Plenary Speakers

Prof. Andrea C. Ferrari, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Andrea C. Ferrari earned a PhD in electrical engineering from Cambridge University, after a Laurea in nuclear engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He is Professor of nanotechnology and Professorial Fellow of Pembroke College. He founded and directs the Cambridge Graphene Centre and the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Graphene Technology. He chairs the management panel and is the Science and Technology Officer of the European Graphene Flagship. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the Materials Research Society, Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Optical Society and he has been recipient of numerous awards, such as the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation, the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, the Marie Curie Excellence Award, the Philip Leverhulme Prize, The EU-40 Materials Prize. He also received 4 European Research Council Grants.

Prof. Zeev Zalevsky, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Title: "3D Printing of Functional Metallic Nano and Micro-structures"
Zeev Zalevsky received his B.Sc. and direct Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Tel-Aviv University in 1993 and 1996 respectively. Zeev is currently a full Professor at Bar-Ilan University and its Vice President for academia industry relations. He is the former Dean of the faculty of engineering at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. His major fields of research are optical super resolution, biomedical optics, nano-photonics and fiber-based processing and sensing architectures. Zeev has published more than 1000 publications and about 100 patents. He is a fellow of many large scientific societies such as IEEE, Optica, SPIE and more. For his work he received many national and international prizes.

Prof. Stefan Kaskel, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Germany
Title: "Metal-Organic Frameworks & Beyond"
Stefan Kaskel studied chemistry at Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen (Germany), and received his Ph.D. degree in 1997 from the same University. He was a group leader at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim a.d. Ruhr (2000-2004) in the group of F. Schüth. In 2004 he became full professor for Inorganic Chemistry at Technical University Dresden and 2008 also business field manager Chemical Surface Technology at Fraunhofer IWS, Dresden.
His research interests are focused on porous and nanostructured materials (high surface area MOFs and carbons) for applications in energy storage, catalysis, batteries and separation technologies. Stefan Kaskel has authored more than 500 publications with > 37000 citations (google scholar h-index 103) and has contributed as inventor to more than 50 patent applications. In 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 he was recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Thomson Reuters and Clarivate Analytics.

Prof. Christian Serre, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France
Christian Serre is a CNRS research director. He obtained his PhD in materials' chemistry in 1999 under the supervision of prof. Gérard Férey in Versailles, France. After a post-doc in USA at Rhodia, he started his CNRS career in 2001 at the Lavoisier Institute in Versailles where he was one of the main discover of the well-known MIL class of MOF materials. He created in 2016 at Ecole Normale Supérieure, ESPCI Paris within the PSL University, a new Institute dedicated to porous solids and related composites for health, the environment and energy. To date, he has published more than 460 articles, holds 46 patent families and is the cofounder of a startup dedicated to indoor air quality. He is member of the french academy of sciences and the European academy of sciences.

Keynote Speaker

Prof. Antonio Di Bartolomeo, University of Salerno, Italy
Title: "Optoelectronic and Synaptic Functions in 2D SnS₂, SnSe₂, and SnSSe"
Antonio Di Bartolomeo is a Professor of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Salerno, Italy. His research focuses on nanostructured materials—including 2D materials, graphene, nanotubes, and nanowires—and their optical and electrical properties, with applications in transistors, memories, photodetectors, solar cells, and supercapacitors.
He earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Salerno in 1997 and began his scientific career at CERN, working on neutrino oscillations and heavy-ion collisions. He later held research and engineering roles at STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies, and Intel Corporation, bringing valuable industry experience to his academic work. He has been a visiting scientist at IHP-Microelectronics (Germany) and Georgetown University (USA), and served as an IEEE Nanotechnology Council Distinguished Lecturer. He is currently a Senior Member of the IEEE Nanotechnology Council and a member of the Institute of Physics (IOP). He is Editor-in-Chief of IOP Nano Express and IET Micro & Nano Letters, and serves on the editorial boards of several journals.

Invited Speakers

Prof. Karel Novotný, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Title: "Spectroscopic aspects of laser ablation synthesis of nanoparticles"
A long-time researcher in the Laboratory of Atomic Spectrochemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University of Brno. Since 1999, he has been interested in the field of laser-assisted methods for elemental analysis and laser ablation synthesis of nanoparticles. He has more than 20 years of experience in atomic spectroscopy, including laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), laser ablation, and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). He graduated from Masaryk University Brno in 1993 and received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the same institute in 2000. Since 2014, he has been an associate professor at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University of Brno, and occasionally a senior researcher at Brno University of Technology.

