Dr Petala Eleni
Innovation Manager
Dr Petala Eleni is a materials science engineer. In 2011 she received her M.Sc. degree in Materials Chemistry and Technology from the Department of Chemistry and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Ioannina while in 2017 she received her Ph.D. from Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, in collaboration with the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM) in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Her MSc and PhD studies were driven in the field of environmental applications and more specifically in advanced water treatment nanotechnologies. She has various publications and patents while she has participated in several conferences and through internships, she has the chance to interact with many collaborators around world. Among her interests is also the application of methodological approaches to link research to its eventual industrial and societal deployment. During her work as a scientific researcher, she has been involved in numerous European projects and has been intensively trained on Innovation Management Tools, EU proposal development, corporate engagement, protecting and licensing inventions and economic development. Currently, she is working as an innovation manager at the Stratakis Lab, Ultrafast Laser Micro and Nano Processing Laboratory of Institute of Electronic Structure and Lasers, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, FORTH
Dr. Emmanouil Nikoloudakis
Post-doctoral fellow at FORTH
–
Dr. Emmanouil Nikoloudakis finished his PhD degree from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Crete in 2022, after obtaining his Bachelor and his Master’s degrees from the same institute in 2017 and 2019, respectively. His work has resulted into 21 publications with nine of them having his name as the first author. Emmanouil has an h-index of 11 and more than 410 citations according to Scopus. Furthermore, he has participated in more than 10 national and international conferences with oral or poster presentations. During his studies he was awarded with six scholarships and one fellowship from the Fulbright Institute. On 2017, he visited for an internship CEA in Grenoble in France where he worked for 3 months, while on 2020 he joined a collaborating laboratory in Nantes for another 3 months. On 2021, he visited under the Fulbright program as a visiting research student the University of North Texas, in Denton in USA, where he worked for 4 months. Through his research visits in collaborating foreign laboratories, Emmanouil obtained extensive knowledge, skills and learned new techniques, which accumulate 10 months of work experience abroad. Throughout his post-graduate studies, he has been a laboratory assistant for 5 semesters, a teaching assistant for Organic Chemistry III for one semester and he was the co-supervisor for 16 undergraduate students, in the Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry. After finishing his mandatory military service in the Greek Army (2022-2023), Emmanouil enrolled as a post-doctoral fellow at IESL-FORTH in the group of Dr. Emmanuel Stratakis.
The research activity of Dr. Emmanouil Nikoloudakis involves the synthesis, purification and characterization of chromophores (porphyrins, BODIPYs, corroles etc.) and their utilization in applications such as photocatalytic hydrogen production, photocatalytic water oxidation, photoelectrocatalytic alcohol oxidation, self-assembling systems and artificial photosynthetic schemes. The above systems target in solving both energy and environmental related issues and therefore this field has attracted extended scientific interest.
Ievgen Obraztsov
Research Scientist at CATRIN
Dr. Ievgen Obraztsov is a scientist at the frontier of applied and fundamental research. He received his M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering in 2004 from the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology at the Department of Technology of Organic Substances (Dnipro, Ukraine) and his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2015 from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland), where he was an early-stage researcher within the NASCENT Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Training Network. Since October 2018, he is a recognized researcher at the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN) at Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. His Ph.D. thesis title is “Thin films of functional redox materials for solar energy conversion, electrocatalysis, and energy storage”. He is the author of research papers, co-author of a patent for a hybrid supercapacitor material, and a book chapter on dye-sensitized and organic solar cells. Recently, his research has focused on the physical chemistry and electrochemistry of organic materials through the development of organic self-assembled nanostructures for energy applications such as alkaline metal batteries and supercapacitors.
