Sohini Kar-Narayan

Sohini Kar-Narayan FREng FIMMM is a British–Indian materials scientist, professor at the University of Cambridge and the editor-in-chief of the journal APL Electronic Devices, published by the American Institute of Physics.^[1][2] Her research considers polymer based materials for energy harvesting. She was awarded the 2023 Royal Society of Chemistry Peter Day Prize.^[3]

Sohini Kar-Narayan
Alma mater	Indian Institute of Science Presidency College, Kolkata
Awards	Peter Day Award (2023)
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Cambridge
Website	https://www.kar-narayan.msm.cam.ac.uk/

Early life and education

Kar-Narayan was born and raised in Nigeria^[4] before moving to India to earn her undergraduate degree at the Presidency University, Kolkata.^[5] She was a graduate student at the Indian Institute of Science.^[6] After earning her doctorate in 2009, she moved to the University of Cambridge, where she was awarded a Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship.^[7]

Research and career

Kar-Narayan was made a lecturer at the University of Cambridge in 2015, and then a professor in 2018.^[5] Her research considers the development of nanomaterials for sensing, biomedical applications and energy.^[8][9] She was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant to develop piezoelectric nanogenerators.^[10]

Sohini Kar-Narayan (World Economic Forum, 2015)

In 2022, Kar-Narayan was awarded the Armourers and Brasiers' Venture Prize for ArtioSense, a smart sensor that can help orthopaedic surgeons provide personalised care following surgical implants.^[11] Kar-Narayan developed microfluidic force sensors that facilitate soft tissue balance and help to precisely place implants.^[12] She created the sensor in partnership with surgeons, recognising that they needed to complement the surgical process without changing the workflow.^[12][13]

Awards and honours

• 2015 World Economic Forum Young Scientist Award^[14]
• 2021 Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering^[15]
• 2022 Armourers and Brasiers' Venture Prize^[11]
• 2022 Elected Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining^[7]
• 2023 Royal Society of Chemistry Peter Day Prize^[16]
• 2023 European Research Council Consolidator Grant^[17]
• 2024 AFM and SPM Award, Royal Microscopical Society^[18]
• 2024 Innovator of the Year, Women Leaders in Electronics awards (Electronics Weekly)^[19]
• 2024 Elected a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering^[20]

Selected publications

• Xavier Moya; Sohini Kar-Narayan; N D Mathur (1 May 2014). "Caloric materials near ferroic phase transitions". Nature Materials. 13 (5): 439–450. doi:10.1038/NMAT3951. ISSN 1476-1122. PMID 24751772.
• Xavier Moya; Enric Stern-Taulats; Sam Crossley; David González-Alonso; Sohini Kar-Narayan; Antoni Planes; Lluís Mañosa; Neil D Mathur (11 January 2013). "Giant electrocaloric strength in single-crystal BaTiO3". Advanced Materials. 25 (9): 1360–1365. doi:10.1002/ADMA.201203823. ISSN 0935-9648. PMID 23307287.
• Tiesheng Wang; Meisam Farajollahi; Yeon Sik Choi; et al. (1 August 2016). "Electroactive polymers for sensing". Interface Focus. 6 (4) 20160026. doi:10.1098/RSFS.2016.0026. ISSN 2042-8898. PMC 4918837. PMID 27499846.