In 1995, she received her PhD (magna cum laude) in physics under the supervision of Roland Caudano at Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium.
[1] In addition to her research, Rudolf also has been active in spreading knowledge[2][3] on how unconscious biases impact careers in science, and how to mitigate that influence through advocating positive action programs.
Efforts by Rudolf have been pivotal in supporting the Rosalind Franklin Fellowship program at University of Groningen, which was installed by then Dean Douwe Wiersma in 2002 and recognized by the 2018 Diversity Award from The Netherlands Physics Association.
[14][15][16] More recently, Rudolf has also been devoted to developing pillared graphene materials for spintronics and hydrogen storage applications.
[22][23] Petra Rudolf is a Fellow of the American Physical Society,[24] awarded "for explorations of fullerenes, nanotubes, graphite, and graphene, as well as light-driven synthetic molecular motors".