of biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals on single atom alloy catalysts, and adopts quantum chemistry and statistical mechanics methods.

Teng Martin Ma

Teng completed his BSc in Chemical Engineering and Technology from Tianjin University, China, in 2015. He subsequently joined Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and obtained an MSc in Chemical Engineering in 2016. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, he worked at Synfuels China Technology Co. Ltd. in Beijing for 2.5 years, before joining the lab for PhD. His research project aims at elucidating the strong interactions between nanoalloy components and supports, using neural network potentials.