Team

Hanna Boström

she/her
Principal investigator hanna.bostrom@su.se

Although originally from Uppsala, I studied Chemistry at the University of St Andrews and subsequently completed my DPhil (=PhD) in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford supervised by Prof. Andrew Goodwin. My DPhil thesis focused on the structural degrees of freedom in perovskite-like coordination polymers. In 2019, I took up a postdoctoral position at Uppsala University, which was followed by a stint at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (2020-2022) as a Humboldt postdoctoral research fellow. There, I was based in the group of Prof. Bettina Lotsch and investigated the synthetic (ir!)reproducibility of metal-organic frameworks. In 2022, I was awarded a starting grant from Vetenskapsrådet and subsequently relocated to Uppsala in January 2023. The same year, I took up a WISE-funded tenure-track position about “nanoporous materials for sustainable solutions” at Stockholm University.

Matthew Robb

Postdoc matthew.robb@su.se

I am from Central Otago, Aotearoa (New Zealand). I did my BSc(Hons) in Chemistry at the University of Otago in Dunedin, and subsequently completed my PhD at Otago under the supervision of Prof. Sally Brooker. My thesis, titled ‘Towards Dual Functional Spin Crossover Complexes’, focussed on the design, synthesis and characterisation of molecular spin crossover (SCO) complexes.

For a short time, I worked as an Assistant Research Fellow with the MacDiarmid Institute, investigating catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ into commodity chemicals. In this role I worked alongside Prof. Sally Brooker (Otago), Prof. Aaron Marshall (University of Canterbury) and Assoc. Prof. Jon Kitchen (Massey University).

At Stockholm University, I am investigating SCO-active coordination polymers.

Elina Elvelo

PhD student elina.elvelo@su.se

Born and raised in Stockholm, I decided to attend the chemical engineering program at Uppsala University.  In 2020, I took part in an exchange at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. My master thesis was entitled “Chromia-Alumina Thin Films from Alkoxide Precursors”, as a part of a SSF-project in collaboration with Sandvik Coromant and Seco Tools supervised by Prof. Gunnar Westin. I graduated with a Master of Science in Engineering in August 2023.   I was introduced to PBAs from a previous project on sodium-ion batteries and I found them to be a particularly compelling group of materials so I am thrilled to continue my academic career by doing a PhD in Hanna’s group.  At Stockholm University, I am investigating spin-crossover phenomena in PBAs.

Lara Janus

PhD student lara.janus@su.se

I grew up in Hamburg in northern Germany. After my A-levels, I decided to study Chemistry and moved to Berlin to start the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs at Freie Universität Berlin. I did my master’s Thesis on selenidoferrates in the inorganic chemistry department.

After graduating with my Master of Science in Chemistry in 2023, I was motivated by the material science aspects of my thesis work and decided to do a related PhD. At Stockholm University, I am working on the tilt-engineering of Prussian blue analogues regarding new multiferroic materials.

Qingqing Song

PhD student qingqing.song@su.se

I was born and grew up in China. After gaining several years of hands-on experience in electronics and battery manufacturing industry, I chose to pursue a Master’s degree in Nanomaterials at KU Leuven in 2022. In my thesis, I explored Prussian blue analogues as cathode materials for alkali-ion batteries, which sparked my long-term interest in energy storage materials.

My research interests center on structural chemistry and the application of related materials as cathodes, with additional attention to solid-state electrolytes and anode materials. To further develop my expertise in these areas, I began my doctoral studies in Hanna’s group in 2025, jointly supervised by Dr. William Brant at Uppsala University. My current research investigates divalent cation intercalation in PBAs.

Nida Pankuzhiyil ShahidRafeeque

PhD student fathima.psr@su.se

I am originally from Kerala, India. In 2024, I graduated from IISER Bhopal with an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemistry. For my master’s thesis, I worked under the supervision of Prof. Deepak Chopra on the project entitled “Exploring Cocrystallization in Atovaquone and Investigation of Intermolecular Interactions in Substituted Thienopyrimidines.” During my master’s program, I developed a keen interest in material science and decided to pursue a PhD in this field. I joined Stockholm University in 2025, and I am working on barocaloric materials for solid-state cooling.