Brown University Engineering Professor Nitin Padture has been named a recipient of the 2025 Humboldt Research Award (‘Humboldt-Forschungspreis’) by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. This award is conferred to internationally distinguished researchers in recognition of their lifetime academic record. In addition to receiving a cash prize of 80,000 euros, award winners are invited to carry out research projects of their choosing in collaboration with a colleague in Germany.
Padture was recognized for his outstanding research accomplishments in materials science, particularly emerging photovoltaics (PV). Among his many contributions, he has provided deep understanding of microstructural evolution and degradation mechanisms in perovskite PV, and developed innovative approaches to mitigate failure. He will collaborate with his German host, Professor Eva Unger, at Helmholtz- Zentrum Berlin (HZB), and spend several extended stays there working toward better understanding of PV scalability, durability, and reliability. He plans to use the extensive experimental facilities available at the Solar Energy Division of HZB, and also HZB’s Bessy II Light Source synchrotron.
At Brown, Padture is the founding director of the Initiative for Sustainable Energy (ISE), a campus hub for driving technological advances in sustainable energy and preparing the next-generation of leaders in net-zero-carbon energy solutions. ISE convenes researchers from multiple fields of study with the goal of developing solutions in three areas of sustainable energy: renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable fuels/materials.
Padture is the author or co-author of over 300 publications, which have been cited widely (h-index 101). He has also presented 285 invited, keynote, and plenary talks. Padture is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Materials Research Society. He has received the American Ceramic Society’s Roland B. Snow, Robert L. Coble, and Richard M. Fulrath awards. Padture is also a recipient of the U.S. Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award. In 2017, he was honored by his undergraduate alma mater, Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2021, he was awarded the Brown University Presidential Faculty Award. He is editor of two top journals in the field of materials science and engineering: Acta Materialia and Scripta Materialia.
“I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious award from the Humboldt Foundation, and I am grateful to Professor Eva Unger for nominating me,” Padture said. “It is an incredible opportunity to be able to spend extended periods of time over the next few years doing cutting-edge research at HZB, which is a hub for multi-faceted energy materials research in Germany. I am excited about collaborating with Professor Unger and her colleagues, starting with my sabbatical stay at HZB in 2026. This award will also allow me to build new collaborations in Germany, and become part of the ‘Humboldtian’ international network of distinguished researchers.”
Padture joins professors George Karniadakis, Daniel Mittleman, and Subra Suresh, and emeriti professors Sharvan Kumar and Huajian Gao, as Brown engineering faculty to receive a Humboldt Research Award.