Prof. Daniela Placha, Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Prof. Daniela Plachá obtained her MSc. degree in the Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, the Czech Republic (1991), her Ph.D. in the Protection of the Environment in industry from the VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, the Czech Republic (2004). Since 2020 she is a full Professor (Prof.) of the Protection of the Environment, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Faculty of Mining and Geology (2020) teaching and tutoring students in field of organic chemistry, nanotechnology and environmental science.
Daniela Plachá started her career at the VSB - TUO in 1996 as analytical chemist in the field of chromatography. In 2008, she started to devote herself to science and research, namely the applications of nanomaterials in the field of the environment, and then to the development and research of nanocomposites for environmental and biomedical purposes.
Currently, she is the Head of the Nanotechnology Centre of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies, VSB - TUO. She is a member of the Czech National Clay Group and AIPEA (Association Internationale Pour l´Etude des Argiles, Czech Chemical Society.

Prof. Nina Schalk, University of Leoben, Leoben, Austria
Title: "From synthesis to nanostructure: Investigation of TiSiN nanocomposite coatings using high-resolution methods"
Nina Schalk has been active in the field of multifunctional thin films for over 15 years and is head of the research group Advanced Surface Engineering at the Department of Materials Science, Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria. Her research focuses on the design, synthesis, and high resolution microstructural characterization of functional and nanocomposite coatings, aiming to correlate their nanostructure with functional properties. In 2022, she was promoted to Associate Professor of Surface Engineering. She has authored more than 80 publications in internationally peer-reviewed journals and has an h-index of 27 (Scopus).
Nina Schalk serves on the editorial boards of Surface & Coatings Technology and Surfaces. She is a member of the Long Range Planning Committee of the International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMCTF), and Chair of the Sustainability Division of the International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Applications (IUVSTA).

Assoc. Prof. Nadežda Kongi, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
Title: "Geometry as a Key to Overcome Scaling Relations in Electrocatalysis"
Assoc. Prof. Nadežda Kongi leads the Inorganic Functional Materials Lab (KongiLab) at the University of Tartu, Estonia, specializing in electrocatalysis, nanomaterials, and electrochemical energy conversion. Her research integrates synthesis, characterization, and computer modeling to develop advanced catalysts for CO2 reduction, oxygen reactions, and nitrogen conversion. She is recognized for pioneering geometry-adaptive catalyst concepts that explore how geometric parameters can overcome fundamental scaling relations in electrocatalysis. Dr. Kongi has worked as a visiting researcher in leading laboratories in Spain, and Canada. Her group actively collaborates with industry on clean energy and carbon conversion technologies. She is committed to advancing sustainable chemistry through interdisciplinary research and education.

Prof. Fabiola Martínez Navarro, University of Castilla–La Mancha, Spain
Fabiola Martínez Navarro is the Deputy Director of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Biochemistry in Toledo. She holds this position at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) and her research interests include chemical processes, bioengineering, and environmental technology.

Prof. Veronica Salgueirino, University of Vigo, Spain
Prof. Verónica Salgueiriño is a leading researcher and professor at the University of Vigo, Spain, specializing in Nanotechnology and Applied Physics.
Her research focuses on nanomaterials, particularly magnetic nanocrystals and nanocomposites, with a keen interest in their application in fields like biomedicine and environmental science. She is part of the Magnetic Materials group and the CINBIO research center at the university.
Prof. Salgueiriño is also known for her outreach work, promoting women in science. She has been recognized with a prestigious L'Oréal-UNESCO "For Women in Science" research grant in 2008.

Prof. Victor M. Prida, University of Oviedo, Spain
Title: “Fe-based nanotubes and core-shell nanostructures for multifunctional magnetic applications”
Dr. V. M. Prida is Full Professor of Applied Physics in the Department of Physics at the University of Oviedo, where he has led the Magnetic Materials and Nanomaterials research group since 2017. His main scientific interests focus on the synthesis and characterization of magnetic properties and magnetotransport phenomena in patterned ferromagnetic nanowires and nanotubes for spintronics applications, as well as on Heusler-based alloys exhibiting ferromagnetic shape memory and magnetocaloric effects. He is also an active member of the IEEE Magnetics Society, serving as secretary and chair of the Spanish Chapter for the 2021–2025 term.

Dr. Benjamin Mockenhaupt, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Title: "Shaping catalytic performance: Pulsed laser modification of nanoparticles"
Benjamin studied Chemical Engineering at FAU Erlangen–Nuremberg. He completed his Ph.D. 2023 in Inorganic Chemistry in the group of Prof. M. Behrens at the University of Duisburg–Essen (UDE), where he investigated the co‑precipitation and the role of trivalent cations in zinc‑promoted catalysts. From 2022 to 2025, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Catalysis Engineering group of Prof. A. Urakawa at TU Delft, focusing on the development of catalysts for CO₂ hydrogenation. He has since returned to UDE as a group leader in Technical Chemistry, conducting catalysis research with a particular emphasis on laser‑modified nanoparticles as catalysts.

