Derya Baran
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Derya Baran is a an associate professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Division at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Her research group, OMEGA Laboratory, is engaged in engineering organic and hybrid materials for energy harvesting devices. She received her doctorate degree from Friedrich-Alexander Erlangen-Nürnberg University in Materials Science and Engineering in 2014. Upon graduation, Baran was awarded the Helmholtz Association postdoctoral grant and had a joint research between Julich Research Center and Imperial College London from 2015 to 2016, before joining the faculty at KAUST in 2017. She is CEngO of Red Sea Farms, an innovation and technology-led A
griTech company based in Saudi Arabia. She has pioneered advances within novel energy harvesting materials for use in applications in desert agriculture, helping to solve the globally important topic of sustainable food security by creating transparent and heat-blocking
solar panels. In 2021 she was named to the Talented 12 list by Chemistry and Engineering News journal C&EN, and in 2020 was a member for Global Young Academy. Baran was one of MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 in 2018 for her work in the field of photovoltaics. Baran has worked as an organizer for several conferences, including Materials Research Society and SPIE, among others, and holds several editorial and advisory board roles in various scientific journals. She strives to be a role model with her research and a voice and inspiration to young scientists globally.