Antonis Tzounis
Member Position
Antonis Tzounis has been leading the engineering development of tech products for more than 8 years. The products he has worked on include IoT, Analytics, SaaS and Ag-tech solutions, with a presence in more than 30 countries globally. Antonis started his career as a multimedia and web application developer in 2002 and a scientific researcher working with technological integrations, software and IoT applications development in various fields for seven years (2007 – 2015). Working with multiple teams allowed him to be exposed to a wide range of areas and technologies, from high-level UI and app development to embedded and IoT programming and sensors design evaluation and deployment. In his latest positions, Antonis has worked for Silicon Valley companies and start-ups like Sitecore, Rudderstack and Centaur Analytics. Antonis has also worked as a research associate for CERTH, the University of Thessaly and Seoul National University (visiting researcher).
Dr. Anurag Krishna
R&D Project Leader IMEC
Dr. Anurag Krishna is an R&D Project Leader in the Thin Film Photovoltaics (TFPV) group at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), Belgium His current research focuses on developing upscaling methodologies for next-generation perovskite PV technology, aiming to transition it from the lab to large-scale fabrication. Previously, he was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow in the laboratory of Professors Michael Graetzel and Anders Hagfeldt at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, where he developed highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. He obtained Ph.D. from the Energy Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2017. The noble mission of his research is to facilitate sustainable and affordable low-carbon and green technology solutions for the world. His research interests focus on developing hybrid materials suitable for photovoltaic, optoelectronic, and nanoelectronic devices. He has authored or co-authored 33 scientific publications, which have accumulated over 2,400 citations.
Dr. Ihor Fesych
Associated professor of TSNUK
Dr. Ihor Fesych is an Associate professor at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (TSNUK), Ukraine. He obtained B.Sc. degree in Chemistry in 2007, M.Sc. degree in Chemistry in 2008, and PhD in Inorganic Chemistry in 2012, all from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (TSNUK), Ukraine. Since 2024 Ihor Fesych led the Project 101120397 – APPROACH “Advanced Photonic PRocesses for new Solar Energy Harvesting Technologies” which is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Research Programme. In 2022 he achieved an academic rank of recognized Associated professor and at the same year has been awarded a Commendation of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv for fruitful scientific and pedagogical activities, publication activity in journal with the highest CiteScore(Scopus) and Impact Factor (Web of Science Core Collection) citation indexes for May 2022. He has published about 55 publications, 34 original papers indexed by Scopus, 253 citations and h-index 10 (Scopus), 2 patents. His teaching disciplines include X-Ray diffraction method, general chemistry, chemistry of water purification, photocatalysts. Research interests: sol-gel synthesis of oxide compounds and materials based on transition metal ions and rare earth elements with different dispersion, DTA/TG measurements, phase analysis, Rietveld refinement, estimating average crystallite size using Williamson-Hall and Sherrer method
Dr. Aby Cheruvathoor Poulose
Scientific researcher at CATRIN
Dr. Aby Cheruvathoor Poulose is a scientific researcher at the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN) at Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic. He holds a Ph.D. from Toyo University, Japan, where he specialized in the synthesis and applications of semiconductor nanocrystals in biological imaging and solar light harvesting. Prior to this, he completed a master’s degree in chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Calicut University, in India. Dr. Aby has a rich background in nanoscience, with extensive experience in electron microscopy, nanocrystal synthesis, multifunctional cancer theranostics, solar energy harvesting and heterogeneous photocatalysis. His professional journey includes the role as a visiting researcher at Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria, a senior application specialist at JEOL Asia Pvt Ltd and post-doctoral researcher at Bio Nano Electronics Research Center, Japan. He has been recognized with prestigious awards and fellowships, such as the Marie Curie fellowship and the Japanese government scholarship-Monbukagakusho (MEXT). Dr. Aby has contributed significantly to his field with numerous peer-reviewed articles, patents, and presentations at international conferences, reflecting his expertise and dedication to advancing nanotechnology and its applications in nanomaterials for energy harvesting
Lucie Hrabalíková
Project Manager
Lucie Hrabalíková received her master’s degree in 1999 from Palacký University in Olomouc, Faculty of Physical Culture, major in Recreology. In 2000 she joined eBanka, a.s. (later Raiffeisenbank a.s.) as a telephone banker. In 2008, she changed her position to Corporate Loan Administration Specialist/SME Loan Support where she worked until 2020. In 2020, she changed her field of work and moved to academia where she worked at the Faculty of Education as an ESF project administrator from 2020 to 2023. Since 2023 she has been working at the CATRIN research institute, which is also part of Palacký University. Her position is project manager. She is currently in charge of two Horizon Europe projects. The first is from the HORIZON WIDERA TALENTS 2022 call (APPROACH) and the second is an RIA project from the fourth cluster of the DIGITAL call (2D-BioPAD), which deals with early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.
