Professor Monica Craciun is a Professor in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in the Engineering Department at the University of Exeter. She is part of the Exeter Energy, the Centre for Graphene Science, the Nano Engineering Science and Technology (NEST) Group, and the Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation.
Professor Craciun has over 20 years of research expertise in the areas of Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. She held one of the 5-year EPSRC Engineering Fellowships for Growth, awarded to only eight leading UK academics to maintain the UK’s research leadership in the area of Advanced Materials (identified as one of the Great British Technologies). Professor Craciun has served as an investigator on more than 30 EPSRC, Royal Society, Innovate UK, EU and industrial research grants with a total funding of over £10 million.
The academic work of Professor Craciun spans from engineering research in nanotechnology, electronic and optoelectronic devices to fundamental science research in nanoscience (quantum phenomena, molecular electronics, nano electronics, spintronics) and materials science (discovery of new materials and manufacturing methods, understanding the properties-performance relationship). She has over 200 publications in leading international journals (e.g. Nature & Science family journals, Advanced Materials, Nano Letters), with many papers ranked in the top 1% in Materials Science, Engineering and Physics. Her work has attracted an h-index of 47, an i10-index of 90 and more than 7400 citations. Professor Craciun leads a research group working on two-dimensional materials with the aim of harnessing their novel properties to drive groundbreaking innovations in the sectors of energy, computation, communication, healthcare, and sensing.
Artem Mishchenko is a leading condensed matter physicist and Professor at the University of Manchester, renowned for his pioneering work on quantum phenomena in van der Waals heterostructures—particularly multilayer graphene and related 2D materials. With a PhD in Molecular Electronics from the University of Bern (2010), he has since become a Fellow of both the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
His laboratory combines advanced techniques—such as crystal and thin-film growth, nanofabrication, scanning probe microscopy, optical and near-field spectroscopy, and high-field magnetotransport—to generate rich experimental data. These experiments are integrated with tight-binding and density functional calculations, which, in turn, feed into machine learning models that adapt in real time. This creates a dynamic feedback loop in which artificial intelligence helps design the next experiment, while each experiment improves the AI model
He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications, boasts an h-index above 55, and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher multiple times. Among his accolades are the EMFL Prize and a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant. Mishchenko continues to shape the future of quantum materials through interdisciplinary approaches that merge physics, chemistry, and machine learning.
Michele Penza earned a degree in Physics from the University of Bari, Italy. He first worked with CNRSM SCpA (IT S&T Park) and then joined ENEA in 2001. Currently, he manages research projects (regional, national, and international) and teams, with a focus on material science, sensors, and solid-state devices, in the Brindisi Research Center, Italy. His research interests are in sensor materials, nanomaterials, gas sensors, portable sensor systems, functional applications, environmental technologies and measurements. He was awarded with E2 Excellence (ENEA) in 2008 for a Special Mention in Environmental Research.
In addition to authoring 3 national filed patents, 180 scientific publications, and 3 book chapters, he has delivered 40+ invited/keynote talks, co-organized scientific meetings, and chaired conference sessions. He also has experience as a member of international scientific committees, international expert for FP7 and HORIZON projects and a national research agency/council, international reviewer, research manager with SMEs’ partnership, associate editor and guest editor of several Special Issues and Topics.
Lastly, he was Chair of COST Action TD1105 EuNetAir - European Network on New Sensing Technologies for Air-Pollution Control and Environmental Sustainability from 2012 to 2016.
He is a Delegate acting as ENEA Member in local ecosystems for education, training, research and innovation. In particular, he was Coordinator of EIT Raw Materials Hub - Regional Center Southern Italy hosted by ENEA - Brindisi Research Center in the period 2019 - 2022.
He is Associate Editor of SENSORS / MDPI, Associate Editor of CHEMOSENSORS / MDPI, Associate Editor of JOURNAL OF SENSORS AND SENSOR SYSTEMS, Copernicus and Academic Editor of JOURNAL OF SENSORS / Wiley.
He is Adjunct Professor at University of Salento, Department of Engineering for Innovation, Bachelor Program in Engineering for Sustainable Industry, Course on Lab of Technologies for Sustainable Production, Teaching Pole in Brindisi (Italy).
