Prof. Aharon Gedanken, of the Department of Chemistry, is a member of the Nano Materials Center at the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA), and a recipient of the President of Israel Achievement Award for coordination of a European Funded Research.

Gedanken is a pioneer of sonochemistry – a discipline in which chemical reactions are accelerated through the application of ultrasonic sound waves. His many discoveries include a process that removes heavy metals ions from polluted water using aquatic plants and microwave radiation – a fast and low-cost method for producing purified water on the one hand, and metallic nanoparticles on the other hand.

Gedanken is an expert in the fabrication of nanostructures with special properties such as antibacterial, antiviral (i.e. Swine influenza), antifungal and antibiofilm. Among his discoveries is the fact that ultrasound radiation can coat a large variety of solid surfaces such as metals, ceramics, polymers, glass, textiles, and even paper, enabling him to impart a variety of properties to the solid. The vision behind the EC grant that Gedanken leads, with 17 partners from academia and industry, is the Hospital of the Future, in which all all textiles such as bed sheets, pajamas, pillow covers, curtains, doctors’ robes, are antibacterial. Due to deep embedding of antibacterial nanoparticles in the textiles, their antibacterial properties are maintained even after 65 hospital washing machine cycles at 92°C.

Together with Prof. Shulamit Michaeli, Gedanken has also recently fabricated RNA-based nanoparticles that can “silence” specific genes and are kept stable at room temperature even after a week. Gedanken uses sonochemistry to produce micro and nano-vehicles that deliver antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs in a rapid-release mode. These drugs are encapsulated in proteinaceous micro and nano spheres. Prof. Aharon Gedanken and Prof. Yeshayahu Nitzan have demonstrated that nanoparticles can kill pathogenic bacteria on direct contact. Working together with Dr. Ehud Banin, Prof. Gedanken is also developing antibacterial and antibiofilm nanoparticles for coating the surface of catheters and other implanted medical devices.

Gedanken has developed a microwave-based process that transforms consumer cooking oilsand burned oil from restaurants into biodiesel in 10 seconds for a stirred reaction, and in 40 seconds for an unstirred reaction. He has also developed a one-step process, usingmicroalgae grown on seawater together with CO2 released from a power station, to convert allthe lipids in the algae into biodiesel.

Gedanken is now applying for a patent for a novel fermentation process that converts glucose to bioethanol 2.5 times faster than the conventional fermentation process.

Collaborative work:

• L. Machala, R. Zboril, and A. Gedanken, “Amorphous iron(III) Oxide – A review,” JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B, vol. 111, iss. 16, pp. 4003-4018, 2007.

Emmanuel P. Giannelis is the Walter R. Read Professor of Engineering at Cornell University. He is also a visiting Professor at KFUPM. He received a BS degree in Chemistry from the University of Athens, Greece, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Michigan State University. His research interests include polymer nanocomposites, nanoparticle fluids, and nanomaterials for energy conversion and storage. He is currently the co-Director of the KAUST-CU Center for Energy and Sustainability.

Giannelis serves or has served on the editorial boards of Small, Polymer, Chemistry of Materials, and Macromolecules. He is a member of several professional organizations and a corresponding member of the European Academy of Sciences. He is the author or co-author of about 215 papers/book chapters and 11 patents and he has delivered more than 450 invited talks and seminars. He is a highly cited author in Materials Science (http://www.ISIHighlyCited.com) and he is listed as one of the top 25 cited authors in Nanotechnology by ISI (http://www.esi-topics.com/nano/index.html).

Collaborative work:

• A. B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, D. Jancik, M. A. Karakassides, A. Stassinopoulos, D. Anglos, and E. P. Giannelis, “Reaction of graphite fluoride with NaOH-KOH eutectic,” JOURNAL OF FLUORINE CHEMISTRY, vol. 129, iss. 8, pp. 720-724, 2008.
• A.B. Bourlinos, A. Bakandritsos, A. Kouloumpis, D. Gournis, M. Krysmann, E.P. Giannelis, K. Polakova, K. Safarova, K. Hola, R. Zboril, “Gd(III)-doped carbon dots as a dual fluorescent-MRI probe,“ JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY, vol. 2, iss. 43, pp. 23327-23330, 2012.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, A. Bakandritsos, A. Stassinopoulos, D. Anglos, E.P. Giannelis, “Pyrolytic formation and photoluminescence properties of a new layered carbonaceous material with graphite oxide-mimicking characteristics,“ CARBON, vol. 47, pp. 519-526, 2009.
• A.B. Bourlinos, A. Stassinopoulos, D. Anglos, R. Zboril, V. Georgakilas, E.P. Giannelis, “Photoluminescent carbogenic dots,“ CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, vol. 20, pp. 4539-4541, 2008.
• A. B. Bourlinos, R. Zboril, J. Petr, A. Bakandritsos, M. Krysmann, and E. P. Giannelis, “Luminescent Surface Quaternized Carbon Dots,” CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, vol. 24, iss. 1, pp. 6-8, 2012.
• A.B. Bourlinos, A. Stassinopoulos, D. Anglos, R. Zboril, M. Karakassides, E.P. Giannelis, “Surface functionalized carbogenic quantum dots,“ Small, vol. 4, pp. 455-458, 2008.

