Rebecca Hawke

Physics

 PhD in Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Oxford, 2018

Rebecca grew up in Wellington, and completed a BSc in Maths and Physics at Victoria University of Wellington followed by Honours and Masters in Physics. For her Masters project, she made blue-emitting OLEDs and studied their degradation during operation using electrically- and optically-detected electron paramagnetic resonance. Rebecca then moved to Oxford to investigate the lead-halide perovskites, a new class of materials which show great potential for use in solar panels. Her PhD project involved fabricating and characterising thin-films of inorganic lead-halide perovskites and testing them as the light-absorbing material in photovoltaic devices. Following her PhD, Rebecca used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate how the motion of droplets may be controlled with switchable surfaces. Rebecca has also been involved in developing and running science outreach workshops for both primary and high-school students.