Meet Our Distinguished Speakers

🔹Plenary Speakers

Prof. Tony McNally
International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing, University of Warwick, UK
Professor Tony McNally is a leading expert in nanocomposites, polymer processing, and advanced materials at the University of Warwick, where he directs the International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing (IINM). His research focuses on developing high-performance materials for energy storage, automotive, and medical devices, with an emphasis on sustainability. Widely published and highly regarded, Prof. McNally bridges academia and industry, driving innovation in polymer science globally.

Prof. Mercouri G. Kanatzidis
Northwestern University: Evanston, Illinois, US
Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Ph.D., is a Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University and a Senior Scientist in the Materials Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He completed his B.S. in Chemistry at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece, and earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Iowa. Following postdoctoral positions at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University, he began his academic career at Michigan State University, where he progressed from Assistant to Full Professor. Dedicated to education and service, he has mentored over 200 postgraduate and postdoctoral students.
Known for his groundbreaking work in halide perovskite materials, Dr. Kanatzidis pioneered the development of all-solid-state solar cells, significantly advancing photovoltaics. His research on coherent nanostructuring has revolutionized the understanding of energy conversion in materials, particularly in thermoelectric materials that convert heat into electricity.
His research has garnered significant recognition, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2023). He has received prestigious awards such as the Centenary Prize and the De Gennes Prize from the Royal Chemical Society (2023), the Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Chemists (2018), and the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry (2016). His innovative work on halide perovskite materials earned him the DOE Ten at Ten Award (2019).
A highly cited researcher in chemistry, physics, and materials science, Mercouri’s contributions to science.

Prof. Peter Strasser, Technical University Berlin, Germany
Prof. Peter Strasser is Full Professor of Electrochemistry and Electrocatalysis at Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, where he heads the Electrochemical Catalysis, Energy, and Materials Science Laboratory. His research focuses on electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, nanostructured functional materials, and electrochemical energy conversion and storage. His work addresses the development of advanced electrocatalysts for hydrogen fuel cells, water electrolysis, CO₂ electrolysis, and the production of sustainable fuels and chemicals. His research has made important contributions to the understanding and design of nanostructured electrode materials and efficient, resource-conscious electrocatalytic systems. Prof. Strasser is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society and the International Society of Electrochemistry, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a member of the Academia Europaea. He has received numerous international distinctions, including the Faraday Medal and the Carl Wagner Memorial Award.

🔹Invited Speakers

Prof. Zbigniew Sojka, Jagiellonian University, Poland
Title: "Oxygen reduction on spinel nanocrystals – molecular orbital resolution of the elementary surface processes"
Zbigniew Sojka is a full professor at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University (Poland), a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Science, and Head of the Catalysis and Solid State Chemistry Group. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from Jagiellonian University in 1984 and subsequently completed postdoctoral fellowships at Pierre and Marie Curie University (France), and then at Lehigh University (USA). His research is focused on experimental and computational catalysis, materials chemistry, molecular modelling, spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. He published over 230 papers and holds more than 25 patents. Professor Zbigniew Sojka received several awards from the Minister of Science and Higher Education of Poland, the Polish Chemical Society, and a Jagiellonian Laurel for achievements in science.

Prof. Mirabbos Hojamberdiev, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Title: "Beyond Oxides: Oxynitride Materials for Sustainable Solar Energy Conversion"
Prof. Mirabbos Hojamberdiev leads the “CatMatX Lab” Research Group at the Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Denmark. He also serves as a Visiting Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, and as a TWAS Research Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Zambia. His research focuses on the development of next-generation catalytic materials, particularly based on mixed-anion compounds, for sustainable energy and environmental applications. Prof. Hojamberdiev has published more than 250 scientific articles and holds five patents. His research is supported by a prestigious RECRUIT Grant from the Carlsberg Foundation. His contributions to materials chemistry have been recognized through various international distinctions, including the 2023 IUPAC-Zhejiang NHU International Award for Advancements in Green Chemistry, the 2018 IUPAC-CHEMRAWN VII Prize for Green Chemistry, the Georg Forster Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the Atta-ur-Rahman Prize in Chemistry from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). As an early-career scientist, he was also awarded a Fulbright Visiting Scholarship and highly competitive postdoctoral fellowships from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Prof. Jonathan Quinson, University of A Coruna, Spain
Title: "Surfactant-Free Colloidal Syntheses of Metal Nanoparticles: Fundamental, Catalysis and Beyond"
Dr Jonathan Quinson is leading the Nanomaterials Engineering for Sustainable Technologies (NEST) research group at the Interdiciplinary Center for Chemistry and Biology (CICA), University of A Coruna, Spain, where he is a Ramon y Cajal Assistant Professor. Dr Quinson holds a PhD from the University Oxford, UK, and carried out research at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stanford, USA, in the context of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual and Global Fellowships, respectively, before establishing the NEST group in 2022 first at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. The group moved to Spain in 2025 and carries out research at the cross road of fundamental and applied science, with a taste for Sustainability and a strong drive and relevance for Innovation and Education. Dr Quinson published 100+ papers and contributed to 4 patent applications. In particular, the group revisits and mainly develops more sustainable approaches to the synthesis of nanomaterials with a focus on surfactant-free colloidal syntheses of metallic nanoparticles at low temperature and in low boiling point solvents. The materials are relevant for catalysis and in particular energy conversion and water treatment.