Prof. Vlado Lazarov, University of York, UK
Title: "In‑Situ Environmental TEM/STEM of Nanostructure Redox Processes and Phase Transformations at the Atomic Scale"
Prof. Vlado Lazarov's research focuses on atomic‑scale characterisation and modelling of materials, with a recent emphasis on in‑situ environmental (S)TEM studies of redox processes and phase transformations in functional nanostructures. He leads the York–JEOL Nanocentre at the University of York, where he has driven major national investments in next‑generation electron microscopy infrastructure. His work reveals real‑time chemical and structural dynamics in materials central to catalysis, energy conversion, and spin‑electronic devices. Prof. Lazarov has led several major EPSRC‑UK programmes, including the UK's flagship AC‑ eSTEM initiative for in‑operando atomic‑scale microscopy. He is widely recognised for pioneering correlated approaches that link fundamental atomic‑scale mechanisms with functional performance in advanced materials and technologies.

Prof. Milan Sykora, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Title: “Effect of charge doping on the electronic structure of strongly confined nanocrystals.”
Dr. Sykora obtained his MSc. in Chemistry from Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia and his PhD from Marquette University, WI, USA. After postdoctoral training at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC, USA he joined Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM, USA, where he worked as a technical staff member for sixteen years, focusing primarily on development and studies of nanomaterials and other advanced materials. In 2019, Dr. Sykora was selected as ERA Chair and a Director of a newly established Laboratory for Advanced Materials at Comenius University in Slovakia, which he currently leads. He is a co-author of more than seventy publications and is a co-inventor of five US patents.

Prof. Ildoo Chung, Pusan National University, Republic of Korea
Title: "Biodegradable and thermoresponsive hollow porous micro/nanoparticles for sustained drug release"
Prof. Ildoo Chung received his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from Pusan National University in 2000 and joined its faculty in 2005 after postdoctoral research at the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Adhesion and Interface and serves on the boards of several professional societies in Korea.
His research focuses on the design and synthesis of advanced functional polymers using controlled radical polymerization methods (ATRP, RAFT) for applications in biomaterials, drug delivery, 3D-printable materials, biodegradable polymers, and polymer composites.

Dr hab. Joanna Grzyb, University of Wrocław, Poland
Title: "Bionanohybrids of phycobilisomes and colloidal quantum dots: Identyfing an energy transfer botle neck between two interacting energy transfer nets"
Dr hab. Joanna Grzyb graduated in Biology from the Jagiellonian University, where she also obtained her PhD in Biochemistry and habilitation in Biophysics. She has completed several international research fellowships, including a postdoctoral stay at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She led her own research group at the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, studying bionanohybrid systems.
Currently, she is a professor at Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław. Her research interest focuses on bionanohybrid junctions, combining nanoparticles/nanomaterials and biological molecules. Especially, she seeks a possibility of electron transfer within bionanohybrids, and its interference with energy transfer, for further applications in light-driven control of a live cell redox state.

Prof. Karsten Fleischer, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Title: "Nanolaminated transparent conducting oxides: tuning optical and electrical properties"
Dr. Karsten Fleischer is an Associate Professor on Surface and Interface Science and Characterisation of Advanced Materials/Nanomaterials in the School of Physical Sciences in Dublin City University since 2018. He received his PhD at the TU Berlin in 2005. He was an IRCSET Postdoctoral Fellow at Trinity College Dublin till 2007 and continued to work as Postdoctoral Fellow in TCDs Applied Physics Research Group.
Dr. Fleischer's research focuses on thin film oxides and oxide surface modifications for energy and ICT applications. This includes their thorough characterisation in terms of stoichiometry, optical-, electrical-, and crystallographic properties using various deposition and characterisation techniques. His research also includes the investigations of the surface states in such oxides by electrical and surface sensitive optical characterisation methods.

Dr. Martin Kalbac, J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
Dr. Martin Kalbac graduated in Inorganic Chemistry from Charles University in Prague, where he also obtained his PhD in 2002. Since 2001, he has been a research scientist at the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, serving as Vice-Director since 2010. He also teaches at Palacký University in Olomouc and is a member of several national scientific boards and expert commissions.
Dr. Kalbac has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications, receiving more than 1100 citations (h-index 17). His achievements have been recognized with the Humboldt Research Fellowship (2004), the Otto Wichterle Award (2007), and the Czech Academy of Sciences Award for Outstanding Research (2008).

