PRESIDENT

Prof. dr hab. Robert Pietrzak

[email protected]

Prof. dr hab. Robert Pietrzak graduated in chemistry in 1998 from the Faculty of Chemistry at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and linked his professional career with this university. He obtained his PhD in chemical sciences in 2002, his habilitation (DSc) in 2010, and the title of professor of chemical sciences in 2017. He heads a research group at the Department of Applied Chemistry. He conducts research in the field of chemical technology, chemistry and technology of carbon and carbon materials, adsorption, removal of pollutants from solid, liquid, and gas phases, and broadly understood environmental protection.

The total scientific output of Prof. Robert Pietrzak includes 354 scientific papers, 179 of which are on the Philadelphia list (bibliometric indicators according to Scopus: 176 publications, over 5500 citations; H-index = 44). He is also a co-author of an academic script, a chapter in an encyclopedia, and a book. He has delivered 23 invited lectures and presented personally or through co-authors over 540 oral communications and poster presentations. He has participated many times as a reviewer in doctoral procedures or habilitation proceedings, as well as for the title of professor. He completed long-term scientific internships in the USA and Belgium. Annually, since 2020, he has been included in the prestigious ranking of the most influential people in science in the world – World’s Top 2% Scientists (list of the top 2% most cited scientists in the world according to the Stanford Ranking).

Under the supervision of Prof. Robert Pietrzak, 5 doctoral dissertations have been completed; he is also the supervisor of 46 master's theses and 77 bachelor's theses. He has also repeatedly supervised interns from abroad.

Since 2019, Prof. Robert Pietrzak has been a representative of independent academic staff of the Faculty of Chemistry in the UAM Senate and a member of the Senate Committee on Development and the Committee on Budget and Finance. He also sits in the Chapter of the Scientific Award of the City of Poznań (term 2019-2024). Since 2020, he has served as the Vice-Dean for Organization at the Faculty of Chemistry, UAM (currently 2nd term 2024-2028). He has been a member of the Polish Chemical Society since 2001 and the Polish Carbon Society since 2009. For two terms (2013-2018), he served as the Chairman of the Poznań Branch of PTChem. In the 2019-2021 term, he was the Vice-President of the Main Board of PTChem, while in the 2022-2024 term, he serves as the 1st Vice-President of the Main Board of PTChem. Since 2015, he has been a member of the Commission of Chemical Sciences at the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) Branch in Poznań (secretary in 2015-2017, vice-chairman in 2017-2018), and since 2019 also of the Commission of Engineering and Technical Sciences at the PAN Branch in Lublin. In 2023, he became an Honorary Member of the Commission of Engineering and Technical Sciences at the PAN Branch in Lublin. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Program Council of the monthly "Przemysł Chemiczny", and in the 2023-2026 term, he serves as the vice-chairman of this Council. In 2020 and 2023, he was elected a member of the Scientific Committee on Chemistry of PAN (terms 2020-2023 and 2024-2026). Since 2021, he has been a member of the Standing Committee of the Chemical Technology Congress, and since 2023 of the Association of Engineers and Technicians of the Chemical Industry.

He has been repeatedly awarded for his scientific and organizational activities, including the Scientific Award of the City of Poznań (2017), the Commemorative Medal and Honorary Badge of the Polish Chemical Society (2017), Laureate of the "Excellence in Science, Utility in Practice" Competition organized by the Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation in Poznań on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Poznań University (2019), Medal of the Commission of National Education (2022), and the Ignacy Mościcki PTChem Medal (2024).

1st Vice-President: Prof. dr hab. Rafał Latajka

Prof. dr hab. Rafał Latajka was born on January 24, 1972, in Wrocław. After graduating from High School No. XIV in Wrocław in 1991, he began studying chemistry at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry of the University of Wrocław. He graduated in 1996, completing his master's thesis under the supervision of Prof. Henryk Kozłowski. In 1997, he began his doctoral studies at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology (PWr), supervised by Prof. Paweł Kafarski. He defended his doctoral dissertation titled "Study of the structure and conformation of amino acid mimetics and their short peptides using NMR spectroscopy" with distinction in 2001. In the same year, he was employed at the Faculty of Chemistry of PWr as an adjunct professor, continuing his collaboration with Professor Paweł Kafarski. His scientific interests focused on the application of NMR spectroscopy in studying the structure and conformation of peptidomimetics (dehydropeptides and phosphonic compounds) and correlating it with the biological activity of these molecules. During this time, he also completed two postdoctoral internships – the first under a Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) scholarship in the team of Prof. Henryk Koroniak at the Faculty of Chemistry of Adam Mickiewicz University (2002). Then, in September 2003, he left for a one-year postdoctoral internship under a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship at the Universita di Napoli “Federico II”, Dipartamento di Chimica Bioinorganica (Italy). The work carried out during this period became the basis for his habilitation dissertation, and he obtained the degree of habilitated doctor of chemical sciences in 2009. In 2013, he was employed as an associate professor at the Faculty of Chemistry of Wrocław University of Science and Technology. In 2022, he obtained the title of professor.

Currently, his research interests concern peptidomimetics – glycopeptides and peptidotriazolamers. He also conducts research on the design, synthesis, and activity of enzyme inhibitors important in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries – β-lactamases and tyrosinase. Part of the research in his team is conducted in cooperation with many foreign centers – including Bielefeld University (group of Prof. Sewald) or the University of Florence (groups of Prof. Papini and Prof. Rovero). He is the author of 72 publications and has supervised 7 doctoral students. He has been awarded five times by the Rector of Wrocław University of Science and Technology for scientific, didactic, and organizational achievements (2010, 2015, 2021, 2023, and 2024) and the Award of the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry PWr for scientific achievements (2002). In 2013, the President of the Republic of Poland honored him with the Bronze Medal for Long Service. In 2019, he became a laureate of the PTChem Commemorative Medal.

