The University of Cape Town
invites you to an Inaugural Lecture
by Professor Nico Fischer
Topic: Catalysis as key enabler of a just and sustainable transition
Catalysts and catalytic processes lie at the heart of more than 80% of industrial production, underpinning modern prosperity and human development. At the same time, they are major contributors to greenhouse‑gas emissions and climate change - probably the defining global challenge of our time. While catalysis is part of the problem, it is also central to the solution. By enabling cleaner processes, new value chains, and alternative energy systems, catalysis can drive a transition away from fossil resources, breaking existing global energy dependencies while supporting economic inclusion, skills development, and equitable access to sustainable technologies, key pillars of a truly just transition. Prof Fischer's lecture will explore the critical role and transformative potential of catalysts and catalytic processes in the industrial transition toward sustainability, highlighting how his research contributes to enabling cleaner technologies, resilient value chains, and a more equitable and just transition to a low‑carbon economy.
Date: Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Time: 17:00 SAST
Venue: Chemical Engineering Seminar Room, UCT Upper Campus
About our speaker
Nico Fischer is a chemical engineer and catalysis scientist with a strong track record spanning academia, industry, and technology commercialisation. He studied chemical engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, before joining the DSI–NRF Centre of Excellence in Catalysis (c*change) at the University of Cape Town as a PhD student in 2007 under the supervision of Professors Michael Claeys and Eric van Steen. He obtained his PhD in 2011, focusing on nano‑ and ångström‑scale cobalt model catalysts for the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.
Following his doctorate, Prof. Fischer joined BASF SE in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where he worked as a research scientist and laboratory team leader on heterogeneous oxidation catalysts, contributing to industrially relevant catalyst and process development. In 2014, he returned to UCT’s Catalysis Institute as a Senior Research Officer and progressed through the academic ranks, becoming Associate Professor in 2018. In 2023, he was appointed DSTI/NRF SARChI Chair in Sustainable Catalysis and Deputy Director of the Catalysis Institute, and in 2024 he became Full Professor, Director of the Catalysis Institute, and Deputy Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Prof. Fischer’s research focuses on the design and development of advanced catalytic materials for sustainable chemical transformations, with particular emphasis on synthesis gas conversion, CO₂ activation, reverse water–gas shift, plastic decomposition and oxidative dehydrogenation reactions. A defining feature of his work is the use of cutting‑edge in situ and operando characterisation techniques to uncover structure-performance relationships under realistic reaction conditions.