Prof. Stefan Facsko, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany
Title: "Low-energy ion modifications of surfaces and 2D materials"
Stefan Facsko, born in Timisoara, Romania, studied physics at the RWTH Aachen from 1986 to 1993. He continued with his PhD at the same university in the Institute of Semiconductor Technology, lead by Prof. Heinrich Kurz, where he defended his thesis „Particle Emission from Semiconductor Surfaces Induced by Ion Beams and Ultra-short Laser Pulse: Applications in Nanotechnology and Analysis“ in 2001. In 2003 he changed to the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and became a junior research group leader for „Highly Charged Ions“ at the Ion Beam. Later he became also group leader for „Ion Induced Nanostructures“ and „Ion Beam Analysis“. Since 2019 he is leading the Ion Beam Center.

Prof. Federico Bella, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
Title: "Tailoring potassium battery composite electrolytes for safe and durable energy storage systems"
Federico Bella is Full Professor of Chemistry at the Polytechnic University of Turin (Italy). After graduating in Industrial Chemistry in 2011, he earned a PhD in Electronic Devices in 2015. He is Vice President of the Italian Chemical Society and, at the Polytechnic, coordinates a research group focused on the chemistry of materials for energy devices. He has received awards from leading international scientific associations in the field of chemical sciences (Royal Society of Chemistry, American Chemical Society, International Society of Electrochemistry, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei) and twice from the President of the Italian Republic. He counts 140 publications and an h-index = 80.

Prof. Sandrine Gerber, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Title: "Bioconjugation of Aptamers to Harmonic Nanoparticles for Active Cancer Targeting"
Sandrine Gerber is Deputy Director of the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering and Adjunct Professor, heading the Group for Functionalized Biomaterials at EPFL (Switzerland).
She has a solid broad expertise in synthetic organic chemistry and polymer functionalization for the design and preparation of complex bioactive molecules and macromolecular conjugates .
The research activities of her group focus on the design, synthesis and evaluation of multifunctional (nano)biomaterials for therapeutic applications including cancer imaging probes, theranostic nanomaterials, biosensors and gene nanocarriers. She received several awards, including the 2010 Werner Prize from the Swiss Chemical Society. In 2020, she was elected fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials.

Prof. Simona M. Coman, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Title: "Bimetallic N-doped carbon frameworks derived from ZIFs: from design to catalytic applications in furanics valorization"
Simona M. Coman (b. 1969) obtained her PhD in 2001 in the field of heterogeneous hydrogenation catalysis. Following several research stages at KU Leuven (Belgium), a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), and a research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany), she was appointed full professor at the University of Bucharest in 2008. In 2012, she received the prestigious "Gheorghe Spacu" Award in Chemical Sciences from the Romanian Academy. Her research interests focus on heterogeneous catalysis for the synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates, as well as for biomass conversion. She has authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications, with more than 3,000 citations and an h-index of 38.

Prof. Stefaan Soenen, KU Leuven, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Stefaan Soenen is the PI of the NanoHealth and Optical Imaging Group. Stefaan's main research interests lie in the development of advanced optical imaging methods for biomedical research, focusing on nanomedicines and CAR-NK cells

Dr. Simone Adorinni, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
Title: "Adaptive Supramolecular Systems for Functional Nanomaterials"
Simone Adorinni is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Trieste, where his research focuses on peptides and supramolecular nanostructures for biomedical applications. He previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Nitschke group at the University of Cambridge, investigating the self-assembly of complex molecular architectures. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Chemistry at the University of Trieste in 2017 and 2019. In 2024 he completed his Ph.D. in the group of Prof. Silvia Marchesan, where he developed functional materials based on peptide hydrogels, carbon nanomaterials, and metal–organic cages.

Prof. Cristina Satriano, University of Catania, Catalana, Italy
Title: "Multipurpose Hybrids Beyond Graphene with Magnetite, Palladium, and Gold Nanoparticles for Theranostics and Sustainable Environmental Applications"
Cristina Satriano is an Associate Professor at the University of Catania, Italy, specializing in the physicochemical study of biointerfaces and hybrid nanostructures, with a focus on two-dimensional and plasmonic nanomaterials. She has authored over 140 scientific publications and serves on the editorial boards of several international journals. Prof. Satriano has led and contributed to numerous European and national research projects, driving interdisciplinary collaboration across chemistry, biology, and materials science. Her research advances green, bioinspired approaches for creating multifunctional nanoplatforms for cancer and neurodegenerative disease theranostics, as well as applications in sensing, energy, and environmental remediation, bridging fundamental research innovation with translational impact.

Prof. Gintautas Tamulaitis, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
Title: "Advantages, problems, and prospects of nanoscintillators"
Prof. Gintautas Tamulaitis received his PhD degree in physics from Vilnius University, Lithuania. He is currently a full professor at the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology at Vilnius University. His research background is in laser spectroscopy of semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures. In recent years, his research is focused predominantly on the applications of time-resolved photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence spectroscopies, and transient optical absorption techniques for the development of scintillating materials for fast radiation detectors on demand in high energy physics experiments and medical imaging devices. He authored and co-authored more than 200 research papers and is the recipient of two Lithuanian Science Awards.

Prof. Chiara Maccato, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
Title: "Frontier Electrocatalysts: Integrating Renewable Energy Generation and Water Treatment Technologies for a Sustainable Future"
Chiara Maccato completed her MSc in Chemistry with full marks in 1995, followed by a PhD in Chemical Sciences in 1999. After a post-doctoral position, she joined the Department of Chemical Sciences at the University of Padova as an Assistant Professor in 2000. Currently, she holds the position of Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the same institution.
Her research primarily focuses on inorganic and hybrid nanoarchitectures, with applications in sustainable energy production, environmental remediation, and gas sensing. Throughout her career, she has led numerous research projects and industrial collaborations in these areas.
Since 2005, Professor Maccato has been overseeing a morphological characterization laboratory and heading a research group dedicated to multi-functional inorganic nanosystems. She has published over 230 papers in peer-reviewed international journals.

Prof. Gloria Berlier, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Title: "Vibrational and electronic spectroscopy for the characterization of Cu-zeolites"
Gloria Berlier is Full Professor in Physical Chemistry at the University of Turin (Italy). She obtained her PhD in Chemical Sciences in 2001. Her research focuses on the characterization of high surface area and porous materials, for application as heterogeneous catalysts, biomaterials and sorbents. Her experimental approach involves in situ and operando vibrational and electronic spectroscopies, electronic microscopy, gas-volumetric and structural techniques. The aim is to find structure-activity correlations, also with the help of modeling. She counts 156 publications and an h-index of 43.

Prof. Rubén Mas-Ballesté, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Title: "Structural Design for Tailoring Photocatalytic Activity in Porous Organic Materials for Environmental Applications"
Rubén Mas-Ballesté earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2004. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Minnesota (USA). In 2008, he was appointed as a “Ramón y Cajal” researcher, becoming a permanent faculty member in 2013 and an Associate Professor in 2021 in the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. His research adopts a multidisciplinary approach to address challenges in catalysis, with a primary focus on the design, synthesis, and catalytic applications of photoactive extended organic materials. He currently leads the research group “Pores in Materials; Polymers and Metals” (www.pimpamchemistry.com). Dr. Mas-Ballesté is co-author of more than 100 articles published in high-impact international journals (over 7,000 citations; h-index: 37), 4 book chapters, 3 patents, and more than 50 conference presentations.

Prof. Neil R. Thomas, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK
Title: "Tumour targeted drug delivery with engineered self-assembly protein cages"
Prof. Neil R. Thomas obtained his BSc(Hons) Chemistry (1987) and PhD (1990) from the University of Southampton, UK, undertaking research on the synthesis and evaluation of amino acid-based probes for enzyme catalysed reactions with Prof. David Gani. He was then a NATO/SERC postdoctoral research fellow working on catalytic antibodies in the laboratory of Prof. Steve Benkovic at the Pennsylvania State University (1990-92) before taking up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and proleptic lectureship at the University of Bath, UK (1992-95). He then moved to the University of Nottingham in 1995 and is currently Professor of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry, Head of the Organic and Biological Chemistry Section and Deputy Director of the Biodiscovery Institute. He has undertaken two sabbaticals at the Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research is focussed on engineering self-assembling proteins (apoferritin, spider silk) for new biomedical applications and the development of small molecule drugs against tuberculosis.

Prof. Joan J. Carvajal, Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain
Title: "Engineering Lanthanide-Based Nanomaterials for Tailored Light–Matter Interactions: From Ultralow-Threshold Photonics to Multifunctional Nanosensing"
Joan J. Carvajal Martí received his PhD in Chemistry from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and conducted postdoctoral research as a Fulbright Fellow at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is currently Full Professor of Crystallography and Mineralogy at URV and a senior member of the PhO2TO research group, where he leads research on the design of advanced luminescent nanomaterials for photonics and optical sensing. His work spans lanthanide-doped nanomaterials, upconversion systems, hybrid nanocomposites, and integrated photonic platforms, with applications in thermometry, manometry, and telecommunications. He has authored more than 235 scientific publications, holds 2 patents, and has supervised 11 PhD theses awarded with Cum Laude distinction. Prof. Carvajal has coordinated and participated in numerous national and European research projects and is a frequent invited speaker at international conferences. He has held several academic leadership roles serving as Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry at URV since 2022, and president of the Spanish Conference of Chemistry Deans' since 2025, actively promoting research excellence, innovation, and internationalization.