Lukáš Zdražil
Postdoctoral Researcher
Lukáš Zdražil earned his Master’s degree in Consumer Chemistry from Brno University of Technology in 2018, followed by a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry in 2022 from Palacký University in Olomouc. During his doctoral studies, he undertook an internship at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, working in the laboratory of Professor Patrik Schmuki. In 2023, he became a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy under the supervision of Professor Dirk M. Guldi at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, dedicating 11 months to the exploration of photoluminescent carbon based materials for photocatalysis. Presently, Lukáš works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Materials-Envi Lab, VŠB–Technical University of Ostrava, and CATRIN, Palacký University in Olomouc. His research is dedicated to the development of photoluminescent nanomaterials and their application in solar harvesting technologies and sensing.
Saikumar Manchala
Postdoctoral Researcher at CATRIN-RCPTM, Palacky University
Saikumar Manchala received his B.Sc degree in 2008 from Kakatiya University, India and M.Sc degree in 2011 from Telangana University, India. Then, he joined SV Degree College as a chemistry lecturer from July 2011 to July 2012. Afterwards, he joined Spices Board as a trainee analyst from July 2012 to July 2014, where he has work experience with standard regulation of ISO 17025:2005 NABL Accreditation System. In August 2014, he joined PhD in the Department of Chemistry at National Institute of Technology, Warangal. His research interests focus on the carbon-based nanomaterials for solar energy conversion. Apart from this work, he has thoroughly investigated to find the new reducing agents for the synthesis of graphene and has successfully optimized the reducing process by using Eucalyptus bark extract. This work was highly recognized in scientific, electronic, and print media. Addition to that he has published various articles in highly reputed SCI journals and book chapters. He has attended various workshops, seminars, national and international conferences, and he also attended GIAN academic training courses which are conducted by MHRD, Govt. of India. After submitting his thesis, in January 2020 he joined as a postdoc in the Department of Chemistry at IIT-Delhi, India where he worked on “Exfoliation of bulk chalcogenides into 2D chalcogenides for photochemical applications”. In August 2021, he moved to Seoul, South Korea to do postdoc at Department of Chemistry and Nanoscience, Ewha Womans University, where he worked on a project “Metal catalysts for photochemical CO2 reduction and H2 production”. During his work as a scientific researcher, he has the chance to interact with many collaborators around the world. His research interests include catalysis, photocatalysis, photothermal catalysis, 2D materials, functionalization of graphene, single-atom catalysts, carbon nanomaterials, semiconductor materials, heterojunctions, nanocomposite materials, and photo-electrocatalysis. At present, he is doing a post-doc in the CATRIN-RCPTM, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Dr. Zdeněk Baďura
Researcher in the Magnetic Nanostructures
Dr. Zdeněk Baďura received MSc. degree in Nanotechnology at the Faculty of Science, Palacky University in Olomouc in 2017. In the same year, he started his Ph.D. studies in Applied Physics at the same institution and graduated in 2023. Currently, he is a researcher in the Magnetic Nanostructures group led by Dr. Aristeides Bakandritsos in the CATRIN (Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute) at Palacky University in Olomouc. Recently, he also joined the MEL group (Material-Envi Lab) headed by prof. Zbořil in the Centre of Nanotechnology at VŠB- Technical University of Ostrava. His work is closely related to EPR (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance) spectroscopy and its applications in modern low-dimensional materials. Particularly the large field of his interest is defect engineering and describing the nature of photo-excited states and their use in photocatalytic processes. In addition, a significant part of his work is also devoted to the spin states in carbon dots used for diverse applications ranging from sensing to catalysis
Yinghuan Kuang
Researcher
