Keynote Speakers
Nikos Hadjichristidis
Nikos Hadjichristidis is the Ibn Alhaytham Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.
His research primarily focuses on the synthesis of novel homopolymers and copolymers with well-defined, complex macromolecular architectures (such as star, comb, dendritic, and cyclic structures) using anionic polymerization (AP) high vacuum techniques. He also explores the combination of AP with other polymerization methods, including C1 and C3, ring-opening polymerization (ROP), ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). These polymers serve as ideal models for testing theories, such as the de Gennes tube theory and hierarchical motion theory in branched polymers, understanding and improving the performance of industrial polymers like polyethylene (PE) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and have potential applications in high-tech fields such as nanolithography, high-temperature membranes, and drug delivery. Recently, Professor Hadjichristidis has expanded his research to include biodegradable polyethylene, vitrimers, circular polymer economy, and non-covalent macromolecular architectures based on hydrogen bonding and stereocomplexation.
He has published over 600 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, holds 35 patents, and has edited four books, including the 2nd edition of Macromolecular Engineering (Wiley, 2022), a five-volume work, and authored a book on Block Copolymers (Wiley, 2003). Professor Hadjichristidis is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK, 2022) and an Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society. His accolades include the Hermann F. Mark Medal (Austria, 2020), the University of Athens Chemistry Department Award of Excellence (Greece, 2018), the Macro Group Medal for Outstanding Achievements (UK, 2016), the American Chemical Society National Award for Polymer Chemistry (USA, 2015), the ACS Rubber Division Chemistry of Thermoplastic Elastomers Award (USA, 2011), the ACS Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Division Cooperative Research Award (USA, 2010), and the International Award of the Japanese Society of Polymer Science (Japan, 2007). https://polymer.kaust.edu.sa/
Georges Hadziioannou
Georges Hadziioannou since 2022 is Emeritus Professor of Bordeaux University (Fr). In 1975 he obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
He obtained his doctorate in Physical Sciences at the Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg in 1980. Between 1980 and 1982, he was an associate researcher at the Polymer Science and Engineering Department of the University of Massachusetts. In 1982, he became a member of the research staff at the IBM Almaden San Jose California Research Laboratory, where he led the “Surface and Interface Dynamics” group from 1986 to 1989. Between 1985 and 1989, he was concurrently Industrial Research Fellow of the National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST), Washington DC, and consulting professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. In 1989, he became a professor at the University of Groningen (Netherlands), where he directed the Center for Materials Sciences (now Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials) from 1997 to 2000. In 2001, he joined the University Louis-Pasteur of Strasbourg where he was the director of the European School of Chemistry, Polymers and Materials (ECPM) between 2004 and 2009. From 2009 until 2022 Georges Hadziioannou was Professor at the University of Bordeaux at the Chair of “Advanced Functional Materials for Emerging Information, Communication and Energy Technologies”. He led the “Polymer Electronic Materials & Devices” group at the LCPO. Since February 2022 he is President of the Scientific Expertise Coordination Committee (CCES) of the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region. He pioneered work on nanostructured polymer materials with innovations in flexible and printable organic electronic materials. He has published more than 450 articles (H =71, cited 17,006) and holds 45 patents. He has supervised 65 doctorates and welcomed more than 75 post-docs and visiting professors into his research group. He was co-founder of 2 startups: “Polymer Service Center”, for the scientific advice of small and medium-sized businesses, today POLYVATION, and “Papyron”, for the development of innovative technologies for electronic paper. His scientific and technical work has been recognized by the following prizes and distinctions. In 2024 was elected member of the European Academy of Science (EurASc). In 2019 he became Doctor Honoris Causa, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Physics. In 2016, he was elected an International Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering “For fundamental discoveries and ideas enabling the development of polymers with advanced functionality and performance.” He obitaine a civil recognition in 2015 as “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques” and in 2021 as “Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques”. In 2010 he was elected a member of the Academia Europaea. In 2007, he received the Süe Prize from the Société Française de Chimie. In 1998, he received the Humboldt Research Prize. In 1993 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (USA).
Katja Loos
Katja Loos is Professor at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials of the University of Groningen, holding the chair of Macromolecular Chemistry and New Polymeric Materials.
She currently serves as the President of the European Polymer Federation for the period of 2023 to 2025. She specialized in Organic Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry during her university studies at the Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz, Germany and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, USA. She moved into the field of Enzymatic Polymerizations during her doctoral research at the University of Bayreuth, Germany and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil. After a postdoctoral research stay at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY, USA she started an independent research group at the University of Groningen. Katja Loos pioneered the field of enzymatic polymerization, especially the biocatalytic synthesis of polysaccharides and polyamides, and the synthesis and self-assembly of PVDF containing block copolymers. Already early in her career Katja Loos was awarded two travel scholarships of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and she received the very prestigious Feodor Lynen Fellowship award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct her postdoctoral research. During her independent research career, on the basis of her unique approach in combining modern polymer synthesis, (macro) molecular self-assembly, and utilization of the arising structures the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded her the prestigious VIDI grant in 2009 and VICI grant in 2014 and the German Research Council (DFG) the Eleonore Trefftz guest professorship within the scope of its excellency initiative. Among others she was awarded the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Award and the Team Science Award of the Dutch Research Council (NWO). In 2023 she received the title of Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. Katja Loos is a Fellow of the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).
Doros Theodorou
Doros Theodorou (orcid 0000-0002-4763-9739, Google Scholar) just retired from his position as Professor of Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece (NTUA).
He holds a Diploma from NTUA (1982), and M.S. (1983) and Ph.D. (1985) degrees from MIT. He has served as professor at the Universities of California, Berkeley (1986-1995) and Patras (1991-2002) and associated faculty at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, FORTH/ICE-HT in Patras and NCSR “Demokritos” in Athens.
His research focusses on the development of new statistical mechanics-based computational techniques for understanding and predicting properties of materials based on their chemical constitution, with emphasis on polymers, amphiphiles, and nanoporous materials. He has authored and co-authored 210 research papers, 33 chapters in books and review articles, 60 conference proceedings, and the books Simulation Methods for Polymers with M.J. Kotelyanskii and Diffusion in Nanoporous Solids with J. Κärger και D. Ruthven. He represented Greece to the mobility of researchers programme of the European Union (1995-2004), has served as member of Panels PE8 and PE11 of the European Research Council (2015-2022) and member of the National Council of Research, Technology, and Innovation of Greece (2010-2013, 2020-2023). He is also Vice President of the Bodossaki Foundation.
His research has been recognised with the Presidential Young Investigator Award of the ΝSF (1988-1992), the Science Award of the Bodossaki Foundation in Chemistry (1996), the Danckwerts Lectureship of the AIChE (2006), the D. Medema Award of the Dutch PTN (2009), the Bird-Stewart-Lightfoot Lectureship of the University of Wisconsin (2013), the John M. Prausnitz Award in Applied Chemical Thermodynamics (2016), the John M. Prausnitz AIChE Institute Lecture (2016), the European Materials Medal of the Federation of European Materials Societies (2017), the DSM Life Time Achievement Award in Materials Sciences (2018), the 2018 Guggenheim Medal of the IChemE, the 2022 FOMMS Medal, and the 2023 Warren K. Lewis Lectureship at MIT. In 2015, he was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and in 2024, a regular member of the Academy of Athens.