Dr. Marcus Einert, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
Title: "Mesoporous High-Entropy Oxide Thin Film Electrocatalysts for the Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction"
Marcus Einert is a materials scientist at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUDa), Germany, where he leads a research group in the Surface Science Laboratory. He earned his degree in Materials Science from Justus-Liebig-University Gießen in 2012 and completed his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, focusing on sol-gel synthesis of nanostructured metal oxides for photoeletrochemical water splitting. He had two research stays in the USA at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and University of California, Davis (UCD).
His research primarily deals about the development and structural characterization of novel sol-gel-based nanomaterials utilized for enhanced energy conversion reactions, particularly in the field of photoelectrochemistry, artificial photosynthesis, and electrocatalysis. Dr. Einert has contributed to numerous publications in prestigious journals and actively participates in international research projects.
In 2024, he received a major funding grant from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (Germany) to lead an independent research group exploring innovative approaches to improve the efficiency of the solar water splitting reaction for green hydrogen production. His interdisciplinary work and commitment to education bolster the TUDa's reputation as a leading institution in materials science.

Prof. Simone Pokrant, University of Salzburg, Austria
Title: "Morphology design of oxynitride particles for photocatalysis"
Simone Pokrant is Professor of Functional Materials at the department of Chemistry and Physics of Materials, University of Salzburg (Austria) since 2018. She previously served, among others, as Professor of Physical Chemistry in Saarbrücken (Germany) and as research group leader at Empa (Switzerland). She holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Marburg (Germany). Her research interests focus on the development of materials for renewable energy storage and conversion, particularly for batteries and photocatalysis. So far, she has contributed to more than 70 peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Alba Garzon Manjon, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology – ICN2 (CSIC and BIST), Barcelona, Spain
Title: "Insights into High-Entropy Oxides for Oxygen Evolution Reaction: Correlating TEM and Synchrotron Techniques"
Alba Garzon Manjon is a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and Assistant Professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Her research focuses on the characterization of energy materials using advanced electron microscopy, with particular attention to in situ and identical-location approaches. She studies structural, chemical, and morphological changes at the nanoscale. By combining TEM and SEM with correlative techniques such as synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy and diffraction, she links nanoscale evolution to material performance. Her work contributes to the understanding of degradation and stability processes in energy materials.

Dr. Marian Varga, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Title: "Towards Ga2O3/diamond-based solar-blind UV photodetectors"
Marian Varga received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in 2008 and 2013, respectively, from the Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology in Bratislava. In 2011, as a PhD student and later as a postdoctoral fellow, he joined the Diamond Materials group of prof. Alexander Kromka at the Institute of Physics (IoP) of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. In 2020, he obtained the position of senior researcher at the Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE) of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) in Bratislava within the Mobility and Reintegration Programme (MoRePro) of the SAS. In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious IMPULZ grant, enabling him to continue pioneering new research topics at IEE SAS, where he is establishing a new research group and strengthening international collaborations. His research activity focuses on chemical vapour deposition of carbon-based materials (mainly using polycrystalline diamond) in their intrinsic or doped form, post-growth modification (etching, nanostructuring, surface chemical functionalization), preparation of diamond-based heterostructures with other materials (e.g. Ga2O3), and characterization of their opto-electronic properties. He participated in research activities documented by more than 80 scientific publications (>1600 citations, Hirsch index 19), 1 book chapter, and 1 utility model.

Assoc. Prof. Ivna Kavre Piltaver, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
Title: "Effect of Cu Nanoinclusions on the Structural and Photocatalytic Properties of ALD-Grown ZnO Thin Films"
Dr. Ivna Kavre Piltaver completed her doctorate in physics from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2014, focusing on experimental work in the field of condensed matter physics. During her doctoral studies, she gained extensive knowledge in synthesizing micrometer-scale particles using photolithography and soft lithography techniques. She worked with microparticles in external magnetic fields and optical tweezers and used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to characterize particles.
Since joining the Department of Physics (now Faculty of Physics) and the Center for Micro- and Nanosciences and Technologies at the University of Rijeka in 2015, her research has focused mainly on scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Since 2018, she has been the head of the Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory. During her master studies until 2024, she also worked on X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) for the analysis of various samples, including boron nitride nanotubes, nitinol, molybdenum and WO3 thin films. She also gained experience with atomic layer deposition (ALD) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).
Currently, her research is focused on understanding the reduction mechanisms of thin metal oxide films such as WO3 as well as the optical and photocatalytic properties of ALD-grown semiconductor films such as TiO2 and ZnO and performing surface morphology analysis.

