Professor Shivani Bhardwaj Mishra
Professor Shivani Mishra is employed in the Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability unit of Unisa’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology.
She received a BSc in Chemistry in 1995 and an MSc in Organic Chemistry in 1997, both from the University of Madras in India. In 1998 she moved to Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi to do her doctorate on the treatment and utilisation of industrial waste, which wassubmitted in 2002.
Mishra subsequently joined the National Physical Laboratory at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in New Delhi, where she learned to develop nanomaterial using sol-gel technology. She continued her research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of the Free State. In 2008, she joined the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) department of chemical technology as a postdoctoral research fellow. She was appointed as a senior lecturer in 2009, and promoted to associate professor in 2012.
Over the years, Mishra has specialised in the fields of organic-inorganic hybrid systems using the sol-gel process and applying it to the development of nanomaterials and water research. She has supervised more than 20 postgraduate students, and currently has 10 postgraduate students in her group.
She has published 75 research articles in scientifically accredited international journals, and 30 book chapters. She has made more than 70 presentations at various national and international conferences, including plenary talks, keynote addresses and expert talks, and has edited two books.
Mishra is the recipient of grants from funding agencies such as the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Eskom. She is a panel member for the NRF for grant applications, and is a reviewer for various international journals. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the International Congress of Environmental Research, and a member of many other scientific bodies, including the American Chemical Society.
She is an NRF C3-rated researcher and is recognised by UJ as one of its top 10 researchers. She was also awarded research excellence awards in two different categories this year at Unisa.