Professor of Sustainable Engineering
Academic Division: Mechanics, Materials and Design
Telephone: +44 1223 7 60360
Email: jmc99@cam.ac.uk
Research interests
Jonathan Cullen is Professor of Sustainable Engineering at the University of Cambridge and leads the Resource Efficiency Collective and the Cambridge Critical Materials Lab. He has a reputation for top-down studies of resource systems, bringing particular expertise in developing new metrics that capture both the energy and emissions consequences of materials production. Jonathan leads the Climate Compatible Growth programme's Critical Minerals strand, investigating supply chain risks, mineral demand for the energy transition, and governance challenges facing mineral-rich developing countries. He has been an investigator on numerous projects including C-THRU: Carbon Clarity in the Global Petrochemical Supply Chain, TransFIRe: the Foundation Industries Research and Innovation Hub, and S2uPPlant: Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging from Plants. He is currently Co-Investigator on BuildZero, a systems-level programme developing a national model of UK buildings and resource flows to deliver a construction sector requiring zero material extraction, zero carbon, and zero waste. He was a Lead Author for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Industry Chapter, and co-authored the book "Sustainable Materials: With Both Eyes Open", which pioneered the concept of material efficiency for energy-intensive industries. Jonathan's research interests span energy and material systems, efficiency limits, circularity, and zero-carbon transition pathways, and he has worked extensively with external partners from industry across numerous research and consultancy projects.
Strategic themes
Energy, transport and urban infrastructure
I currently host the post of University Lecturer in Energy, Transport and Urban Infrastructure (linked to the ETUI theme). My research seeks to understand material and energy flows required to support energy, transport, buildings and infrastructure systems.
Manufacturing, design and materials
I am involved in the mapping of energy and material flows used to deliver goods and services to people.
Research projects
Climate Compatible Growth, BuildZero, C-THRU, CirPlas, UKFires, MinFuture, WellMet2050, Foreseer, InDemand, WholeSEM
Teaching activity
- Energy Systems and Policy, MPhil in Energy Technologies
- Supervising IA/IB Materials and IA Mathematics
Other positions
- Fellow of Fitzwilliam College
Biography
Jonathan Cullen is Professor of Sustainable Engineering at the University of Cambridge and leads the Resource Efficiency Collective and the Cambridge Critical Materials Lab. He has a reputation for top-down studies of resource systems, bringing particular expertise in developing new metrics that capture both the energy and emissions consequences of materials production.