Nejat Veziroğlu Special Award to TÜBA Member Prof. Önder Metin
TÜBA Associate Member Prof. Önder Metin was awarded the IHTEC-2025 Nejat Veziroğlu Special Award by the Hydrogen Technologies Association for his pioneering contributions to the field of hydrogen technologies.
Prof. Önder Metin, who received the award for his academic competence, research potential and original contributions to the field, focuses his research on hydrogen production and storage, fuel cells, nanomaterials, electrocatalysis, 2D materials, photocatalysis and sustainable energy systems.
Who is Prof. Önder Metin?
Prof. Önder Metin received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the Faculty of Science and Letters at Çukurova University in 2002. He earned his master’s and PhD degrees in the Department of Chemistry at the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences at Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2006 and 2010 respectively, under the Faculty Development Program. During his doctoral studies, he conducted experimental research as a TÜBİTAK fellow in 2009 at Brown University’s Department of Chemistry (Rhode Island, USA) and in 2010 at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany.
In 2011 he began working as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Atatürk University. Between 2012 and 2013 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University’s Department of Chemistry. Prof. Önder Metin has received numerous scientific awards for his contributions to national and international science through his academic work, including the 2011 Serhat Özyar Young Scientist of the Year Award, the 2013 METU Prof. Mustafa Parlar Foundation Research Incentive Award, the 2014 TÜBA Outstanding Young Scientist Award (GEBİP), the 2015 FABED Eser Tümen Outstanding Young Scientist Award, and in 2017 the TÜBİTAK Incentive Award, the Science Academy Young Scientist Award (BAGEP), and the Young Scientist of the Year Award by the Science Heroes Association.
In July 2018 he was elected an Associate Member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA). Since January 2018 he has been serving as Türkiye’s National Representative in the field of Inorganic Chemistry at IUPAC. Since 2019 he has been a Board Member of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS) and since 2023 he has served as its Secretary-General.
Since 2022 Prof. Önder Metin has also been serving as Associate Editor of the Turkish Journal of Chemistry. After working at Atatürk University between 2011 and 2018 he joined Koç University in September 2018, where he currently continues his research in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences. His research interests include the controlled synthesis of nanomaterials, heterogeneous catalysis using transition metal nanoparticles, photocatalysis with 2D materials and heterojunction structures, development of new catalytic methods for organic synthesis within the framework of green chemistry, hydrogen storage and production, removal of organic waste from water, electrocatalysis, fuel cells, and rechargeable lithium batteries.