Andrey L. Rogach is a Chair Professor of Photonics Materials at the Department of Physics and Materials Science and the founding director of the Centre for Functional Photonics (CFP) at City University of Hong Kong. He received his Diploma in Chemistry (1991, with honors) and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry (1995) from the Belarusian State University in Minsk studying formation and properties of silver nanoparticles in different media. He worked as a postdoc (with Horst Weller) and then as a staff scientist at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the University of Hamburg from 1995 to 2002. From 2002–2009 he held a tenured position of a lead staff scientist at the Department of Physics and Centre for NanoScience (CeNS) of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, where he completed his habilitation in Experimental Physics on light emission and harvesting with semiconductor nanocrystals. His research focuses on synthesis, assembly and optical spectroscopy of colloidal semiconductor and metal nanocrystals and their hybrid structures, and their use for photovoltaic and bioimaging applications. He authored over 220 scientific publications (h-index: 62) in these fields that have been extensively (over 13,000) cited, which ranked him 8^th worldwide among “20 TOP AUTHORS publishing on nanocrystals in the past decade” by Thomson Scientific, Essential Science Indicators (2007) and 51^th worldwide among “100 TOP MATERIALS SCIENTISTS OF THE PAST DECADE” by Thomson Reuters (2011). His distinctions include the DAAD (Germany, 1995) and the Alexander von Humboldt (Germany, 2000) Fellowships, British Telecom (UK, 1998) and NRC COBASE (USA, 1999) Fellowships, the Walton Award from the Science Foundation Ireland (2005) and the Grand Research Excellence Award from City University of Hong Kong (2011). He holds honourable appointment as an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and serves as Associate Editor of ACS Nano.

Prof. Sharma’s educational background is in analytical, marine and environmental chemistry. He is experienced in solution thermodynamics and kinetics. He was twice awarded Diplomas by the Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico for studying metals contamination in the coastal environment of the Gulf of Mexico in collaboration with ICML, UNAM, Mexico in 1992 and 1996. He was also awarded the certification of Merit award in 1996 by the ACS (Environmental Chemistry Division) for his presentation “Oxidation of Thiourea by Ferrate(VI)”. He served as an Associate Editor for “Directory of Research in Chemistry at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions”, Council of Undergraduate Research, 6th Ed. (1995). He organized the symposium “Thermodynamics and Kinetics in Natural Waters” in honor of Frank Millero at the 1999 ACS meeting in Anaheim, California and was a Guest Editor of a special issue of Marine Chemistry, (Vol 70, 2000).

Dr. Sharma served as Secretary of the American Chemical Society (Geochemistry Division) from 1999 to 2002. In summer 2004, Virender Sharma has organized the international symposium “Innovative Ferrate(VI) Technology in Water and Wastewater” in Prague, Czech Republic. Currently, Dr. Sharma has active international collaborations with scientists all over the world on the chemistry and applications of higher oxidation states of iron. This has resulted in ACS Symposium “Ferrates: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications in Water and Wastewater Treatment” in 2006. In 2006, The Orlando section of the American Chemical Society has given him an outstanding chemist award. Recently, Florida Tech gave him its “Faculty Excellence in Research” award. More recently, he was also given the “Faculty of the Year Award” by the Student Affiliation of the American Chemical Society at Florida Tech. One of his research papers has been cited as the “Top-50 most cited article” by the Elsevier Colloids journals.

