Professor Bilge Yildiz

Bilge Yildiz is the Breene M. Kerr (1951) Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, and she leads the Laboratory for Electrochemical Interfaces. Prof. Yildiz’s research focuses on laying the scientific groundwork to enable next-generation electrochemical devices. The scientific insights derived from her research guide the design of novel materials and interfaces for efficient and durable solid oxide fuel and electrolysis cells, brain-inspired computing, and solid state batteries. Prof. Yildiz’s laboratory has significantly contributed to advancing the molecular-level understanding of oxygen reduction, ion diffusion, charge transfer, and electrochemical control of physical properties in mixed conducting oxides. During her sabbatical in Cambridge in 2023-2024, she is working with Professors Clare Grey and Judith Driscoll on dynamic ion doping of materials for use in energy-efficient, brain-inspired computing.

Prof. Yildiz earned her PhD in Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT (2003) and her BSc at Hacettepe University (1999). Before returning to MIT as a faculty member in 2007, she worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at MIT and Research Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. Her research and teaching efforts have been recognized by the 2022 Rahmi M. Koç Medal of Science, 2018 Ross Coffin Purdy Award, 2012 ECS Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award, 2012 Somiya Award for International Collaboration, 2011-2016 NSF CAREER Awards, 2008 ANS Faculty PAI Outstanding Teaching Award, and 2006 Argonne National Laboratory Pacesetter Award. She was elected to the Austrian Academy of Science in 2023 and named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2021 and a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society in 2023.