Professor Debra Bernhardt

Using theoretical and computational methods, Professor Debra Bernhardt and her group aim to study new materials and fluids and to develop theories that can be applied to understand and predict the behaviour of these systems

This research involves use and development of classical simulation methods as well as quantum mechanical calculations. With her research group, Professor Bernhardt's studies provide the know-how for understanding and developing improved devices, materials and fluids with particular interesting in sustainable energy applications. Current research projects include: - Theory and simulation of nonequilibrium fluids - Transport in nanoporous materials - Fluctuation theorems for nanoscale systems - Using computational methods for advancing energy storage and conversion - Developing algorithms for advanced theoretical modelling methods.

Professor Debra Bernhardt is internationally recognised for her contributions to the development of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics including far-from-equilibrium fluids and confined fluids. She is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Science and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and an ARC Australian Laureate Fellow. Professor Bernhardt's 30 years of research experience includes appointments at the University of Basel, Switzerland; the Australian National University; and Griffith University, where she was founding director of the Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre. Professor Bernhardt's research interests focus on the use of a range of theoretical and computational approaches to develop a fundamental understanding of the behaviour of matter, and application of these approaches to a wide range of problems including transport in nanopores, fluctuation phenomena, design of materials, gas separation, energy storage and conversion.

Industry Engagement & Collaborations

Professor Bernhardt has collaborated with researchers at many institutions including Politecnico di Torino, Italy; The University of Sheffield, UK; University of Bonn, Germany; Jilin and Nanjin University, China; and Clark-Atlanta University, USA. She has had collaborative research projects with researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratories at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, NASA Langley Research Laboratories, National Institute of Aerospace in the US and Chinese Academy of Science. Professor Bernhardt currently has a collaborative project with researchers at NIMS and the University of Tokyo funded by the Foundation for Australia-Japan Studies (FAJS).

Funding

Funded projects ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Conversion of Carbon Dioxide (GetCO2) (2024-2030) ARC Research Hub for Photovoltaic Solar Panel Recycling and Sustainability (PVRS) (2024-2028) ARC Research Hub for Zero-emission Power Generation for Carbon Neutrality (2024-2029) ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship "New frontiers for nonequilibrium systems" (2020-2025) ARC Linkage Project "Integrated solar to chemical production and membrain concentration system" (2023-2026)

Key Publications

Professor Bernhardt publishes using her maiden name, Debra J Searles. 

Denis J. Evans and Debra J. Searles (Bernhardt), The fluctuation theorem, Advances in Physics, 51, 1529-1585 (2002)

EM Sevick, R Prabhakar, SR Williams and Debra J. Searles (Bernhardt), Fluctuation theorems, Annual Reviews of Physical Chemistry, 59, 603-633 (2008)

Chenghua Sun and Debra J. Searles, Lithium storage on graphdiyne predicted by DFT calculations, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 116, 26222-26226 (2012)

Denis J. Evans, Debra J. Searles (Bernhardt) and Stephen R. Williams, “Fundamentals of classical statistical thermodynamics: Dissipation, relaxation and fluctuation theorems”, ISBN: 978-3-527-41073-6, Wiley-VCH, Berlin, June, 2016, 224 pages.

Michelle A. Hunter, J. M. T. A. Fischer, Qinghong Yuan, Marlies Hankel, Debra J. Searles (Bernhardt), Evaluating the catalytic efficiency of paired, single-atom catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction, ACS Catalysis, 9, 7660-7667 (2019).

Full list of publications available on espace