Collaborative work:

• L. Machala, R. Zboril, V.K. Sharma, J. Filip, and O. Schneeweiss, “New view on thermal behavior of K(2)FeO(4) in static air,” ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, vol. 232, pp. 42-ENVR, 2006.
• R. Zboril, M. Andrle, F. Oplustil, L. Machala, J. Tucek, J. Filip, Z. Marusak, V.K. Sharma, “Treatment of chemical warfare agents by zero-valent iron nanoparticles and ferrate(VI)/(III) composite,“ Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol. 211-212, pp. 126–130, 2012.
• P. Dallas, V.K. Sharma, R. Zboril, “Silver polymeric nanocomposites as advanced antimicrobial agents: Classification, synthetic paths, applications, and perspectives,“ Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 166, pp. 119-135, 2011.
• D.A. Golovko, V.K. Sharma, V.I. Suprunovich, O.V. Pavlova, I. Golovko, K. Bouzek, R. Zboril, “A Simple Potentiometric Titration Method to Determine Concentration of Ferrate(VI) in Strong Alkaline Solutions,“ Analytical Letters, vol. 44, pp. 1333-1340, 2011.
• D.A. Golovko, V.K. Sharma, O.V. Pavlova, E.A. Belyanovskaya, I.D. Golovko, V.I. Suprunovich, R. Zboril, “Determination of submillimolar concentration of ferrate(VI) in alkaline solutions by amperometric titration,“ Central European Journal of Chemistry, vol.  9, pp. 808-812, 2011.
• J. Filip, R.A. Yngard, K. Siskova, Z. Marusak, V. Ettler, P. Sajdl, V.K. Sharma, R. Zboril, “Mechanisms and Efficiency of the Simultaneous Removal of Metals and Cyanides by Using Ferrate(VI): Crucial Roles of Nanocrystalline Iron(III) Oxyhydroxides , and Metal Carbonates,“ Chemistry-A European Journal, vol. 17, pp. 10097-10105, 2011.
• J. Frydrych, L. Machala, M. Hermanek, I. Medrik, M. Mashlan, J. Tucek, J. Pechousek, and V.K. Sharma, “A nanocrystalline hematite film prepared from iron(III) chloride precursor,” THIN SOLID FILMS, vol. 518, iss. 21, pp. 5916-5919, 2010.
• L. Machala, R. Zboril, V.K. Sharma, J. Filip, D. Jancik, Z. Homonnay, “Transformation of Solid Potassium Ferrate(VI) (K(2)FeO(4)): Mechanism and Kinetic Effect of Air Humidity,“ European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 8, pp. 1060-1067, 2009.
• L. Machala, R. Zboril, V. K. Sharma, and Z. Homonnay, “Decomposition of Potassium Ferrate(VI) (K(2)FeO(4)) and Potassium Ferrate(III) (KFeO(2)): In-situ Mossbauer Spectroscopy Approach,” in MOSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY IN MATERIALS SCIENCE, pp. 114-121, 2008.
• R.A. Yngard, V.K. Sharma, J. Filip, R. Zboril, “ Ferrate(VI) oxidation of weak-acid dissociable cyanides,“ Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 42, pp. 3005-3010, 2008.
• L. Machala, R. Zboril, V.K. Sharma, J. Filip, O. Schneeweiss, Z. Homonnay, “Mossbauer characterization and in situ monitoring of thermal decomposition of potassium ferrate(VI), K(2)FeO(4) in static air conditions,“ Journal of Physical Chemistry B, vol. 111, pp. 4280-4286, 2007.
• Panacek, L. Kvitek, R. Prucek, M. Kolar, R. Vecerova, N. Pizurova, V.K. Sharma, T. Nevecna, R. Zboril, “Silver colloid nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization, and their antibacterial activity,“ Journal of Physical Chemistry B, vol. 110, pp. 16248-16253, 2006.
• J. Madarasz, R. Zboril, Z. Homonnay, V.K. Sharma, G. Pokol, “Thermal decomposition of iron(VI) oxides, K(2)FeO(4) and BaFeO(4), in an inert atmosphere,“ Journal of Solid State Chemistry, vol. 179, pp. 1426-1433, 2006.
• R. Zboril, L. Machala, M. Mashlan, V.K. Sharma, “Iron(III) oxide nanoparticles in the thermally induced oxidative decomposition of Prussian Blue, Fe(4)[Fe(CN)(6)](3),“ Crystal Growth & Design, vol. 4, pp. 1317-1325, 2004.

