Prof. Dr. Meera Mehta

Academic Background

Prof. Dr. Meera Mehta completed her PhD in 2017 at the University of Toronto under the supervision of FRS Prof. Douglas Stephan. She was then awarded a Royal Society Newton International Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford under the mentorship of Prof. Jose Goicoechea. Then, she was appointed to the University of Manchester to start her own independent research team in 2020. She is now returning to the University of Oxford as an Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry to continue her research efforts. She has also recently been awarded a 2023 ERC Starting Grant (P_Cat).

Research Interests

The Mehta group is interested in understanding the fundamental reactivity patterns of homogenous main group compounds to develop sustainable catalysts. Research efforts in the group are largely focused on applying these metal-free catalysts for the synthesis of important feedstock chemicals used by the manufacturing sector, and for the removal and recycling of environmental toxins (e.g., greenhouse gases). These research efforts feed into the UN sustainable development goals: affordable and clean energy; responsible consumption and production; and climate action. As well as the European Green Deal and global clean growth efforts. To achieve these goals, the Mehta group uses methods in inert-atmosphere synthesis, organic catalysis, conducting reactions at the gas-solution interface, NMR spectroscopy, single crystal X-ray diffraction, EPR spectroscopy and computational chemistry, amongst others.