• B.A. in Natural Sciences – University of Cambridge (1990)
• PhD – University of Cambridge (1994) 
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, CChem 
• Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, CEng 
• Elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy

Chris Hardacre is Vice Dean and Head of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Manchester.

Chris Hardacre is Head of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Manchester and a Professor of Chemical Engineering.  He obtained a PhD from Cambridge University in 1994 and moved to Queen’s University, Belfast in 1995 and was appointed as Professor of Physical Chemistry in 2003. In 2016, he moved to the University of Manchester.  He was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Encouraging Innovation Award with Merck Chemicals Ltd and was part of the team to win the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education, in 2013 was the inaugural winner of the IChemE’s Andrew Medal for catalysis, in 2022 won the Tilden prize from the RSC and in 2024 won the RB Anderson Prize from the Canadian Institute of Chemistry.  His group has strong research interests in catalysis and ionic liquids. He is a co-PI of the UK Catalysis Hub and is an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy.

He has published over 520 papers, 14 patents, 11 book chapters and has an h-index = 100.

Catalysis and Ionic Liquids
We have strong research interests in catalysis and ionic liquids.  Current catalytic projects range from water gas shift and emission control catalysis using thermal and plasma activation to the use of transients to determine gas and liquid phase reaction mechanisms to liquid phase hydrogenations under batch and flow conditions to biomass conversion, CO₂ utilisation, polymer conversion and clean energy conversion.  In addition, our research in ionic liquids includes their use in modifying the properties of heterogeneous catalysts, structural determination of ionic liquids and species dissolved therein, process intensification for sustainability including CO2 utilisation and waste polymer valorisation, and prediction of physical properties of ionic liquids. In both aspects of the research, the group has developed a number of state-of-the-art techniques both within the University as well as using synchrotron and neutron central facilities.  Much of the work is collaborative and industrially related involving a combination of modelling and experimental studies.