Speakers

Tao Zhang received his Ph.D. degree in 1989 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP). After one year at the University of Birmingham as a postdoctoral fellow, he joined DICP again in 1990 where he was promoted to a full professor in 1995. He is currently the director of DICP. His research interests are focused on the design and synthesis of nano- and subnanometer catalyst materials that have been widely applied in gas purification and micro-propulsion systems in China.

Núria López obtained her Ph.D. degree in Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Barcelona, Spain in 1999. She joined ICIQ in 2005. She specialises in applying computational techniques to understand catalytic performance and is a pioneer in the introduction of open data practices in Computational Chemistry. Her h-impact is 100 and she has published over 300 articles.
She was awarded an ERC Starting Grant (2010) and then a ERC Proof-of-concept (2015) by the European Research Council.

Professor Ning Yan joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) as an Assistant Professor and established the Lab of Green Catalysis in 2012. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2018 and Professor in 2024. His major research interest includes catalytic conversion of renewable carbon sources, green chemistry & engineering, and catalyst development.

Gianvito Vilé is Associate Professor of Chemical Processes at Politecnico di Milano. He obtained his PhD from ETH Zurich in 2016 and, after several years of experience in the industrial sector in Switzerland, started his independent academic career at Politecnico di Milano in 2020. His research focuses on catalysis and process engineering for sustainable chemical manufacturing.

Samira Siahrostami is an Iranian-Canadian computational chemist who is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair at Simon Fraser University. She designs new materials for catalysis, and develops computer simulations to understand electrochemical reactions.

Prof. Christophe Copéret is Full Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences at ETH Zürich, and Head of the Department. His scientific interest lies at the frontiers of molecular, material and surface chemistry, with the aims to design functional materials with applications in catalysis (sustainable chemistry and energy), molecular recognition, imaging and microelectronics. He is a member of the NCCR Catalysis and co-Chair of SwissCat+, as well as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Prof. Dr. Beatriz Roldán Cuenya is currently the director of the Interface Science Department at the FHI in Berlin (Germany). In addition, she became interim director of the Inorganic Chemistry Department in April 2023.

Prof. Ali Coskun is currently developing covalent organic frameworks for CO2 capture, separation, and conversion, single atom catalysis, environmental remediation, and Li-ion batteries. He has published more than 170 articles and reviews in leading chemistry and materials journals. His research efforts have recently been recognized with 2023 Swiss Green and Sustainable Chemistry Award. He is the founder of a start-up company, Separatic, focusing on gas separation technologies.

Zupeng Chen is currently a full professor at Nanjing Forestry University (China). His research focuses on designing efficient heterogeneous catalysts for applications including biomass valorization, photo(electro)catalysis, and industrial relevant transformations. He has published over 150 papers in high-impact journals (e.g., Nat. Nanotechnol., Nat. Commun., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., Adv. Mater.), with > 13000 citations (H-index 56).

Emiel Hensen is Professor of Inorganic Materials and Catalysis at Eindhoven University of Technology. His research focuses on understanding the nature of catalytic active sites and reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysis. He has made important contributions to zeolite catalysis, sustainable hydrocarbon and biomass conversion, and single-atom catalysis, combining advanced spectroscopy, theory, and catalyst design to develop more efficient and sustainable chemical processes.

Univ.Prof. Gareth Parkinson PhD was appointed as University Professor for Surface Reactivity at TU Wien in February 2021. He was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) to study how individual atoms can be used as catalysts. He aims to understand the atomic-scale processes underlying reactivity on metal-oxide surfaces.

Professor Liu joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong as a Professor in 2023. His research focuses on photo(electro)catalysis and in-situ/operando characterization. Professor Liu was awarded emerging investigator by Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Royal Society of Chemistry in 2016.

Honorary Professor at Cardiff University, School of Chemistry, since Sept 2023.
Scientific Consultant at Johnson Matthey plc, UK, Catalyst Technologies Business Unit, responsible for the development, scale-up and commercial scale manufacture of a wide range of supported metal catalysts (1996-2023). PhD, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Dr. Manoj B. Gawande (FRSC-UK, FICS, FMASc) received his Ph.D. in 2008 from Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. Presently, he is an Associate Professor at Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai-Marathwada Campus, Jalna, India and visiting professor at VSB-TUO. He has published over 180 research articles (citations >21,000). His research focus on the development of single-atom catalysts and sustainable applications.