He has Italian National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor in Experimental Physics of Matter (02/B1 - ASN 2021-23) valid from 6 February 2023 to 6 February 2035. He is ranked as Top 2% Worldwide most-cited Scientist (2021 - now) in Analytical Chemistry and Applied Physics.
He will give a keynote talk on Carbon Gas Sensors - From Materials to Devices. He will review the recent advances in carbon gas sensors for practical applications including environmental sensing, greenhouse gas monitoring, volatile organic compounds detection. The research achievements at the state-of-the art will be presented and discussed from carbon-based materials to devices, systems and related technologies.
Lucia Gemma Delogu, Ph.D., is the head of the ImmuneNano-Lab at the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Padua (UNIPD Padua, Italy) www.delogulab.eu. After acquiring her experience in Immunology and Material Science at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, USA) and at Sanford-Burnham Institute (San Diego, USA), she served as Assistant Professor at the University of Sassari (Italy) and as Visiting Professor at the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD; Dresden, Germany).
Dr. Delogu has been the Scientific Coordinator of two interdisciplinary EU projects, under HORIZON2020, including a RISE project on nanomedicine and immune interactions of nanomaterials, involving more than 10 leading Institutions and high-profile international scientists on nanotechnology and nanomedicine. In this field, she has received several awards, including the “Marie S. Curie Individual Fellow” at TUD under HORIZON2020 from the European Commission, the “200 Young Best Talents of Italy 2011” from the Italian Ministry of Youth, and “Bedside to Bench & Back Award” from the National Institutes of Health, USA. Since 2020, Dr. Delogu is in charge of the Italian chapter and a member of the road map working group of the Advanced Material Global Pandemic & Future Preparedness Taskforce (AMPT) www.amptnetwork.com/. She introduced the “NanoImmunity-by-design” concept, for the design of nanomaterials based not solely on their physicochemical characteristics but also on their immunomodulatory characteristics.
She pioneered the use of systems immunology approach by high-dimensional single-cell strategies in the context of nanomaterial applications. Her research focuses on the biological interactions of nanomaterials and nanoparticles, with a particular focus on their immunomodulation properties, biomedical applications and toxicological profile.
Prof. Paolo Lugli is a renowned expert in nanoelectronics, printed electronics, and molecular electronics, with over 800 scientific publications to his name. After completing his studies in physics at the University of Modena, he earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University, USA. His academic career includes research and teaching roles at the Universities of Colorado, Modena, and Rome “Tor Vergata.” In 2002, he was appointed Chair of Nanoelectronics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where he taught for twelve years and served as Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, overseeing more than 3,500 students and 700 doctoral candidates. In 2017, he joined the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano as Professor and later served as Rector, bringing with him extensive leadership experience and a strong commitment to advancing key fields such as bioengineering and nanotechnology. Prof. Lugli is an IEEE Fellow and a member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), actively contributing to the scientific and academic communities through international collaborations, conference leadership, and cross-disciplinary innovation.
Professor Riccarda Antiochia received an MSc degree in Chemistry with honors in 1992 and an MSc degree in Pharmacy with honors in 2009, both at the Sapienza University of Rome. In 1994 she received a Diploma of Imperial College from Imperial College, London, and in 1996 received a PhD in Chemical Sciences from the Sapienza University of Rome. In 2018 she was awarded the national scientific qualification as Full Professor for the scientific sector CHIM/01, Analytical Chemistry. She is a Member of the Steering Committee of CNIS, Research Center for Biotechnology, applied to Engineering of the Sapienza University of Rome from 2011, and a Member of the PNIEC-PNRR Technical Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Energetic Security (MASE) for the environmental impact assessment of projects from Integrates National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) and National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) since April 2022. She is author of more than110 papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, 3 book chapters and 1 mono- graph.
Her scientific activity is focused on the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology and analytical chemistry. Her main area of research is the design and development of electrochemical (bio) sensors for clinical applications. More recently, she has been involved in the characterization of new nanostructured materials for electrode modification in second- and third-generation electro- chemical biosensors, biofuel cells and microneedle-based bio- sensor development.