Rate My Professor Trevor Smith

Professor Trevor Smith serves as Professor and Reader in Chemistry at the School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne. He leads the Ultrafast and Microspectroscopy Laboratories, which house advanced facilities for time-resolved spectroscopy research. As a Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, his work contributes to understanding exciton dynamics in novel materials. Smith's research specializes in the broad area of photochemistry and photophysics, particularly ultrafast laser spectroscopy and microspectroscopy applied to solar materials and photovoltaic devices, including perovskite solar cells.

Trevor Smith earned his BSc (Honours) and PhD degrees from the University of Melbourne. He received an Australian National Teaching Company Scheme Fellowship while working with ICI Australia. Subsequently, he undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom before returning to the University of Melbourne as a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry. Over his career, he has progressed to his current professorial role and has chaired the School of Chemistry's Facilities and Services Committee. Smith was awarded a Dyason Fellowship in 2014, enabling collaborative research on new methods of molecular imaging and sensing at Purdue University, USA. His scholarly output includes over 200 peer-reviewed publications, with key contributions such as "Superextensive electrical power from a quantum battery" published in 2026, "Complex Multistate Photophysics of a Rhodanine Photoswitch" in 2025, "Halogenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon for Hole Selective Contact in Perovskite Solar Cells" in 2024, and earlier works on photoinduced electron transfer and fluorescence dynamics. Additionally, Smith serves on the editorial board of the journal Methods and Applications in Fluorescence.