Einstein Professorship for Chemist Prof. Kallol Ray
Pioneering research on sustainable energy and green chemistry
Chemist Prof. Dr. Kallol Ray will be funded as an Einstein Professor from 1 April 2026. With this appointment, the Einstein Foundation Berlin is helping to retain the internationally leading expert in bioinorganic chemistry and catalysis at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin), where he will further advance his research on sustainable energy sources and environmentally friendly chemistry.
Professor Ray's work focuses on the fundamental chemistry of the formation and activation of molecular oxygen, which plays a key role in the development of environmentally friendly and efficient catalysts. His research investigates how mechanisms and reactivities of specific metal ions and reactive intermediates in metal complexes and metalloenzymes influence the chemical reactivity of metal-oxygen species. On this basis, new approaches for targeted control of reactivity are being developed. Metalloenzymes are metal-containing biological catalysts that, for example in photosynthesis, split water into oxygen and hydrogen ions in plants. Professor Ray's research aims to harness solar energy for precisely this reaction by using highly efficient synthetic metalloenzymes – a crucial step towards the sustainable production of green hydrogen.
"The development of cost-effective and environmentally friendly catalysts that can be used both in industry and in energy production is of great societal and economic importance," explains Kallol Ray. "My catalytic research is inspired by highly efficient biological systems and is intended to contribute to finding solutions to the energy and environmental challenges of our time."
Professor Ray is internationally recognized for his contributions to the chemistry of molecular transition metal-oxo complexes, particularly bioinspired and biomimetic species. His work has advanced the understanding of electronic structures and reaction mechanisms in inorganic chemistry. Using a broad range of spectroscopic methods, he has elucidated new forms of reactivity in transition metal complexes that enable demanding catalytic transformations. Funding from the Einstein Foundation will allow HU Berlin and Professor Ray, among other things, to acquire instruments that can be used to study highly sensitive and reactive chemical intermediates in even greater detail.
Through its "Einstein Professorship" funding program, the Einstein Foundation Berlin supports appointments of researchers at the highest international level to universities in Berlin. The aim is to establish new research priorities in Berlin on a long-term basis and to strengthen the international visibility of the city as a center of scientific excellence.
The Einstein Foundation Berlin is an independent, not-for-profit, science-led organization established as a foundation under civil law in 2009. It promotes international cutting-edge science and research across disciplines and institutions in and for Berlin. To date, it has funded more than 250 researchers, including three Nobel laureates, over 70 projects, and ten Einstein Centers.
For science. For Berlin.