Shin-ichi Ohkoshi is the Professor at the Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo. He is the head of Ohkoshi laboratory. His team is trying to open a new field of solid state chemistry by design and synthesis of novel magnets which have novel properties and functionalities. The summaries are described by the phenomena as follows.1. Synthesis of a metal oxide with a room-temperature photoreversible phase transition, 2. Light-induced spin-crossover magnet, 3. Synthesis of metal complexes with novel magnetic functionalities, 4. Magnetic property in metal oxides. Prof. Shin-ichi Ohkoshi was awarded the 23rd IBM Japan Science Prize on Nov. 27, 2009, for his study on “Creation of New Magnetic Materials Based on Magnetochemistry.” As Prof. Ohkoshi also received the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Prize and the Japan Academy Medal on March 3, 2008 for “Design and Demonstration of New Magnetic Properties Based on Magnetochemistry,” this marks his feat of being successively awarded Japan’s top two awards for young researchers (under the age of 45) who have made outstanding achievements. He has authored more than 270 papers in addition to book chapters, etc. and holds more than 70 patents.

Collaborative work:

• K. Nomura, R. Zboril, J. Tucek, W. Kosaka, S. Ohkoshi, and I. Felner, “Substitution effects of barium and calcium on magnetic properties of A(x)Sr(1-x)(Fe0.5Ru0.5)O-3 double perovskites (x=0.05, A=Ba,Ca),” JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, vol. 102, iss. 1, 2007.
• J. Tucek, R. Zboril, A. Namai, and S. Ohkoshi, “epsilon-Fe2O3: An Advanced Nanomaterial Exhibiting Giant Coercive Field, Millimeter-Wave Ferromagnetic Resonance, and Magnetoelectric Coupling,” CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, vol. 22, iss. 24, pp. 6483-6505, 2010.
• J. Tucek, S. Ohkoshi, and R. Zboril, “Room-temperature ground magnetic state of epsilon-Fe(2)O(3): In-field Mossbauer spectroscopy evidence for collinear ferrimagnet,” APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, vol. 99, iss. 25, 2011.

Fabio Vianello was born in London in 03/02/1962. In 1988 he got the degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Padova. In 1993, PhD in Biophysics and in since 2002 he is Associate Professor of biophysics and biochemistry in the Department of Biological Chemistry and since 2012 he works within the Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science. During his scientific career he was involved in the study of the purification and the characterization of kinases and amine oxidases and in the biotechnological application of purified enzymes in the development of amperometric and potentiometric biosensors. Furthermore he studied the application of fluoride ion as nuclear probe in nuclear magnetic resonance in living systems and the generation and decay of free radicals both in vitro and in vivo. He was interested in electron transfer phenomena of low molecular weight metal complexes in biological systems. He focused his attention to the study of the application of nuclear magnetic spectroscopy to the evaluation of the viability of explanted organs and to the interaction between antioxidant molecules and free radicals in foods. Recently he is involved in nanobiotechnology research and in the development of nanobiosensors and in the application of magnetic nanoparticles. At the same time he is working on food analysis and he is the director of the Master Course in Food Quality and Safety and at University of Padova, visiting professor at the State University of Sao Paulo – Brazil- and visiting scientist at the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Collaborative work:

• M. Magro, G. Sinigaglia, L. Nodari, J. Tucek, K. Polakova, Z. Marusak, S. Cardillo,  G. Salviulo, U. Russo, R. Stevanato, R. Zboril, F. Vianello, “Charge binding of rhodamine derivative to OH− stabilized nanomaghemite: Universal nanocarrier for construction of magnetofluorescent biosensors,“ Acta Biomaterialia, vol. 8, iss. 5, pp. 2068-76, 2012.
• G. Sinigaglia, M. Magro, G. Miotto, S. Cardillo, E. Agostinelli, R. Zboril, E. Bidollari, F. Vianello, “Catalycally active bovine serum amine oxidase bound to fluorescent and magnetically drivable nanoparticles,“ International Journal of Medicine, vol. 7, pp. 2249-59, 2012.
• M. Magro, A. Faralli, D. Baratella, I. Bertipaglia, S. Giannetti, G. Salviulo, R. Zboril, F. Vianello, “Avidin functionalized maghemite nanoparticles and their application for recombinant human biotinyl-SERCA purification,“ Langmuir, vol. 28, iss. 43, pp. 15392–15401, 2012.
• M. Magro, D. Baratella, N. Pianca, A. Toninello, S. Grancara, R. Zboril, F. Vianello, “Electrochemical determination of hydrogen peroxide production by isolated mitochondria: a novel nanocomposite carbon-maghemite nanoparticle electrode,“ Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2012.09.044, 2012.

