Dr Francois Malherbe

Biography

Born in Mauritius, François moved to France to further his education and obtained a PhD in Chemistry from Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont-Ferrand) and in collaboration with BP Chemicals Ltd. François then worked for two years at the British Petroleum Research Centre in Sunbury (UK) as a research technologist with a focus on the development of novel heterogeneous catalysts. He moved in Australia in 1999, following an appointment at Monash University where he worked within the Cooperative Research Centre for Clean Power from Lignite, a consortium looking at improving the efficiencies of coal-fired power stations. François joined Swinburne University of Technology in 2000 as a postdoctoral fellow and used this opportunity to start his research group in Catalysis and Process Development with particular interests in clean technologies and alternative energies. During that time, he was also involved in a few programs looking at international collaborations and networking. Following the restructure of the university in 2004, François was appointed as the Associate Dean (International) for the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, with a major role in developing exchange programs, both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.