Faculty Profile

Dr. Falak Sher is currently working as an Associate Professor (tenured) at the Department of Chemistry, SBA School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), LUMS. Before joining LUMS in October 2008, he was a faculty member at the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Nilore, Islamabad. Dr. Sher completed his PhD degree in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2005. Prior to this, he received his MS Nuclear Engineering degree from the PIEAS (2nd position) in 1999 and M.Sc. Chemistry degree from the Institute of Chemistry, University of the Punjab in 1996. Dr. Sher also gained the Postdoctoral Research Experience on two different occasions from the University of Edinburgh (2005) and the University of Cambridge (2007-2008). His research has been published in reputed international journals like Nature, Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Chemistry of Materials, Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Review B etc.

Dr. Sher’s research group focuses on synthesis and characterization of functional transition metal oxides with interesting properties and applications. Typically, we investigate perovskite oxides (ABO3) for their potential applications in spintronics, thermoelectric devices, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and photocatalysis for environmental remediation. Samples are synthesized by the conventional solid state chemistry and other soft chemistry methods, and characterized by the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) etc. Physical properties such as magnetic, electronic transport, thermal transport etc. are measured by the available facilities at SBASSE and through collaborations with various national and international research groups. Properties of these materials are correlated with their chemical nature and crystal structures, and various strategies are devised to fine tune and optimize their properties.