Prof. Frantisek Hartl, PhD, FRSC is an inorganic/physical chemist, with an MSc from the Charles University, Prague, and a PhD (1992) from the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Science, Prague, Czech Republic. Following postdoctoral work at the University of Amsterdam (1992), he lectured there in the research groups Molecular Photonics and Homogeneous Catalysis before moving to the University of Reading, UK as a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (2008) and Head of Molecular Chemistry (2013).

    His work has focused on the development of novel spectroelectrochemical cells and their application, with accent on time-resolved molecular spectroscopy, molecular electronics (molecular wires and switches), photo-redox catalysis and artificial photosynthesis, and organometallic chemistry. In Reading he has established a spin-out company fabricating spectroelectrochemical cells for a broad spectrum of experimental chemists worldwide.He is the author of more than 160 research papers (h-index 35). In 2015 he has been nominated for the J. Heyrovsky Prize for Molecular Electrochemistry awarded by the International Society of Electrochemistry.