Maheera Abdul Ghani: 1st Pakistani Woman to Earn PhD in Material Science from Cambridge

Maheera Abdul Ghani is currently a PhD candidate in Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Professor Manish Chhowalla.

Photo: Maheera Abdul Ghani on LinkedIn

Her academic journey includes a double master's degree in Functionalized Advanced Materials Engineering from TU Darmstadt, Germany, and Grenoble INP, France, completed in 2021.

She earned her bachelor's degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore in 2019.

Dr. Maheera Abdul Ghani's research experience spans several prestigious institutions. At CNRS Grenoble-INP in France, she worked on fabricating transparent conductive electrodes for inorganic photovoltaics.

During her time at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, she developed a flexible machine learning algorithm using a Crystal Graph Convolutional Neural Network model for band gap prediction of 2D materials.

At the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany, she prepared ion-irradiated polymer samples for nanowire fabrication using ion-track technology.

Beyond her academic pursuits, Maheera is a policy writer at Cambridge Zero, focusing on sustainable carbon storage.

• She is also a co-founder of WinSci Pakistan, an initiative that promotes science and technology in the country.

While Maheera's achievements are noteworthy, there is no official confirmation that she is the first Pakistani woman to earn a PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy from the University of Cambridge.

Her ongoing contributions to the field and her involvement in science policy and outreach continue to inspire many in Pakistan and beyond.

Some more photos of Maheera Abdul Ghani at the University of Cambridge:

Photo: Maheera Abdul Ghani on LinkedIn

Photo: Maheera Abdul Ghani on LinkedIn

Photo: Maheera Abdul Ghani on LinkedIn

Photo: Maheera Abdul Ghani on LinkedIn