Prof. Tanja Kallio, Aalto University, Finland
Prof. Tanja Kallio, D.Sc. (Tech.), is Professor of Electrochemistry and Physical Chemistry at the Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering, Finland. Her Electrochemical Energy Conversion Group investigates materials and components for such electrochemical conversion and storage applications as low temperature electrolysers and fuel cells, and lithium and sodium batteries. The focus is on improving sustainability by interfacial engineering to utilize materials and energy more efficiently during the conversion processes. She has received national awards for her work on material research for the green transition presented in her over 230 publications. She contributes to shaping research policy as an Aalto University representative the Hydrogen Europe Research, EC Batteries Europe, and Research Council of Finland.

Prof. Pascal Van Der Voort, Ghent University, Belgium
Title: "Tuning the Photocycle of Covalent Organic Frameworks for Photocatalysis – which levers should be pull"
Pascal Van Der Voort is Senior Full Professor at Ghent University and Director of the Center for Ordered Materials, Organometallics and Catalysis (COMOC). He earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Antwerp in 1993 and founded COMOC in 2007. His group designs porous nanomaterials for catalysis, gas adsorption, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis. Over his career the materials studied moved from silica and mesoporous silica to hybrid frameworks such as Periodic Mesoporous Organosilicas and Metal-Organic Frameworks, and now to purely organic Covalent Organic Frameworks. His recent work focuses on defect engineering in metal-organic nanomaterials and on covalent organic frameworks for photocatalytic and electrocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production. He has published more than 430 peer-reviewed papers, with an h-index of 80 (Web of Science) and 88 (Google Scholar). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, an Associate Editor of Science Advances, and a frequent invited speaker at international conferences on hybrid materials, metal-organic frameworks, and nanomaterials.

Prof. Menny Shalom, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Prof. Menny Shalom is Full Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of advanced functional materials for solar-to-fuel conversion, photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical systems, and electrocatalytic energy conversion. His group develops innovative metal-free and carbon-based materials, including polymeric carbon nitride, porous carbons, and hybrid nanostructures, for applications in sustainable energy and chemical production. His recent research includes photocatalytic panels, hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide production, water splitting, and electrochemical energy systems. Prof. Shalom has published extensively in the fields of functional nanomaterials, photocatalysis, electrochemistry, and renewable energy.

Prof. Marco Daturi, University of Caen, France
After performing his studies at the University of Genoa, Marco Daturi moved to the University of Caen, where he is professor of Physical Chemistry and researchers at the LCS laboratory. His approach mainly consists in the use and development of spectroscopic in situ and operando techniques to perform mechanistic studies in functional materials, notably for heterogeneous catalysis. Marco Daturi mainly investigates, designs, and develops (porous) materials for the removal of pollutants from industrial processes, from automotive exhaust, to improve indoor air quality, CO2 capture and reuse. His researches have focussed on transition metal oxides, zeolites and MOFs, producing more than 250 papers, several books, and hundreds of conferences. According to the Stanford University ranking, he is within the 2% scientists having impacted the most the field worldwide.

Prof. Elena Ferapontova, Aarhus University, Denmark
Prof. Elena E. Ferapontova is Associate Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, and Head of the Electrochemical Biosensors and Bioelectrocatalysis Group at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO). She holds a PhD in Electrochemistry, Kinetics and Catalysis. Her research focuses on electrochemistry, bioelectrocatalysis, DNA nanotechnology, biosensors, bioelectronics, and functional nanomaterials. Her group develops advanced electrochemical technologies for clinical and point-of-care diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and sustainable bioenergy applications, including biofuel cells and bioelectronic systems. Her research also explores electron transfer in nucleic acids and enzymes, antifouling interfaces, and nanostructured materials for biomedical and environmental applications.