Yinghuan Kuang received his PhD in applied physics in 2014 from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. During his PhD he mainly worked on thin-film silicon solar cells under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ruud Schropp. From July 2014 till January 2018 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Plasma & Materials Processing (PMP) group led by Prof. Erwin Kessels at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. There he was mainly involved in atomic layer deposition of thin films for perovskite solar cell and silicon heterojunction solar cell applications. Since February 2018 he has been a senior researcher & project leader in the Thin Film Photovoltaics group at imec. He is also a co-promotor and daily supervisor for PhD and postdoctoral researchers. He currently mainly works on the development of perovskite photovoltaics at imec, with a focus on upscaling perovskite solar modules with stability using scalable processes. His research interests also cover the development of perovskite-silicon and perovskite-CIGS tandem photovoltaics. He also acts as the coordinator for Horizon Europe projects
George Karalis
R&D Product manager at PDOT
Dr George Karalis is a materials science engineer. In 2018 he received his M.Sc. degree in Materials Chemistry and Technology from the Department of Chemistry and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Ioannina-Greece, while in 2021 he received his Ph.D. from Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina-Greece. During his studies he was awarded with two Scholarships and he has worked as Research associate in 2 funded European and National-Greek programs (2018-2021). After fulfilling his mandatory military service in the Greek Special Forces (2022), he joined as a post-doctoral researcher at Dresden University of Technology-Germany in 2023. His main areas of research include fibers and nanomaterials for physicochemical properties tuning and energy applications from design, synthesis, characterization towards scalable and sustainable fabrication techniques with particular emphasis on reinforced polymer or cement matrix composites, printed electronics and energy harvesting technologies. He is the author or co-author of more than 30 international publications in peer reviewed journals-conference proceedings, invited speaker in 2 lectures-colloquiums and holder of 1 international patent
Aranzazu Aguirre
Researcher
Aranzazu Aguirre, Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from the University of Antwerp (Belgium), has a diverse background in academia and industry. Formerly a postdoc at Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) and Imdea Nanoscience Institute (Spain), she served as R&D Manager in Abengoa Solar NT’s (Spain) photovoltaics division for 5 years. Currently, at imec (Belgium) for the past 6 years, she has focused on upscaling perovskite-based photovoltaic modules. Her work emphasizes reliability and stability, exploring laser interconnection and encapsulation strategies. She is engaged in collaborative projects with academic and industrial partners.
Santhosh Ramesh
Researcher
Santhosh Ramesh is a dynamic researcher and engineer with over nine years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Specializing in solar cell technology for the past six years, Santhosh’s expertise encompasses modeling, development, and detailed electrical characterization of perovskite-based solar cells. Currently a researcher at Imec he focuses on identifying underlying physical phenomena using advanced electrical characterization techniques, processing, and modeling anomalies in perovskite cells. His work also includes upscaling perovskite single junctions using blade and slot-die coating processes, optimizing parameters to achieve uniform coatings. An accomplished communicator, Santhosh has presented his research at numerous international conferences and published in scientific journals. Fluent in English and currently learning Dutch, he is committed to continuous learning and integration into diverse work environments. Santhosh’s unique blend of academic and industry experience positions him to deliver innovative and practical solutions in the field of semiconductor technology
Dr. Alexandros Selimis
Postdoctoral Researcher IESL
Dr. Alexandros Selimis is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) of the Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH). His recent professional activity concerns the dissemination of scientific research results and preparation of policy reports on sustainable development strategies concerning the areas of Research and Innovation. His scientific background includes the processing of materials by laser beams with applications in Photonics/Biophotonics and especially in the restoration of Cultural Heritage artworks as well as in Tissue Engineering. He is a co-author of 27 scientific papers publications in peer-reviewed international journals and of 3 chapters in international scientific journals books.