Dr Felipe Fantuzzi is a theoretical and computational chemist and Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Kent, where he leads the Supramolecular, Interfacial and Synthetic Chemistry (SISC) cluster and co-directs Kent Astrochemistry, Irradiation, Origins and Space (KAIROS). His research group operates at the interface of structural chemistry, astrochemistry and functional molecular design, combining quantum chemical methods and multiscale modelling to study chemical bonding, molecular reactivity, radiation-driven processes and the design of molecules and materials for applications in energy, health, forensics and space science.

 

Dr Fantuzzi obtained his BSc, MSc, and PhD (2017) in Chemistry from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, Brazil), with work centred on electronic structure, quantum interference in chemical bonding, and astrochemically relevant species. He subsequently held postdoctoral positions in Brazil, the USA, and Germany, including an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, where he later became a Research Associate in main-group chemistry and molecular reactivity. His training includes stays at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the MBN Research Center. He currently holds visiting appointments at JMU Würzburg, the HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research (ATOMKI, Hungary), and Universidad del Valle (Colombia), where he contributes to the SIMERQO group.

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As Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator, Dr Fantuzzi has secured around £1 million in direct research funding to Kent across international doctoral networks, Royal Society programmes, and institutional research grants, and he has contributed as collaborator or work-package lead to large-scale European and international projects whose combined value exceeds €7 million. He has also hosted and supervised multiple externally funded postdoctoral and doctoral fellowships across EPSRC, Schlumberger, CONAHCYT, CAPES, CNPq, and other schemes.

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His work has been recognised through several distinctions, including JCP Emerging Investigator (2024, 2025), PCCP Emerging Investigator (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2024), and a Commonwealth Chemistry Award (2023), as well as earlier prizes for his PhD thesis and student research.  He is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Member of the Brazilian Chemical Society, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an Editorial Board Member of Computation, and an Early Career Advisory Board Member of ChemCatChem.

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Across his portfolio, Dr Fantuzzi maintains a strong commitment to equitable international collaboration, particularly with partners in Latin America and the wider Global South. He supervises an interdisciplinary cohort of researchers and contributes to capacity building in astrochemistry, structural chemistry, and molecular modelling through supervision, mentoring, network-building, and leadership in initiatives such as the Europlanet Regional Hub Colombia.