Elena Besley


Elena Besley is a Professor of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. She is a Royal Society Wolfson Fellow and a co-director of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Hydrogen.

Early life and education

Besley studied physics at Saint Petersburg State University and graduated with a Master of Science degree in physics in 1993. In 2000, she completed a joint honours PhD in physics and mathematics at Saint Petersburg State University under the supervision of Alexander Devdariani and joined Queen's University Belfast on a NATO–Royal Society fellowship.

Research and career

Between 2000 and 2007, Besley had postdoctoral research appointments at the University of Nottingham, the University of Sussex, and the University of Cambridge.
In 2007 Besley was awarded a Royal Society Relocation Fellowship at the University of Nottingham and a Visiting Academic Research Fellowship at the Australian National University, Canberra. Soon after returning to Nottingham, Besley was awarded an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship, and a European Research Council Consolidator Grant to develop mathematical approaches to understanding the fundamental interactions and behaviour of materials at the nanoscale.
Her research includes the development of theoretical and computational methods for the prediction of materials properties; computational modelling of the behaviour, properties and manipulation of nanomaterials; investigations into the electrostatic interactions and self-assembly of materials; gas storage and interactions in porous solids. She has investigated how the electron beams of transmission electron microscopes interact with materials.
At the University of Nottingham, Besley was appointed to Lecturer in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry in 2011, followed by promotion to Associate Professor in 2014, and to Professor of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry in 2015. Besley is featured in an expert database for Outstanding Female Scientists and Scholars “AcademiaNet: Profiles of Leading Women Scientists”. Besley was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship in 2020, during which she will investigate the mechanisms that guide the self-assembly of materials. She serves as co-director of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Centre for Doctoral Training on Sustainable Hydrogen.

Selected publications

Her publications include:
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