Julian Ross

I obtained an Entrance Scholarship to Queen’s University, Belfast, where I subsequently obtained a BSc in Chemistry and then a PhD in Surface Chemistry. After my PhD, I moved to the University of Bradford, firstly as a research assistant and then as a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry. I was later promoted to Senior Lecture in the same department. I was awarded a DSc from QUB in 1981 on the basis of a thesis containing my early research publications from both QUB and the University of Bradford. During my time in Bradford, I was a consultant with a variety of companies including Laporte Industries, British Gas, ICI, Pilkington’s Glass, Peabody Holmes and Dyson Refractories. I was also involved in two rounds of a NATO-funded collaboration with the Technical University of Delft and KFA, Juelich, W. Germany. Work carried out in conjunction with Dysons led to a new catalyst for the steam reforming of methane and of lower hydrocarbons and the process used for the production of this catalyst was patented. The first commercial use of this material was in the Dublin Gas plant where it was used for some time to convert natural gas obtained from the new Kinsale gas field into syngas. This syngas was then blended with additional natural gas to give the required calorific value for domestic uses. 

I moved in 1982 to work in the Netherlands in what became the University of Twente. I there carried out research projects in collaboration with a wide range of international organisations. One of my first external activities while in Twente was to carry out a Europe-wide study funded by the EU, together with two Dutch contacts, aimed at the possible establishment of EU-funded research programmes. Our report led directly to the BRITE-Euram programme.  I was also involved in the early stages of the EU Environmental programme. Research in my group in Twente involved a wide variety of topics including methane conversion, deNOx technology and selective oxidation catalysis. I was able, largely with Dutch national and EU funding, to establish a wide range of collaborations with international colleagues. One of these involved a project on the CO2 reforming of methane with partners from France, Italy and Greece as well as a partner from what later became the University of Limerick. 

I moved to the University of Limerick in 1991. Shortly after my arrival there, I was asked to become the head of a new department of Chemistry and Life Sciences, this comprising of both chemists from the former department of Materials and Industrial Chemistry and a number of former members of staff from Thomond College of Education which had just been amalgamated with the University.  In 1994, it was decided to split the College of Engineering and Science into two and I was appointed as Dean of the new College of Science. I completed three consecutive terms in that position, these concluding in 2003. 

All my research activities continued in UL in parallel to both of the administrative roles and I was able to continue my collaboration with a wide range of international scientists and engineers. During my time in Limerick, I supervised 11 PhD candidates and 5 MSc candidates as well as a significant number of postdoctoral researchers.  

After formal retirement from my full-time appointment in UL, I became involved in a major project on biomass conversion that was funded initially by the Irish Department of Energy and Natural Resources and later by SFI. I was able to appoint Dr. Dmitri Bulushev as a postdoctoral assistant for a period of seven years to work on my part of project, the catalytic conversion of formic acid to give CO2 and hydrogen. Dmitri also helped me to supervise a PhD student and he co-authored a number of highly cited papers and review articles.  

Outside activities. 

I served as the Irish representative on the INTAS Council of Scientists, an organisation which had been established after the breakup of the Soviet Union to help fund a continuation of scientific activity in the newly created states. After my first year on this council, I was appointed its Chairman and remained in that position for three years, helping to supervise the winding up of the organisation in about 1999. 

I was a member from 1993 to 2004 of the Steering Committee of a series of Natural Gas Conversion Symposia which were held regularly in various international venues.

I was a member of the governing body of the European Federation of Catalysis Societies and was instrumental in organising Europacat V, a very significant meeting that was held on the UL campus in 2001.

Having been elected to membership of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA) in 2001, I served a number of terms as Vice President of the Academy and was Treasurer from 2006 to 2008.

Journal and Book Publication. 

Shortly before leaving the University of Bradford, I became involved in the creation of the new international journal, Applied Catalysis, published by Elsevier. For this, I became the Editor of a News Brief section, gathering information on activities on catalysis from a wide range of international contacts. After I had moved to the University of Twente and Applied Catalysis had expanded and become widely used by the catalysis community, I was asked by Elsevier to become Senior Editor of a new parallel publication, Catalysis Today and remained in that function until 2010. This journal consists of issues assembled by special guest editors that are devoted to specific topics, often the proceedings of specialist meetings. Several assistant editors had the responsibility for checking all the manuscripts before publication. 

I have written two textbooks based on various aspects of my research experience devoted to heterogeneous catalysis and biomass conversion. The first of these was “Heterogeneous Catalysis” (Elsevier, 2012) and the second, “Contemporary Catalysis” (Elsevier, 2019), although based on the contents of the first, contains a much more extensive treatment of practical applications. I then wrote “Sustainable Energy” (Elsevier, 2022), a book that discusses the causes of global warming and outlines methods that should be used to enable the world to reach “Net Zero” by 2050. This was followed by the publication of an e-book, entitled “Getting Ireland to Net Zero” (Royal Irish Academy, 2025), in which I discuss the specific measures that must be taken in Ireland to achieve “Net Zero”. 

I have recently started to work, with the help of Prof. Olga Guerrero-Perez (University of Malaga) as co-author, on a Second Edition of “Heterogeneous Catalysis”.

Citation Performance.

At the beginning of 2026, I was shown in the AD Scientific Index as being the 19th most distinguished chemist in Ireland. Scopus currently shows me as having an h-index of 56 with a total of 12,267 citations to my papers.