Detlev Grützmacher studied Physics at the Georgia Augusta University of Göttingen and the Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule in Aachen (Germany). He stayed in the group of Prof. P. Balk at the Institute of Semiconductor Electronics in Aachen for his diploma and PHD thesis from 1987 to 1991, investigating the deposition of Ga-In-As-P compounds by MOCVD for semiconductor lasers. In 1991, he received his Ph.D. degree with special honours, awarded with the Borchers Medal of the University of Aachen. From 1991-1993, he stayed for a postdoctoral position at the IBM Thomas Watson Research Centre in Yorktown Heights, New York. During this time, his research was focussed on the epitaxial growth of Si/SiGe hetero- and quantum well structures by atmospheric pressure CVD. High speed hetero-bipolar transistors as well as resonant tunnelling devices were main tasks of this research approach. This work was honoured with an IBM research division award in 1992 and a patent invention award in 1993. In spring 1993, he joined the Laboratory of Micro- and Nanotechnology at the Paul-Scherrer-Institute in Switzerland, heading the Si nanosystems activity focussing on Si-Ge anostructures for optoelectronic and electronic applications. In May 2001, he defended his habilitation at the University of Konstanz (Germany). Since October 2006, he is director of the Institute for Semiconductor Nanoelectronics (PGI-9) at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. The research spans from fundamental science in topological insulators, transport phenomena in nanowires and phase change materials to device oriented investigations based on CMOS technology. He is author and co-author of more than 700 scientific papers.
Prof. Paola Rizzo obtained her degree in Chemistry in 1993 from the University of Naples. She earned her Ph.D. in 1998. Early in her academic career, in 1994, she was awarded a scholarship by the University of Naples and conducted research at Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, Texas, USA), focusing on diffusion phenomena in liquid systems.
In 1997, she collaborated with Dr. Bernard Lots at the Institut Charles Sadron in Strasbourg, France, where she studied the structural and morphological aspects of syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS) polymers. During the academic years 1997–1999, she also held teaching responsibilities at the University of Salerno.
From May 1999 to February 2000, Prof. Rizzo worked as a researcher at the Pirelli Cavi e Sistemi S.p.A. Research Center, specializing in the characterization of polymeric materials. Since March 2000, she has served as a researcher and professor of Industrial Chemistry at the University of Salerno.
Her primary research interests focus on the structural characterization of polymeric materials, particularly on structure–property correlations. A significant part of her work is dedicated to syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS), investigating both its crystalline structures and morphological features. She is notably involved in the study of clathrate-forming polymeric systems and has discovered a novel host crystalline form of s-PS capable of forming cocrystals with low-molecular-mass molecules of high polarity and hyperpolarizability—materials with potential optical and electrical applications.
Prof. Rizzo also explores molecular orientation in polymer films, including s-PS, poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), and poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO). Her work aims to develop uniplanar orientations in polymeric films to investigate anisotropic diffusion and transport kinetics of guest molecules.
Currently, her research extends to the study of chiral amplification phenomena and memory effects in polymeric films.
Rodrigo Martins is a Full Professor at FCT NOVA and an internationally recognized expert in advanced functional materials for electronics and energy applications. He has authored more than 1,375 scientific publications, which have received over 44,500 citations, resulting in an h-index of 105.
He currently serves as President of the European Academy of Sciences, Director of the Associated Laboratory i3N (Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication), President of the Board of the Portuguese Advanced Materials Cluster (NANOMAT), and member of the Board of the Portuguese Batteries Cluster (BatPower). He is also Chair of European Affairs for the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Discover Materials.
Professor Martins coordinates EMERGE (Emerging Printed Electronics Research Infrastructure), the first European research infrastructure dedicated to technologies beyond silicon.
He is a member of several prestigious academies and professional organizations, including the Academia Europaea, the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, the Portuguese Academy of Engineering, and the Portuguese Order of Engineers. He serves on the Advisory Board of the European University for Customized Education (EUNICE) (2025–2027) and on the Editorial Board of Innovation Materials (2025–2027).
His international distinctions include serving as Co-Chair of the FNRS Quinquennial Scientific Prize – A. De Leeuw-Damry-Bourlart Prize in Applied Exact Sciences (Belgium). He holds appointments as Qiushi Chair Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University, Honorary Professor at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Technical University of Wuhan, Wuhan University, and Fuzhou University, and as Invited Professor at Southwest University, Chongqing.
In 2023, he was selected as a PIFI Distinguished Scientist by China, and in 2025 he received the prestigious Chinese Government Friendship Award.
Previously, Professor Martins served as President of the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS) and was a member of both the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC) and the Advisory Council of the European Commission’s Directorate-General responsible for the Horizon Europe Programme.
Prof. Jordi Arbiol graduated in Physics from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) in 1997, he went on to obtain his PhD (European Doctorate and PhD Extraordinary Award) in 2001 from this same institution in the field of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) applied to nanostructured materials. He was assistant professor at the UB. From 2009 to 2015 he was ICREA Professor and group leader at the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC). He was President of the Spanish Microscopy Society (SME) (2017-2021) and held the position of vice-president from 2013 to 2017, having been a member of its Executive Board (2009-2021). In 2018 he was elected as Member of the Executive Board of the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy (IFSM) (2019-2026).
Since 2015 he has been ICREA Professor and leader of the Advanced Electron Nanoscopy Group at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST. He is Scientific Supervisor of the Electron Microscopy Area at ICN2 and BIST, and also at the Electron Microscopy Center at the ALBA Synchrotron (EMCA). He has been one of the founding members of e-DREAM. He received the FWO Commemorative Medal (Flanders Research Foundation) in 2021, the BIST Ignite Award in 2018, the 2014 EU40 Materials Prize by the E-MRS, the 2014 EMS Outstanding Paper Award and was listed in the Top 40 under 40 Power List (2014) by The Analytical Scientist. As of May 2022 he has more than 415 peer-reviewed publications and more than 24700 citations (GoS) with h-index: 88 GoS (76 WoS).
Lars Samuelson is since 1988 Professor at Lund University and since 2021 also Chair Professor at SUSTech, Southern University of Science and Technology, in Shenzhen, China and Dean of the Institute of Nanoscience and Applications, INA. In 1990 he founded NanoLund and was its leader for the first 25+ years. His research is focused on nanoscale materials physics, with a special focus on epitaxial growth, optical properties and on potential applications in optoelectronics. Beside the academic research he also has strong engagements as Chief Scientists in high-tech companies such as Glo AB and Hexagem AB. He is a Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Physics) and of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and was in 2023 elected Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2022 he was given the top award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, the "Great Gold Medal" and in 2024 he received the “Chinese Government Friendship Award”. Samuelson is the author of well over 700 articles with h-index 91 by Web-of-Science, and 110 by Google Scholar, and listed in the top 1% highly cited researchers by Web-of-Science. He has given >300 plenary/invited talks at international conferences and workshops.
Ethan Languri is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Tennessee, and Director of the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at Tennessee Tech University. Dr. Languri served as Associate Director of IAC from 2014 to 2021 and Assistant Professor from 2014 to 2022. Before joining Tennessee Tech in 2014, he was a Senior Mechanical Engineer at Applied Research Associates in Florida, where he was involved with building energy design and analysis.
Dr. Languri received his Mechanical Engineering B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Noshirvani University of Technology in Iran in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2011. Following this, he held postdoctoral fellowship appointments at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.