Dr. Silvie Bernatova, Institute of Scientific Instruments of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic & Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici – CNR, Messina, Italy
Title: "Using Optical Manipulation Techniques to Explore the Nanoworld"
Dr. Silvie Bernatova obtained her Ph.D. degree in 2017 at the Institute of Scientific Instruments of the Czech Academy of Sciences, with the degree awarded by Masaryk University in Brno. Her long-term research focuses on the combination of optical manipulation techniques and Raman spectroscopy for the study of micro- and nanoscale objects. Her work focuses on experimental studies of light–matter interactions and the development of advanced analytical methods. One of her current research directions is the optical manipulation of plasmonic objects and their application in combination with spectroscopic analyses. She spent three years at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), at the Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici (IPCF), where she contributed to a project focused on the detection of nanoplastics using optical and acoustic manipulation techniques.

Prof. Hossein Kazemian, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada
Title: "From Zeolites to Metal–Organic Frameworks: Designing Functional Porous Nanomaterials for Environmental Sensing and Remediation"
Hossein Kazemian is a Professor in Environmental Science at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Canada, and Director of Northern Analytical Laboratory Services (NALS). He leads the Materials Technology and Environmental Research Team (MATTER), focusing on the synthesis, characterization, and application of porous materials—from zeolites to metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)—for environmental sensing, contaminant removal, and advanced functional composites. His research integrates advanced materials design with analytical measurement platforms to translate laboratory innovations toward real-world environmental and industrial challenges. He has authored 150+ peer-reviewed publications and has supervised and mentored graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and international trainees in interdisciplinary projects spanning materials chemistry and environmental applications. He actively collaborates with academic and industry partners in Canada and internationally to advance scalable, high-performance porous materials and hybrid systems.

Dr. Thomas Rath, Graz University of Technology, Austria
Dr. Thomas Rath studied Industrial Chemistry at Graz University of Technology, where he completed his PhD in 2008 at the Institute for Chemistry and Technology of Materials, focusing on hybrid nanomaterials for solar cell applications. He subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Nanocomposite Solar Cells, where his research centered on roll-to-roll processable materials for polymer–nanoparticle hybrid solar cells, with emphasis on efficiency and stability.
From 2013 to 2015, Dr. Rath held an Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) at Imperial College London, working on chemical interface tailoring in hybrid solar cells. Since returning to Austria, he has continued his research at Graz University of Technology and has been a Senior Scientist at the ICTM since 2019.
His research interests include organic and hybrid non-toxic absorber materials, lead-free perovskite solar cells, precursor-based synthesis of semiconducting metal sulfide films, and the relationship between material interfaces, photovoltaic performance, and device lifetime.

Prof. Yogendra Kumar Mishra, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark
Title: "Tetrapods based Advanced Materials for Advanced Technologies"
Yogendra Kumar Mishra is full professor at Mads Clausen Institute, NanoSYD, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Denmark. Prior to SDU, he worked as group leader at Kiel University, Germany. He earned habilitation (Dr. habil.) in Materials Science from Kiel University in 2015 and Ph. D. in Physics in 2008 from Jawaharlal Nehru University (Inter University Accelerator Centre), New Delhi, India. He has introduced a new flame-based synthesis method for growth of tetrapod structures form zinc oxide, and their highly porous 3D interconnected flexible networks. The tetrapods and their 3D networks have demonstrated many applications in engineering, agriculture, and biomedical fields. Additionally, tetrapods can be used as templates to create hybrid and new 3D materials. At SDU Sønderborg, he is heading ‘Smart Materials’ group with the focus to develop new materials for green and sustainable technologies. He is Humboldtian and recently honored with FRSC- Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr. Constanze Neumann, Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Germany
Title: “Rational Optimization of Selective Heterogeneous Catalysts with Atomic Layer Deposition”
Dr. Neumann studied chemistry at the University of Oxford and completed her PhD at Harvard University in the group of Tobias Ritter. During her postdoctoral stay at MIT in the group of Mircea Dincă, she worked on MOF-derived catalysts for the upgrading of sustainably-derived short-chain alcohols. In the fall of 2020, she joined the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung as a Lise-Meitner Group Leader, where her group works on the precision synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts based on alloy nanoparticles and MOFs. Dr. Neumann is a 2021 Thieme Journals Awardee, was named a “ACS Organic and Inorganic Au Rising Star” in 2023, received a Bürgenstock JSP fellowship and a Johnson-Matthey Platinum Group Metals Award. She is also on the editorial advisory board of ChemCatChem.

Prof. Daniel Prochowicz, Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS, Warsaw, Poland
Title: "Strategies for improving stability of perovskite solar cells"
Daniel Prochowicz earned his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the Warsaw University of Technology in 2013. He conducted postdoctoral research at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne under Michael Graetzel supervision. Currently, he is working as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS, Warsaw), where he serves as head of “Semiconducting Materials and Optoelectronic Devices” research group. His current research interests are in the development of efficient procedures for the preparation of stable and efficient perovskite-based optoelectronic devices including solar cells and photodetectors.