Dr. Mingdong Dong is currently working as a group leader at Bio-SPM group at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) in Denmark. He obtained his bachelor and Master degrees in Material Science and Material Physics from China and Sweden, respectively, followed by obtaining his PhD degree in Physics at Aarhus University in Denmark. After obtaining his PhD degree, he continued with a Postdoctoral Research Associate Position both at the iNANO center in Denmark and at Harvard University, USA.  Dr. Dong’s research interests are the carbon based nanomaterial synthesis and fabrication, Molecule self-assembly for bioapplications and nanomechanical measurement and nanocharacterization. He has also been fully involved in both the implementation and further development of a novel SPM technique to study the dynamics and material properties of biological systems with submolecular resolution and high scanning speed. Dr. Dong has published more than 80 papers in top international peer reviewed journals 2 Nature, 1 Nature Nanotechnology,1 Nature Communications, ,  JACS, Journal of Immunology, Nano letters, Small, ACS NANO, ChemComm, etc. He is also a guest editor for several international peer reviewed journals. In addition, he has also organized several international conferences including ACS, MRS National Meetings.

Dr. Rajender S. Varma is Senior Scientist at Sustainable Technology Division, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio, USA.

http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/std/organic_reactions.html
http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/std/green_chem_nano.html

Dr. Varma has worked earlier as Chemistry Research Professor, Sam Houston State University, Texas, USA; Project Manager, Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies (TRIES), Texas; Senior Scientist, Houston Advanced Research Center, The Woodlands, Texas, USA

 He has 10 US Patents to his credit and around 340 peer-reviewed papers, books, book chapters and encylopedia contributions.

Over 40 years of research experience in management of multi-disciplinary technical programs ranging from natural products chemistry to therapeutics. Extensively involved in broader aspects of chemistry that includes synthesis, and

chemical modification of biologically active molecules, environmental sciences, development of environmentally benign synthetic methods using alternate energy  input and efficient technologies for greener remediation of contaminated sites. Long term goals are to contribute broad expertise in chemistry to evaluate novel and safer environmental protocols in industrial chemistry and its impact in human health and environmental sciences.

His areas of expertise are in Development of Environmentally Benign Synthetic Methods and Chemical Protocols, Greener Synthesis of Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites and their Applications in Catalysis and Sustainable Remediation of Hazardous Pollutants [e.g. contaminated sites and streams using nanoscale zerovalent iron, mercury from coal-fired power plants, sulfur (deep desulfurization) from diesel oil etc.], Natural Products; Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Methods for Immobilization of Biomolecules on Support Surfaces; Design & Synthesis of Chemopreventive anti-cancer Agents.

Ernő Kuzmann was graduated at Eötvös Loránd University as a physicist. He obtained PhD. Degree in Physics from the Eötvös University in 1973. He became a titular professor of the Glasgow Caledonian University in 1996. In 2003, he received his DSc. degree from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and became Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In the same year, he completed his habilitation procedure at Eötvös University and obtained Dr. Habil. degree. In 2004, he became full professor at Eötvös Loránd University. Simultaneously with his professorship at Eötvös University Professor Kuzmann was appointed to be head of the Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry at the Chemical Research Center of Hungarian Academy of Sciences in January 2007.

The areas of his research activity include physics of alloys, high temperature superconductors, heavy ion irradiation effects, coordination chemistry, surface chemistry and nanochemistry, corrosion studies, chemical, biochemical, biological, mineralogical and industrial applications of Mössbauer spectroscopy He is the author/co-author of more than 450 scientific publications, including numerous monographs. Professor Kuzmann is a recipient of many prestigious national and international awards. He is an editor of Hyperfine Interactions, a member of the MEDC International Advisory Board, the chairman of the committee of Materials Testing with Nuclear Methods at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a member of the ISIAME Scientific Executive Committee and a member of the IBAME Board. He was very active (as member of the organizing committee or secretary) in organizing international Mössbauer conferences in the series “Eötvös Workshops in Sciences”, regularly held at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, in 1994, 1999 and 2004. In 2008, Professor Kuzmann was the chairman of the International Symposium on the Industrial Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ISIAME 2008) held between 17-22 August in Budapest.,

Purnendu K. (Sandy) Dasgupta is a native of India and was educated in a college founded by Irish missionaries where he got his bachelor’s degree with honors in Chemistry and was recognized as a National Science talent Search Scholar. During his M.Sc. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Burdwan, he was selected as an Atomic Energy Commission of India Graduate Fellow and worked for a year as research scholar at the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, the same laboratories once graced by Raman. He has authored more than 350 papers in addition to book chapters, etc. and holds 20 US patents, including one on electrodialytic reagent generation technology on which current ion chromatography is based. His recognitions include the Dow Chemical Company Traylor Creativity Award, the Ion Chromatography Symposium Outstanding Achievement Award (once in 1989, once in 2005), the Benedetti-Pichler Memorial Award in microchemistry, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scientist of the Year Award 2004-2005, Best Science Paper of the Year Award, Environmental Science and Technology, 2005, Konferenz award, Konferenz űber Ionenanalyse, 2009 and NSF Committee of visitors Exemplar of Excellence designation in 2010.

