Rate My Professor Natalie Banerji

Natalie Banerji is a Full Professor of Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Bern, a position she assumed on August 1, 2017, following election by the university leadership to the ordinary professorship in Physical Chemistry. She leads the FemtoMat Research Group, comprising chemists, physicists, and materials scientists dedicated to elucidating fundamental properties of organic and hybrid semiconductors. Her research focuses on ultrafast spectroscopy of organic electronic materials, examining light-matter interactions, electron transfer processes, charge transport, and molecular recognition on ultrashort timescales and ultrasmall length scales to induce and optimize macroscopic function in devices such as next-generation solar cells, organic transistors, and bioelectronics. Banerji employs an array of advanced techniques, including time-resolved spectroscopy, pulsed photocurrent methods, terahertz experiments, Stark-effect spectroscopy, and device testing, to connect microscopic mechanisms with practical performance enhancements.

Earlier in her career at the University of Bern, Banerji held an SNSF-funded Assistant Professor position from 2014 to 2015 and served as an SNSF Ambizione Fellow from 2011 to 2014 in the Department of Chemistry. She has earned notable honors, including the ERC Starting Grant in 2016 for the OSIRIS project investigating organic semiconductors interfaced with biological environments, and the 2015 Grammaticakis-Neumann Prize. Since December 2020, she has presided over the Bernese Chemical Society through December 2025. Banerji has authored over 130 publications, amassing more than 5,000 citations, with key contributions such as "Direct visualization of the charge transfer state dynamics in dilute-donor organic photovoltaic blends" (Nature Communications, 2024), "Over tenfold increase in current amplification due to anisotropic polymer chain alignment in organic electrochemical transistors" (Advanced Materials, 2025), "Electrochemical Doping in Ordered and Disordered Domains of Organic Mixed Ionic–Electronic Conductors" (Advanced Materials, 2023), "A Quasi-2D Polypyrrole Film with Band-Like Transport Behavior and High Charge-Carrier Mobility" (Advanced Materials, 2023), and "Why P3HT Outperforms More Polar Analogues in OECTs" (Chemistry of Materials, 2025). Her work has substantially impacted the organic electronics field by revealing critical charge carrier dynamics for improved device efficiencies.