Dr. Jenny Schneider, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Title: "From Structure to Reactivity: Single-Metal-Site Coordination in Covalent Organic Frameworks for CO2-to-CO Conversion"
Dr. Jenny Schneider is a Research Subgroup Leader at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where her research focuses on materials design and advanced spectroscopic and electrochemical characterization for solar energy conversion. She received her PhD in Chemistry from Leibniz University of Hannover, specializing in time-resolved spectroscopy of photoinduced processes in photocatalytic materials. She subsequently held postdoctoral positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the group of Prof. Gerald J. Meyer, where she studied photoinduced interfacial electron transfer at molecule–electrode interfaces. Her current research integrates porous organic frameworks and hybrid materials with molecularly defined and site-isolated metal catalysts for (photo)electrochemical processes, with a strong emphasis on structure–reactivity relationships.

Prof. Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi, University College London, London, United Kingdom
Title: "Designing Nanomaterials for the Electrified Catalysis of Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals"
Dr. Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi (FIMMM, FHEA, GYA) is an Associate Professor in Energy Materials at the Institute for Materials Discovery, University College London (UCL). His research focuses on the material and electronic properties of emerging semiconductors and nanomaterials for sustainable energy applications, including solar photovoltaics, lighting, and electrochemical systems for carbon capture and solar fuel production. After earning a PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge—where he received the Institute of Physics Semiconductor Physics Thesis Prize—he held an independent Research Fellowship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. He subsequently established his research group at UCL, where he leads major European projects such as NEXTCCUS and SUNPEROM, bridging innovative nanomaterial design with scalable electrochemical process engineering for green fuel synthesis. A Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM) and the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and a member of the Global Young Academy (GYA), Dr. Abdi-Jalebi is committed to translating fundamental research into sustainable technologies for a net-zero future.

Dr. Krunoslav Juraic, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Croatia
Title: "Transparent titania nanotube thin films: synthesis and applications"
Dr. Krunoslav Juraić is a Senior Research Associate at the Laboratory for Energy Conversion Materials and Sensors, Division of Materials Physics, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. He obtained his PhD in Physics in 2012 from the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the SAXS beamline of the Elettra Synchrotron, an outstation of TU Graz, focusing on advanced characterization of nanostructured materials using grazing-incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering. His current research is devoted to thin-film materials for photovoltaics and photocatalysis, with particular emphasis on nanostructured oxides and their structure–property relationships.

Dr. Rui Gusmão, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Czech Republic
Title: "Mixed-Metal Phosphorous Trichalcogenides (MPX₃) for Electrochemical Energy Conversion Catalysis"
Rui Gusmão obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona, Spain in 2012. He completed postdoctoral research at the University of Porto, Portugal (2012-2013), University of Minho, Portugal (2013-2016), and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2016-2017). He is currently working at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Czech Republic. His research focuses on 2D layered materials for electrochemical energy applications, particularly metal phosphorous trichalcogenides and high-entropy materials. His work integrates materials synthesis, liquid-phase exfoliation, and electrochemical characterization, with applications in water splitting electrocatalysis, energy storage, and electrochemical sensing. He has published over 65 papers in peer-reviewed international journals (h-index 27).

Dr. Vojtech Kundrat, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Title: "Core-shell inorganic nanotubes - playground for interlayer excitons"
Vojtech Kundrat is a new assitant professor at Masaryk University in Brno where he came back after postdoctoral fellowship (2025) in the group of professor Reshef Tenne at Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. His research is focused primarily on inorganic synthesis of 1D and 2D materials, in-situ electron microscopy and development of new instrumental methods in the field.
His group closely collaborate with Thermo Fisher Scientific corporation.

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
Title: "Inorganic nanotubes: new details in synthesis, properties and applications"
Prof. Alla Zak is Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Head of the Nanomaterials Laboratory at HIT, and Scientific Advisor in the Dept. of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science. An expert in nanoscience and nanotechnology, she holds a PhD from the Dept. 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 more than 100 scientific papers, participated in more than 100 scientific conferences worldwide, and received several national and international awards and grants, in recognition of her excellence and innovation in research.
The research of A. Zak is focused on synthetic of nanospheres and nanotubes from layered transition metal dichalcogenides useful in various electro-mechanical or electro-optical implementations. The unique properties of these material already proved their effectiveness for such applications as strengthening of polymers, piezoresistive sensors, effective catalyst for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), as solar cells, memory for artificial vision system and others.

Prof. Saim Emin, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Title: "Electrocatalysis for Sustainable Chemical Transformations"
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.

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