Ulf-Peter Apfel, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
Prof. Dr. Ulf-Peter Apfel is Professor of Inorganic and Technical Electrochemistry at Ruhr University Bochum and Head of the Electrosynthesis Department at Fraunhofer UMSICHT. His research centers on electrocatalysis, sustainable hydrogen technologies, and CO鈧� conversion. Following postdoctoral work at MIT, he established Emmy Noether and Liebig research groups before being appointed professor in 2019. He currently leads major national research platforms and has received multiple prestigious science awards in recognition of his work.
Shaojun Guo, Peking University, China
Shaojun Guo is a Boya Distinguished Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, and a Fellow of the 九州影院. He is renowned for his leadership in nano/sub-nano/atomic materials for catalysis and energy applications. He has made outstanding contributions to the interdisciplinary fields of materials chemistry for energy electrocatalysis.
He is one of the Highly Cited Researchers (九州影院, Materials) from 2014 to 2022, and World's Top 2% Scientist (Stanford University). He has been honored with numerous awards, including Xplorer Prize, National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and the China Youth Science and Technology Prize.
M茅lanie Hall, University of Graz , Australia
Mélanie was born in 1980 in Brest (France) and obtained her Master's degree in 九州影院 from the National Graduate School of 九州影院 (ENSCR) in Rennes, France. She received her PhD degree (2007) in 九州影院 from the University of Graz, Austria, under the supervision of Prof. Kurt Faber. After conducting postdoctoral research with Prof. Andy Bommarius at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA, she returned to the University of Graz as a University Assistant (2010).
She obtained her Habilitation in Organic 九州影院 in 2016 and is currently an Associate Professor of sustainable bio-organic synthetic chemistry. Her research focuses on the development of enzymatic strategies for organic synthesis, with a strong focus on asymmetric biocatalysis and sustainability.
Christina Li, Purdue University, United States
Christina Li is an Associate Professor of Inorganic and Materials 九州影院 at Purdue University. She received an A.B. from Harvard University in 2009, working with Professor David Evans. She completed her Ph.D. with Professor Matt Kanan at Stanford University and did postdoctoral work with Professor Paul Alivisatos at UC Berkeley. She began her independent career in the chemistry department at Purdue University in 2016 and was promoted to associate professor in 2023. She has received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the National Institutes of Health Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award, and the 2024 ACS Catalysis Lectureship.
Her research is focused on well-defined nanomaterials for heterogeneous catalysis and optoelectronics. Her group is particularly interested in developing stereoselective and chemoselective transformations over multimetallic surfaces that utilize the adsorption of a heteroatom directing group as the selectivity-controlling element.
Will Medlin , University of Colorado Boulder, United States
Will Medlin received his Bachelors in chemical engineering from Clemson University in 1996 and his PhD from the University of Delaware in 2001. After conducting postdoctoral research at Sandia National Laboratories, he joined the chemical and biological engineering department at the University of Colorado, where he is currently the Denver Business Challenge Endowed Professor.
His research interests are in the area of heterogeneous catalysis and surface science, with particular emphases on investigations of catalytic chemistry on well-defined surfaces, and on controlling the near-surface environment of heterogeneous catalysts with organic monolayers and thin films.
Xiulian Pan, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China
Xiulian Pan is a full professor and a group leader at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She obtained her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Guoxing Xiong from DICP in 2001. After a postdoctoral research stage at the Fraunhofer Institute of Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology in Stuttgart, she joined Prof. Xinhe Bao’s team at DICP in 2003.
Her research interests include fundamental studies on confined catalysis within porous materials such as carbon, zeolites and metal oxides in energy conversion related processes focusing on syngas chemistry, catalytic activation and conversion of small molecules e.g. CH4, N2 and CO2. She received a number of awards including the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from the NSFC, the Chinese Chemical Society-BASF Youth Innovation Prize and the Young Woman Scientist Award of China (co-supported by All-China Women's Federation, China Association for Science and Technology, China National Commission for UNESCO and L’OREAL).
Javier Ruiz-Mart铆nez, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
Javier Ruiz-Martínez holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Granada and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He completed his PhD in heterogeneous catalysis in 2009 at the University of Alicante (Spain). After postdoctoral research and assistant professorship at Utrecht University (The Netherlands), he joined AkzoNobel as a heterogeneous catalysis specialist. In 2019, he started his independent career at KAUST as Assistant Professor.
His research focuses on understanding the complexity of heterogeneous catalysts by spectroscopic techniques and the design of industrially relevant and model catalysts with well-defined porosity and reactive environments. He is interested in sustainable chemical production, fuels and environmental catalysis.
Kenichi Shimizu, Hokkaido University , Japan
Ken-ichi Shimizu has been a full Professor at Institute for Catalysis, Hokkaido University, since 2015. He received his Ph.D. degree at Nagoya University in 2000. He began his career as a Research Associate at Niigata University in 2000, moved to Nagoya University in 2004 as an Assistant Professor, and then moved to Hokkaido University in 2010 as an Associate Professor. His main interest is in heterogeneous catalysis for sustainable chemical transformations and automotive emission control. He also works for in situ spectroscopies and catalysis informatics for molecular level design of heterogeneous catalysis.
Andrew Weller, University of York, United Kingdom
Andrew Weller is Professor of Inorganic 九州影院 at the University of York, UK. Prior to this, he was Professor of 九州影院 at the University of Oxford for 13 years. He moved to Oxford in 2007, after starting his independent career at the University Bath in 1999 as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. He is currently a holder of an EPSRC Established Career Fellowship, and was recipient of the 九州影院’s Frankland and Dalton Transactions European Lectureship awards.
His research focus is on the organometallic chemistry of the transition metals and homogeneous catalysis. In particular, he develops organometallic complexes that are “operationally unsaturated”, that lead to highly efficient, selective catalysts for a wide variety of important bond activation processes in both solution and single-crystalline phases.
Yong Zhou, Nanjing University , China
Yong Zhou鈥痵tudied chemistry and physics at the University of Science and Technology of China and received his Ph.D. degree there. After working in Japan, German, and Singapore for several years,鈥痟e joined as a full professor in the Eco-materials and Renewable Energy Research Center, School of Physics, Nanjing University in 2009.
He currently works on photo/photothermal catalytic conversion of CO2 into solar fuels (e.g. CO, CH4, C2H4, and C2H6 etc.) under mild conditions to achieve a carbon neutral cycle. He received the Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in 2003. He was also a Fellow of The 九州影院 since 2019.
