Derya Baran
- Associate Professor, Material Science and Engineering
Derya Baran is a leading researcher in organic and hybrid semiconductors, focusing on their applications in solar cells, thermoelectrics, and bio-electronics, with an emphasis on interface engineering and sustainable, solution-processable materials.
Biography
Derya Baran is an associate professor of Material Science and Engineering in the Organic/Hybrid Materials for Energy Applications (OMEGA) Lab in the Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). She is also affiliated with the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Program in the Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division.
Baran’s academic journey includes roles such as Research Associate at Jülich Forschungszentrum, Germany, in 2016, and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, UK, in 2015. She earned her Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering from Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany, in 2014, and holds an M.Sc. in Chemistry from Middle East Technical University, Turkey, in 2010, and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the same institution in 2008.
Professor Baran aims to expand the applications of solution-processable organic/hybrid semiconductors and to explore their limits in organic/hybrid thermoelectric devices and bio-electronics in the future.
Research Interests
Professor Baran's research interests lie in the area of solution-processable organic/hybrid soft materials for electronic devices. Such soft semiconductor materials possess a viable platform for printed, large area, stretchable and wearable electronics that can be used as solar cells, smart windows, OFETs, thermoelectrics, sensors and bio-electronics.
Professor Baran is particularly interested in interface engineering for organic/hybrid solar cells, transparent solar cells for building integrated photovoltaics and stability/degradation studies for long lifetime organic solar cells. She has led projects on i) conjugated polymers for electrochromic devices; ii) non-fullerene acceptors for organic solar cells; iii) multi-component and multi-layered solar cell devices; iv) understanding the correlation between recombination and nano-morphology in solution-processed solar cells.
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Material Science and Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany, 2014
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Chemistry, Middle East Technical University, Turkey, 2010
- Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
- Chemistry, Middle East Technical University, Turkey, 2008
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