Dame Pratibha Gai DBE FREng FRS HonFRMS FRSC

Dame Pratibha Gai has served as Chair of Electron Microscopy at the University of York and is an outspoken advocate for women in science and engineering.  

Born in India, Pratibha was inspired by the story of Marie Curie to pursue studies in chemistry, despite societal expectations discouraging women from science. She won a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where she undertook a PhD in electron microscopy.  

She later moved to Oxford to forge her research career. Here, Pratibha began research into dynamic chemical reactions, later establishing Oxford’s own Surface Reactions Group.  

Over two decades, Pratibha worked with colleagues to create a microscope that would enable visualisation and analysis of chemical reactions at the atomic level. By 2009, she co-developed the E(Scanning)TEM microscope, a first-of-its-kind innovation for reaction analysis research at the single atom level.  

In addition to her impressive academic contributions, amongst which include over 250 published papers and authored and edited books, Pratibha also has a long industry career, having spent over eighteen years at chemicals firm DuPont in Delaware.  

Her stellar reputation as an academic led her to co-found the University of York’s JEOL Nanocentre, where she continues to serve as Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, involved in research.  

In 2014, she was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.  

She is also a recipient of the prestigious Gabor Medal, Loreal-UNESCO International Women in Science award as the 2013 laureate for the continent of Europe, and is an Honorary Fellow of Girton College, University of Cambridge.