He has been the William J. Probst Lecturer of Southern Illinois University in 2001, Royal Australian Chemistry Institute roving analytical chemistry lecturer in 2003 and Miegunyah Fellow at the University of Melbourne in in 2007, Barton-Karcher-Fetterman Lecturer at the University of Oklahoma in 2008 and the Foster Lecturer at the University at Buffalo in 2010. He is an Editor of Analytica Chimica Acta, a major international journal in analytical chemistry. His current research interests include capillary scale liquid chromatography, especially ion chromatography, novel detection and data transform schemes in chromatography, iodine nutrition of women and infants and the effects of perchlorate thereon, development of iodine analyzers, green analysis of arsenic in drinking water, measurement of cyanide in saliva, blood, and breath towards rapid treatment of cyanide poisoning and rapid analysis of trace heavy metals in atmospheric aerosol to act as conservative tracers.

Kevin Schug is Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Kevin received his B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1998 from the College of William and Mary, and later his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Virginia Tech in 2002 under the supervision of Prof. Em. Harold M. McNair. From 2003-2005, he performed post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lindner at the Institute for Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry at the University of Vienna in Austria. Since joining UTA in 2005, his research has been focused on the theory and application of separation science and mass spectrometry for solving a variety of analytical and physical chemistry problems.

Two main research threads are currently pursued with some intertwined aspects: 1) the use of soft ionization – mass spectrometry for investigating noncovalent interactions, particularly in high throughput formats; and 2) isolation, characterization, and trace analysis of bioactive compounds in complex matrices. Financial support for this research is from UTA, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Eli Lilly and Company, and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Schug has received the 2009 Emerging Leader in Chromatography award given by LCGC magazine, an NSF CAREER award, and the 2009 Eli Lilly and Company ACACC Young Investigator Award in Analytical Chemistry. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Journal of Separation Science and LCGC Magazine. He has authored more than 50 papers in addition to book chapters, etc.

Prof. Sivula is the head of the Laboratory For Molecular Engineering Of Optoelectronic Nanomaterials LIMMO, Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. He was Born in the United States and studied at the University of Minnesota (USA), where he obtained a Bachelor degree in chemical engineering. He continued his studies in this field at the University of California, Berkeley (USA), where he gained his doctorate in 2007. Later, he joined Professor Michael Grätzel’s group at EPFL, where he developed nanostructured films with an iron oxide base for hydrogen production using solar energy. Kevin Sivula advocates a resolutely modern approach to teaching chemical engineering, combining basic courses with more targeted courses in the material sciences that correspond to industry’s latest needs. The students are also encouraged to assess the economic and environmental impact of new techniques for producing materials. He published more than 35 papers in addition to book chapters, etc.

Collaborative work:

• J. Frydrych, L. Machala, J. Tucek, K. Siskova, J. Filip, J. Pechousek, K. Safarova K., M. Vondracek, J. Hwa Seo, O. Schneeweiss, M. Gratzel, K. Sivula, R. Zboril, “Facile fabrication of tin-doped hematite photoelectrodes – effect of doping on magnetic properties and performance for light-induced water splitting,“ Journal of Materials Chemistry, vol. 22, iss. 43, pp. 23232-23239, 2012.
•  K. Sivula, R. Zboril, F. Le Formal, R. Robert, A. Weidenkaff, J. Tucek, J. Frydrych, M. Gratzel, “Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting with Mesoporous Hematite Prepared by a Solution-Based Colloidal Approach,“ Journal of The American Chemical Society, vol. 132, pp. 7436-7444, 2010.
•  I.Cesar, K. Sivula, A. Kay, R. Zboril, M. Gratzel, “Influence of Feature Size, Film Thickness, and Silicon Doping on the Performance of Nanostructured Hematite Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting,“ Journal of Physical Chemistry C, vol. 113, pp. 772-782, 2009.

