Prof Justin Hodgkiss uses ultrafast optical spectroscopy at the Victoria University of Wellington (MacDiarmid Insistute, NZ) in search of molecular electronic materials for new, low-cost printable electronics – primarily solar cells. His group invented transient grating ultrafast fluorescence spectroscopy and has used laser spectroscopy to develop a detailed understanding of the physics of photocurrent generation in printable solar cells. Prof Hodgkiss’s group also studies bio-templated assembly of organic semiconductors, recently developing a class of hybrid materials using natural peptides to encode the assembly of organic semiconductors into functional electronic devices.