Deepak Verma

Dr. Deepak Verma was born and raised in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (2004) and Master of Science in Applied Chemistry (2006) from M. J. P. Rohilkhand University, Bareilly. He qualified the prestigious NET-UGC-JRF (2008) and GATE (2009) examinations, demonstrating his strong academic foundation and research aptitude.

Driven by a passion for catalysis and renewable energy, Dr. Verma began his research career in 2009 at CSIR–Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, India. He pursued his doctoral research in Chemical Sciences, earning his Ph.D. in December 2014. His doctoral work led to the development of a pioneering single-step process for converting lipids into bio-jet fuel, a significant advancement in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology. This innovation is currently progressing toward commercialization at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 8 under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (https://www.iip.res.in/bio-jet-fuel-process-for-conversion-of-non-edible-oil-into-renewable-aviation-fuel/).

In December 2014, he joined HPCL Green R&D Centre, Bengaluru, as a Research Associate. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), South Korea, as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Green Energy & Materials Processing (GEMP) Laboratory under the Brain Korea (BK21+) flagship program led by Prof. Kim Jaehoon. His research focused on advancing green chemistry, green engineering, and clean technologies for sustainable societal development.

In January 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Korea Research Fellowship (KRF) and appointed as a Research Professor. He further received the highly competitive Brain Pool (BP) Fellowship twice (2020–2023 and 2023–2025). His research during this period centered on designing multifunctional tandem catalysts for the conversion of biomass and CO₂ into sustainable fuels and value-added chemicals.

Dr. Verma also served as Principal Investigator for two National Research Foundation (NRF), South Korea projects, with total funding of approximately USD 0.13 million (2016–2020) and USD 0.36 million (2020–2023).

He has authored more than 45 peer-reviewed research articles, reviews, and book chapters in leading international journals, focusing on CO₂ utilization and biomass conversion technologies. Additionally, he has filed six Korean patents, one Indian patent, and one international patent in the field of sustainable catalysis and renewable fuels.

Currently, Dr. Verma is serving as a Senior Researcher in the Materials-Envi Lab at the Nanotechnology Centre, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technology (CEET), VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic, under the mentorship of Prof. Radek Zbořil. His research primarily focuses on the design and synthesis of advanced single-atom heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable catalytic processes, particularly for the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and other commodity chemicals from biomass and CO₂.