natalia dubrovinskaia (born 18 february 1961) is a swedish geologist of russian origin. in 2005, she led a team of researchers from the university of bayreuth who were reported to have produced aggregated diamond nanorods from fullerene under high temperatures and pressures. two years earlier large samples of nanodiamond were produced in a cheaper way (from graphite) and discovered to be harder than diamond by japanese researchers. dubrovinskaia currently works at the university of heidelberg in germany as a "privatdozent" and senior scientist.