Associate Professor Fiona J Beck

Biography
A/Prof Beck leads a research group at the School of Engineering, working to leverage a deeper understanding of light-matter interactions on the nanoscale for application in renewable energy, carbon dioxide reduction, and solar fuel applications. Her technical work has been published in high impact journals and cited >3000 times.
She is also the Convenor of the Hydrogen Fuels project for ZCEAP - ANU’s Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific, Grand Challenge, working with a transdisciplinary team from across ANU to help transform Australia into a leading exporter of renewable fuels in our region. In this role she has contributed significantly to the national conversation on new, zero-carbon industries and exports for Australia, through outreach, academic publications, submissions to government, and contributions in National and International media.
A/Prof has a background in applied physics (MSci 2006, University of Glasgow) and engineering (PhD 2011, ANU), and has previously held prestigious international fellowships including a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission (IIF, 2012), and a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA, 2018) from the Australian Research Council.
Research areas
A/Prof Fiona J Beck's research is focused on advancing the clean energy transition in two distinct ways: by developing new technologies to convert light into other forms of energy; and by collaboratively tackling big-picture, interdisciplinary problems that the energy sector is facing on its road to decarbonisation.
Her research interests include:
- Nanophotonic approaches to photochemistry
- Hot electron science and applications
- Solar (photoelectrochemical) hydrogen generation
- The hydrogen economy and the energy transition
Udates on Fiona's research and activities can be found on LinkedIn at Fiona J Beck and on Twitter @Fiona_J_Beck, and her publications can be found on Web of Science.
Projects
- plasmonic hot-electron technologies for nanoscale energy conversion
- solar fuels by water splitting
- ARENA: Photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical approaches to water splitting using Perovskite/Silicon tandem absorbers
- Grand Challenege: Zero-carbon energy for the Asia-Pacific
Complete student projects
Supervisor
Current student projects
Just Published:
Comparative Techno-economic Analysis of Different PV-assisted Direct Solar Hydrogen Generation Systems, Energy & Environmental Science, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3EE01697H
OpEds and Explainers
The Climate Doomsday Book: Towards a hydrogen future: https://climatedomesday.com/
Japan wants to burn ammonia for clean energy – but it may be a pyrrhic victory for the climate: https://theconversation.com/japan-wants-to-burn-am...
Working papers and useful calculations
Seasonal Hydrogen Storage for Solar Renewable Energy
Estimating the renewable power density avalable in Australia
Code | Title | Year 20.. | Semester |
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ENGN3334 | Semiconductors | 18, 19, 20 | S2 |
Code | Title | Year 20.. | Semester |
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ENGN6334 | Semiconductors | 18, 19, 20, 21 | S2 |