Professor Akshay Rao
Professor Akshay Rao is an Indian-born physicist and entrepreneur whose research at the University of Cambridge has produced some of the most significant advances in the science of energy materials of the past decade. He grew up in India and completed his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science at St Stephen's College, University of Delhi in 2006, before pursuing a Master's at the University of Sheffield and then a PhD in Physics at the University of Cambridge in 2011 under the supervision of Professor Sir Richard Friend, one of the most celebrated figures in organic electronics and photovoltaics.
Following his doctorate, Rao held a Junior Research Fellowship at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, before establishing his own independent research group at the Cavendish Laboratory in 2015. His group works at the frontier of energy and quantum materials science, pioneering new generations of optical spectroscopy and microscopy techniques that provide unprecedented spatial and temporal precision in the study of how light and matter interact. His early career contributions were recognised with the Henry Moseley Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics, awarded for exceptional early career contributions to experimental physics, as well as an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship and European Research Council grants. He is now Professor of Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, one of the world's foremost physics research institutions.
Rao is co-founder of Cambridge Photon Technology, the University of Cambridge spinout commercialising a patented photon-multiplier material developed from research in his group. The technology addresses one of the most persistent efficiency limits in silicon solar panels: the loss of high-energy photons as heat rather than electricity. CPT's drop-in coating converts each wasted high-energy photon into two infrared photons that silicon can absorb, boosting panel output by up to 15% without any change to manufacturing processes. The company raised £1.56 million in pre-Series A funding in November 2025. Rao is also co-founder of Illumion, a company developing new optical tools for battery researchers in academia and industry.
Rao's dual career as a scientist and entrepreneur reflects a conviction that the transition to clean energy requires both fundamental scientific insight and the commercial infrastructure to deploy it. His group's work spans photovoltaics, LEDs, and batteries, and its research is directly shaping the materials and devices that will define the next generation of the global energy system.