V. Georgakilas received his BS and PhD degrees in Chemistry and Organic Chemistry from the University of Ioannina (Greece) in 1989 and 1998, respectively. He then worked in the laboratory of nanostructured and composite materials in the Institute of Material Science of N.C.S.R ‘’Demokritos’’ (Greece) as a Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2000, he moved to the laboratory of Prof. M. Prato at the Department of Pharmaceutical Science of University of Trieste (Italy), as a Postdoctoral Fellow, working on the organic functionalization of carbon nanostructures (carbon nanotubes and fullerenes). In 2002, he moved back to the Institute of Material Science of N.C.S.R ‘’Demokritos’’ as a research Associate working on the synthesis and chemical properties of nanostructures. In February of 2010 he was elected Assistant Professor in the Department of Material Science, University of Patras (Greece). His Research Interests: Carbon nanostructured materials (nanotubes, fullerenes, new carbon allotropes) – Chemical modification, new composite materials combining polymers, metallic nanoparticles, organic functional groups, inorganic nanomaterials (porous, layered). Metallic nanoparticles – chemical modification and their properties (magnetics, catalysis, optical properties). Inorganic layered, porous nanomaterials –chemical functionalization. V. Georgakilas is author of more than 65 articles in peer – reviewed scientific journals with more than 2700 citation (h-index: 24).

Collaborative work:

• V. Georgakilas, M. Otyepka, A. Bourlinos, V. Chandra, N. Kim, K. Kemp, P. Hobza, R. Zboril, K. Kim, Functionalization of graphene: covalent and non-covalent approaches, derivatives and applications, Chemical Reviews, DOI: 10.1021/cr3000412, 2012.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, A. Bakandritsos, A. Kouloumpis, D. Gournis, R. Zboril, “Aqueous-dispersible fullerol-carbon nanotube hybrids,“ Materials Letters, vol. 82, pp. 48–50, 2012.
• V. Georgakilas, A.B. Bourlinos, R. Zboril, T.A. Steriotis, P. Dallas, A.K. Stubos, C. Trapalis, “Organic functionalisation of graphenes, Chemical Communications, vol. 46, pp. 1766-1768, 2010.
• R. Zboril, F. Karlicky, A.B. Bourlinos, T.A. Steriotis, A.K. Stubos, V. Georgakilas, K. Safarova, D. Jancik,  C. Trapalis, M. Otyepka, “Graphene Fluoride: A Stable Stoichiometric Graphene Derivative and its Chemical Conversion to Graphene,“ Small, vol. 6, pp. 2885-2891, 2010.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, A. Bakandritsos, A. Stassinopoulos, D. Anglos, E.P. Giannelis, “Pyrolytic formation and photoluminescence properties of a new layered carbonaceous material with graphite oxide-mimicking characteristics,“ Carbon, vol. 47, pp. 519-526, 2009.
• A.B. Bourlinos, T.A. Steriotis, R. Zboril, V. Georgakilas, A. Stubos, “Direct synthesis of carbon nanosheets by the solid-state pyrolysis of betaine,“ Journal of Materials Science, vol. 44, pp. 1407-1411, 2009.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, T.A. Steriotis, A.K. Stubos, “Liquid-Phase Exfoliation of Graphite Towards Solubilized Graphenes,“ Small, vol. 5, pp. 1841-1845, 2009.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, T.A. Steriotis, A.K. Stubos, C. Trapalis, “Aqueous-phase exfoliation of graphite in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone for the production of water-soluble graphenes,“ Solid State Communications, vol. 149, pp. 2172-2176, 2009.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, “Easy deposition of amorphous carbon films on glass substrates,“ Carbon, vol. 46, pp. 1801-1804, 2008.
• A.B. Bourlinos, A. Stassinopoulos, D. Anglos, R. Zboril, V. Georgakilas, E.P. Giannelis, “Photoluminescent carbogenic dots,“ Chemistry of Materials, vol. 20, pp. 4539-4541, 2008.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, D. Jancik, M.A. Karakassides, A. Stassinopoulos, D. Anglos, E.P. Giannelis, “Reaction of graphite fluoride with NaOH-KOH eutectic,“ Journal of Fluorine Chemistry, vol.  129, pp. 720-724, 2008.
• A.B. Bourlinos, V. Georgakilas, R. Zboril, P. Dallas, “Preparation of a water-dispersible carbon nanotube-silica hybrid,“ Carbon, vol. 45, pp. 2136-2139, 2007.

Prof. Miglierini is experienced particularly in spectroscopic techniques of nuclear physics such as Mössbauer spectroscopy, electron-positron annihilation and gamma spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance or nuclear resonance scattering of synchrotron radiation. He investigates structural and magnetic properties of disordered materials prepared by a rapid cooling and/or by a milling (e.g. amorphous metal glasses, kvasi-crystals, nanocrystals, powdered steel), zeolites, nanobiomaterials. He is a member of International Board on the Application of the Mössbauer Effect (IBAME).

