Louise Hirst

Louise Hirst is Professor of Materials Physics, jointly in the departments of Physics and Materials Science and Metallurgy, at the University of Cambridge. She obtained her PhD at Imperial College London in 2012, before being appointed National Academy of Sciences Research Associate, Karles Fellow and Staff Scientist within the Optoelectronics and Radiation Effects Branch of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC. She started the Space PV group (www.spacepv.msm.cam.ac.uk) at the University of Cambridge in 2018 and her current research focuses on photovoltaics for space power applications. The group has received support from UK Space Agency, EPSRC, ERC, Royal Society, DESNZ and the Issac Newton Trust to pursue research in the field of advanced space power systems, with a focus on light management in ultra-thin photovoltaics and novel fabrication methods for III-V photovoltaics.