Dr Maha Yusuf

RESEARCH

The Yusuf Group at Oxford Materials focuses on understanding and controlling electrochemical interfaces for energy storage and sustainable chemical synthesis.  We combine in situ/operando three-dimensional neutron and X-ray imaging with electrochemistry and advanced data analysis to visualise, quantify, and predict how materials and interfaces evolve, react, degrade, and fail during operation.

Our research spans electrochemical energy storage and conversion, Li plating and interfacial instabilities, Li-mediated ammonia synthesis, multimodal neutron and X-ray imaging, three-dimensional image analysis, and AI/machine-learning-enabled materials research.  A central goal is to develop a mechanistic and predictive understanding of how morphology, transport, and interfacial evolution govern electrochemical reactivity, degradation, and failure, and to use these insights to design more stable and efficient electrochemical systems.

PROFILE

I lead the Yusuf Group in the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford. I received my PhD and MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and subsequently held a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship at Princeton University.  To date, I have been awarded approximately £3 million in competitive funding and fellowships across Oxford, Princeton, and Stanford, including the Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, the Royal Academy of Engineering Associate Fellowship, the Princeton Presidential Fellowship, the Electrochemical Society Colin Garfield Fink Fellowship, the Stanford Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence Fellowship, and the Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Fellowship. Before graduate school, I worked as a field engineer with Schlumberger on oil and gas rigs in Colombia and Peru.

AWARDS / HONORS: SELECTED

2026 Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship
2026 Royal Academy of Engineering Associate Research Fellowship
2024 MIT Chemical Engineering Rising Stars
2024 Colin Garfield Fink Fellowship, The Electrochemical Society
2024 Energy Technology Division Graduate Student Award, The Electrochemical Society
2023 Princeton Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship
2022 CAS Future Leader, American Chemical Society
2022 Edward G. Weston Fellowship, The Electrochemical Society
2020 Stanford Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence Fellowship
2018 Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Fellowship

INVITED LECTURES: SELECTED

2026 Imperial College London, Department of Materials
2026 Penn State University, Department of Mechanical Engineering
2026 Tufts University, Department of Chemistry
2025 Columbia University, Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering 
2025 ETH Zürich, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering
2025 Paul Scherrer Institut, Swiss Light Source
2025 Carnegie Mellon University, Departments of Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
2025 Princeton University, New Light: Rising Stars in Energy and Environment
2024 University of Oxford, Department of Chemistry
2024 Idaho National Laboratory, Energy Storage Technology Group
2021 Apple, Materials Characterization Group

ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP, SERVICE & RECOGNITION 

2026 Featured scientist in Nature on International Women’s Day 
2026 Chair, Gordon Research Seminar on Batteries
2026 Co-chair, “Lithium & Beyond: Fundamental Advances in High Performance Batteries,” AIChE Annual Meeting
2026 Co-chair, “Large Scale Facilities – Energy Storage Materials,” ACS Spring Meeting
Reviewer for Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Joule, ACS Energy Letters, and Advanced Energy Materials

OTHER KEY LINKS

Yusuf Group – Electrochemical Interfaces & 3D Imaging
Publications
@DrMahaYusuf
LinkedIn