Pratibha Gai MSc, PhD, DBE, FREng, FRS

Pratibha Gai is a materials chemist and an electron microscopist. Her studies involve visualizing chemical processes at the atomic scale. Her research highlights include developments of improved nanomaterials and processes for catalysis, energy, healthcare, food coatings, and novel dynamic in-situ electron microscopy (EM) instrumentation.

She has pioneered advanced in-situ EM applications in the chemical sciences. With E D Boyes, she co-invented the analytical in-situ atomic resolution environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM) and analytical in-situ environmental scanning TEM(ESTEM) with single-atom resolution, to visualize and analyze dynamic gas-catalyst reactions underpinning key chemical processes, at the atomic level, in real-time. Her research has helped to understand better how catalysts function, leading to new science. Her ETEM and process inventions are being exploited worldwide by EM manufacturers, chemical companies, and researchers, with scientific and economic benefits.

Pratibha is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Her other honors include the Gabor prize of the Institute of Physics and the L'Oreal-UNESCO International Women in Science Award as the 2013 Laureate for Europe. She is an Honorary Fellow, at Girton College, University of Cambridge. Prior to her current York assignments, she held positions in the USA and at the University of Oxford, after a PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge.