Sanjay Mathur is Director of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Cologne, Germany, and an internationally recognized leader in the fields of inorganic chemistry, nanomaterials, and advanced ceramics. He earned his doctoral degree in India before moving to Germany in 1994, where he joined Saarland University as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (1994-1996). He continued his academic career there until completing his habilitation in 2004. Later, he was appointed Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Würzburg, where he established a pioneering research program on the synthesis of nanomaterials precursors. In 2008, he accepted the Chair of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry at the University of Cologne. There, he also founded the Steinbeis technology-transfer center Materials Alliance Cologne to support innovation among small and medium sized enterprises.
Professor Mathur’s research focuses on chemical design concepts for nanostructured ceramics and composites, with applications in energy technologies, biomedicine, sensors, protective coatings, and functional surfaces. His group has developed single-source precursor libraries for controlled synthesis of nanostructured materials with tailor-made properties, advancing technologies in drug delivery, implant integration, gas and moisture detection, catalytic supports, and transparent conductive oxides. He has authored more than 500 scientific publications, edited 11 books, co-invented 11 patents, and his work has received over 18000 citations.
He has served as President of the American Ceramic Society (2022-2023) and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Electroceramics. He is an Academian of the World Academy of Ceramics and a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, ASM International, the European Academy of Sciences, the Materials Research Society, and the Indian National Science Academy. His honors include the Honorary Doctorate of Vilnius University (2016), the Woody White Award (MRS, 2021), the Medal of the Chemical Research Society of India (2022), and the Materials Frontiers Award (IUMRS, 2022).
Beyond research, Mathur contributes to academic leadership and international collaboration as a board member of the German Ceramic Society and ChemCologne, and as an International Ambassador of the University of Cologne. He has mentored numerous doctoral and postdoctoral researchers worldwide and continues to foster global partnerships in materials science and engineering.