Prof. Dimitrios A. Giannakoudakis, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Poland
Title: "Beyond Conventional Metrics in Photocatalysis: Titanate-Based Nanomaterials for Green and Energy-Efficient Waste-to-Chemicals Processes"
Dr. Dimitrios A. Giannakoudakis is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Chemistry of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) and Principal Investigator of SONATA and OPUS research grants. He studied Chemistry at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), where he earned two MSc degrees, and received his PhD in Nanotechnology and Materials Chemistry from the City University of New York (CUNY) in 2017. Following postdoctoral and teaching appointments at CCNY, AUTH, and the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Warsaw, his research focuses on photo-, thermo-, and sono-catalysis for biomass valorization, plastics upcycling, environmental remediation, materials for human protection, and energy applications. He has authored over 155 publications with more than 7,500 citations and 8 edited books. Recognized among the world's top 2% most influential scientists since 2021, he serves as Chair of the Division of Physical Chemistry of EuChemS. In 2026-2027, he is a Visiting Scholar at Yale University.

🔹Organizing Committee

Prof. Dominik Eder, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
Prof. Dominik Eder is head of the "Molecular Materials Chemistry" division at IMC at TU Wien. His division currently consists of 4 subgroups (faculty members), 4 non-scientific staff and about 20 students and postdocs. His research interests include the synthesis and characterization of nanocarbon hybrids, 0-2D molecular inorganics, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolites and ordered mesoporous transition metal oxides and their in-depth fundamental evaluation for catalysis/photocatalysis, photovoltaics and electrochemical storage applications. His group has been instrumental in the introduction and development of nanocarbon-inorganic hybrid materials as a new class of functional composites.

Prof. Pawel Kulesza, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Pawel J. Kulesza is Professor of Chemistry at University of Warsaw, Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, and Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. His recent interests concern development and characterization of hierarchical and functionalized inorganic nanomaterials and interfaces of importance to electrocatalysis, photoelectrochemistry, analytical chemistry, energy conversion and storage. He is Associate Editor of Electrochimica Acta (Elsevier) and a member of editorial boards of Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysis, Russian Journal of Electrochemistry (Springer) and Catalysts (MDPI). In Electrochemical Society, in addition to activity in many committees and organization of symposia at meetings, he has served as Chair of Physical Analytical Electrochemistry Division and Chair of European Section. He is a recipient of Alessandro Volta Medal of Electrochemical Society (2024). He is also a member of American Chemical Society, International Society of Electrochemistry, and Polish Chemical Society.

Prof. Alla Zak, Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel
Prof. Alla Zak is Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Head of the Nanomaterials Laboratory at HIT, and Scientific Advisor in the Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science. An expert in nanoscience and nanotechnology, she holds a PhD from the Department of Materials and Interfaces at the Weizmann Institute, and an MSc and BSc in Physics from Kishinev University in Moldova. Before joining HIT in 2012 she served as Chief Scientist at NanoMaterials Ltd. Prof. Zak holds 4 patents, has published 98 scientific papers, participated in more than 100 scientific conferences worldwide.
The research of A. Zak is focused on synthesizing nanospheres and nanotubes from layered transition-metal dichalcogenides, which are useful in various electromechanical or electro-optical applications, as well as for polymer strengthening. The unique properties of these materials have already proved their effectiveness for such applications as biodegradable scaffolds for vascular diseases, piezoresistive sensors, effective catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), as solar cells, memory for artificial vision systems, and others.

Prof. Saim Emin, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Saim Emin obtained his Bachelor of Science from the University of Sofia "St. Kliment Ohridski" in Bulgaria in 2003. He then completed his Master of Science and Ph.D. in Chemistry at Saitama University, Japan, in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He then undertook postdoctoral appointments at the National Institute for Material Science (NIMS) in Japan and the University of Nova Gorica (UNG) in Slovenia. Dr. Emin previously held a junior professorship in the Faculty for Environmental Sciences at UNG before becoming an associate professor. He received the individual Marie Skłodowska-Curie Career Integration Grant from the European Commission. Dr. Emin's research centers on utilizing nanotechnology to create functional materials, particularly in the fields of photovoltaics, electrocatalysis, water splitting, and CO2 conversion. He is acknowledged for his contributions to the subject and acts as an editor for the "Symmetry" journal published by MDPI. Dr. Emin is also the founder of the European Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Association. He has been involved in organizing the annual International Conference on Functional Nanomaterials and Nanodevices series since 2017. Dr. Emin has a prolific publication record, having produced over 50 papers and accumulating more than 1400 citations for his work.

#NANOMAT2027

The list of speakers is continuously updated. Latest revision: 10 September 2026.