Dr. Jessi van der Hoeven is an assistant professor in the Materials Chemistry and Catalysis group at Utrecht University. Her research aims to rationally design the structure of multi-metallic catalyst materials to match specific functional properties. Her group works on the preparation of colloidal catalysts and investigates the structural changes in these materials under operating conditions using advanced electron microscopy techniques. Jessi received a Veni research grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to investigate lattice strain effects in core-shell catalysts, and a NWO XS grant for studying colloidal catalysts for induction heated catalysis. She was highlighted by the Journal of Materials Chemistry A as Emerging Investigator in 2024.

Previously, Jessi joined Harvard University (USA) for her postdoctoral research. At Harvard she worked with Prof. Cynthia Friend and Prof. Joanna Aizenberg on the development, advanced characterization, and testing of inverse opal catalysts for selective chemical conversions. Jessi obtained her PhD from Utrecht University in 2019. Her research focussed on the synthesis, in situ characterization, catalytic testing and self-assembly of differently structured gold based nanorods. Jessi recieved the KNCV Van Arkel prize for the best thesis in the field of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry. Prior to her PhD, Jessi joined the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien) as a visiting scholar working on the in situ characterization of single atom catalysts in the lab of Prof. Gareth Parkinson and Prof. Ulrike Diebold.