What's new
Celebrating Our Team's Achievements in Research Grants, Awards, and the Latest Headlines.
Research Grant:
ARC Discovery Project 2026-2029
We have been awarded with ARC DP26 (a highly-competitive national grant) to develop Catalytic Air-gap Electrochemistry as a New Way to Fix Nitrogen. This project will pioneer electrified solutions that enable nitrogen fixation directly from air and water. It targets distributed production methods, at ambient conditions, of nitrogenous chemicals in a significantly more sustainable manner, compared to those generated by the industrial Haber-Bosch process. We will be co-leading the research together with Prof. Thomas Maschmeyer, Dr Alexander Yuen, and Prof. Anthony Masters, and in close collaboration with Prof. Marcela Bilek (USyd Physics and Engineering).
Leadership Award:
2025 Asian-Australian Leadership Award (AALA) - Winner
Known as the ‘40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards’ – this leadership award recognizes and celebrates the outstanding leadership and contributions of Asian-Australians. Joy is awarded as the Winner in Science (top <1%).
Scientific Impact:
United Nation, Environment Programme
The Global Environment Outlook, Seventh Edition (GEO-7): A Future We Choose, the product of 287 multi-disciplinary scientists from 82 countries, is the most comprehensive scientific assessment of the global environment ever carried out. Joy has been selected (based on expertise) and served on the international reviewing panel, contributing to this global initiative.
Research Grant:
2025 Sydney Nano Kickstarter
The Sydney Nano Institute and its Kickstarter program of supporting multidisciplinary research has awarded our group to lead the project on "Plasma treatment of PFAS-contaminated water at the nanoscale", working together with Dr Jiaying Li (co-lead) in Civil Engineering and our collaborators Prof. Chiara Neto and Prof. Greg Warr in Chemistry.
Research Award:
2025 ACIS-ECR Lectureship
The Australasian Colloid and Interface Society has awarded us with its 2025 lectureship for traveling around AU and NZ to present our research on Plasma electro-synthesis, Magneto-electrochemistry, and Polyphosphates. This award provides us with the opportunity to achieve broader recognition and exposure, develop our network, and engage activate collaborations.
Joy has given research talks and conducted academic visits across UNSW, Deakin, QUT, UQ, Curtin, and UWA in 2025.
Research Award:
2025 Selby Research Award
The Selby Scientific Foundation has selected us as an outstanding academic group and is supporting us to develop electrified platforms for chemical synthesis and to address increasing emission levels and climate challenges. This award will help support open-access publications, our undergraduate researchers, and our ongoing collaboration with Harvard University (USA).
Research Grant:
ARC Discovery Project 2025-2028
We have been awarded with ARC DP25 (a highly-competitive national grant) to develop self-healing ionic liquid lubricants for high-vacuum and high-temperature applications. This project will help address the urgent need to replace toxic components of current generation liquid lubricants to create safer, longer-lasting, more energy efficient formulations effective over a wide range of operating conditions. Chief investigator groups include Prof. Gregory G. Warr (USyd), Prof. Rob Atkin (UWA) and us! This project is in collaboration with ANSTO and the University of Oxford (UK).
Research Award:
Sydney Horizon Fellowship 2024-2029
by USYD Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
The University of Sydney's flagship fellowship scheme, the Sydney Horizon Fellowships, empowers the world's best and brightest emerging academics to undertake innovative research that will contribute to the common good by addressing the complex challenges of climate change, health and sustainability.
​
Our research program of "using plasma and magneto-electrochemistry for solving energy and climate challenges" has been selected as the top 3% (among 1462 applications submitted from across 66 countries) to receive this prestigious award.
Our project aims include using plasma electrochemistry for scalable chemical production, developing magneto-electrochemical technologies for chemical separations and ionic motors, and designing solar-powered plasma devices to produce ozone and mitigate climate damage. Our methodologies encompass plasma chemistry, electrochemical synthesis, radical reactions, and device engineering.