Collaborative work:

• M. Pavuk, M. Miglierini, M. Vujtek, R. Zboril, M. Maslan, P. Svec, “Surface morphology of Fe(79)Mo(8)Cu(1)B(12) ribbons characterised by atomic force microscopy,“ Reviews on Advanced Materials Science, vol. 18, pp. 164-168, 2008.
• M. Pavuk, M. Miglierini, M. Vujtek, M. Mashlan, R. Zboril, Y. Jiraskova, “AFM and Mossbauer spectrometry investigation of the nanocrystallization process in Fe-Mo-Cu-B rapidly quenched alloy,“ Journal of Physics-Condensed Matter, vol.  19, p. 216219, 2007.
• M. Miglierini, T. Kanuch, M. Pavuk, Y. Jiraskova, R. Zboril, M. Maslan, P. Svec, “Evolution of structural changes in nanocrystalline alloys with temperature,“ Physics of Metals and Metallography, vol. 104, pp. 335-345, 2007.
• M. Miglierini, T. Kanuch, P. Svec, T. Krenicky, M. Vujtek, R. Zboril, “Magnetic microstructure of NANOPERM-type nanocrystalline alloys,“ Physica Status Solidi B-Basic Solid State Physics, vol. 243, pp. 57-64, 2006.

Prof. Anirban Pathak (Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, New Delhi, India) specializes in quantum physics. He deals with the quantum fluctuations of light interacting in a nonlinear environment, quantum computation, quantum optics, nonlinear optics, quantum-mechanical study of the properties of DNA and mathematical physics. He contributed significantly to the research of anharmonic oscillators, quantification of higher order nonclassical properties of light, quantification of interconnection in low-dimensional systems and protocols for quantum computation.

Prof. Adam Miramowicz, of Faculty of Physics of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, specializes in quantum optics and quantum information. He is interested in quantum statistical properties of light generated in nonlinear media, quantum entanglement and quantum information processing. He made inportant contributions to the problem of quantum phase, quantification of nonclassical properties of light, quantification of entanglement of mixed states and quantum information processing in nanodots. In RCPTM, he will cooperate with the Division of Optical and Photonic Tehcnologies in the area of quantum information processing and photon counting.

Prof. Maria Bondani (Department of Mathematics and Physics at the Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Como, Italy) specializes in the characterization of photon pairs, quantification of their coherence and detection of photons. She contributed significantly to the measurement and quantification of the intensity, as well as correlations of the number of photons in twin photon beams. She, together with prof. Alessandra Andreoni, developed new high resolution techniques for measuring the number of photons even for mesoscopic twin photon beams. She is a pioneer in exploring properties of three-mode coherent states generated in nonlinear pairwise interactions.

Collaborative work:

• J. Perina, J. Krepelka, J. Perina Jr., M. Bondani, A. Allevi, and A. Andreoni, “Experimental joint signal-idler quasidistributions and photon-number statistics for mesoscopic twin beams,” PHYSICAL REVIEW A, vol. 76, iss. 4, 2007.
• M. Bondani, A. Allevi, G. Zambra, A. Andreoni, J. Perina, J. Krepelka, and J. Perina Jr., “Experimental demonstration of sub-shot-noise intensity correlations in an intense twin beam,” EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL-SPECIAL TOPICS, vol. 160, pp. 33-41, 2008.
• J. Perina Jr., J. Perina, O. Haderka, J. Krepelka, M. Hamar, V. Michalek, M. Bondani, A. Allevi, and A. Andreoni, “Photocount measurements as a tool for investigation of non-classical properties of twin beams,” in 16TH POLISH-SLOVAK-CZECH OPTICAL CONFERENCE ON WAVE AND QUANTUM ASPECTS OF CONTEMPORARY OPTICS, 2008.
• J. Perina, J. Krepelka, J. Perina Jr., M. Bondani, A. Allevi, and A. Andreoni, “Correlations in photon-numbers and integrated intensities in parametric processes involving three optical fields,” EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL D, vol. 53, iss. 3, pp. 373-382, 2009.

Professor Juan P. Torres (Institute of Photonic Sciences, Castelldefels, Barcelona and Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain) focuses on the production, amplification, modulation and control of optical waves, including fields consisting of photon pairs. He is the author of major contributions in the generation of photon pairs from different nonlinear sources, including photonic sources. Prof. Torres developed a new method for the generation of photon pairs with adjustable spectral degree of coherence, which allows the generation of spectrally correlated, anti-correlated and uncorrelated photon pairs.