Professor Rafał Latajka served as the Head of Doctoral Studies at his home Faculty (term 2020-2024), and currently is the Vice-Dean for Staff Development and Social Affairs. Since 1992, he has been a member of the Polish Chemical Society, and since 2002 a member of the European Peptide Society. In the terms 2016-2018 and 2022-2024, he was a member of the Presidium of the Main Board of PTChem, and in the term 2019-2021, he served as the 1st Vice-President of the Main Board of PTChem. Since 2022, he has served as the coordinator from PWr in the Paul Ehrlich Med Chem Euro-PhD Network.

Vice-President: Dr hab. Dagmara Jacewicz, prof. UG

Dr hab. Dagmara Elżbieta Jacewicz, prof. UG - born on September 30, 1976, in Bolesławiec. After completing primary school, she continued her education there at the Władysław Broniewski High School No. I. She studied at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where she defended her master's thesis in 2001. In the same year, she began doctoral studies at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Gdańsk (UG). She defended her doctoral dissertation in 2005, for which she received an award from the Gdańsk Branch of the Polish Chemical Society. In July 2015, she obtained the degree of habilitated doctor at the Faculty of Chemistry of UG. Since 2004, she has worked at the Faculty of Chemistry as an assistant, adjunct, and University Professor (since 2016).

Her research interests focus on the chemistry of complex compounds, reaction kinetics, and molecular biosensors, in particular their applications for the determination of nitrogen(IV) oxide and carbon(IV) oxide in biological material, as well as studying physicochemical properties, catalytic oligomerization of polar monomers and olefin polymerization, and antioxidant properties of newly obtained transition metal coordination compounds. Her scientific output includes over 100 scientific papers, 111 of which are publications published in international journals. She is a co-author of over 100 scientific communications at national and international conferences. She has supervised 1 doctoral student. She has been awarded three times with the team award of the Rector of the University of Gdańsk for scientific and didactic achievements (2005, 2012, 2023) and the team award of the Minister of Education and Science (2006). She also received: The Scholarship of the Foundation for the Development of the University of Gdańsk (2007), the Scholarship of the Foundation for Polish Science (START program, 2007-2008), and the Scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for outstanding young scientists (2011-2014).

Since 2011, she has been a member of the Polish Chemical Society; in 2012-2015 she served as the treasurer of the Polish Chemical Society – Gdańsk Branch, and in 2015-2018 she served as the vice-chairperson of the Polish Chemical Society – Gdańsk Branch. In 2019-2021 she was a member of the Presidium of the Main Board of PTChem, and since 2022 she has served as the Vice-President of the Polish Chemical Society.

Vice-President: Prof. dr hab. Artur Michalak

Prof. dr hab. Artur Michalak (born 1968) completed his chemistry studies at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University in 1992. He defended his doctoral dissertation in 1997; his supervisor was Prof. Roman Nalewajski. During his doctorate, in 1994-1995, he completed an internship at the Fritz Haber Institute (MPG) in Berlin, in the group of Prof. Klaus Hermann. In 1998-2000, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Calgary in the group of Prof. Tom Ziegler, and in subsequent years – several shorter internships in Calgary (including NATO Advanced Fellowship in 2002). He obtained his habilitation degree in 2005; the title of professor of chemical sciences in 2009. Professionally, he has been associated with the Faculty of Chemistry of the Jagiellonian University since 1992; currently employed as a full professor (since 2012).

Prof. Artur Michalak is the author of over 100 scientific publications (over 6900 citations, H-index h = 39). In his research work, he specializes in theoretical chemistry / quantum chemistry, dealing with, among other things, chemical bonding theory and molecular modeling of catalytic processes. The research work conducted by him includes the development of an original methodology for describing chemical bonding based on the so-called Natural Orbitals for Chemical Valence (NOCV); theoretical studies of polymerization and copolymerization mechanisms, as well as theoretical studies of the electronic structure and molecular properties of polymer materials for applications in fuel cells. Since 2005, he has led a research group at the Department of Theoretical Chemistry at UJ. He has led numerous research projects, national and international, including cooperation with scientific institutions from South Korea (KIST) and South Korean industry (SK Corp.).

Prof. Artur Michalak served as the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry UJ for Student/Didactic Affairs in 2005-2008 and 2008-2012. His activity on the national and international forum also concerns didactics, including the assessment of the quality of education. He was a member of the ECTN Label Committee accreditation commission (terms 2010-2012; 2012-2014); member of visiting teams for Eurobachelor and Euromaster accreditations, member of the ECTN Association board (ECTN Administrative Council) for terms 2013-2015, 2015-2018, member (2008) and chairman (2013) of the UKA expert team for developing accreditation standards for the chemistry field, member and chairman of visiting teams for UKA accreditations; member of the UKA Council (terms 2016-2017; 2017); currently serves as the Secretary of the PTChem Chemicus Accreditation Commission (since 2019). In the terms 2019-2021 and 2022-2024, he served as the Vice-President of the Main Board of PTChem.

TREASURER

Prof. dr hab. Agnieszka Nosal-Wiercińska

Prof. dr hab. Agnieszka Nosal-Wiercińska began her studies at the Faculty of Chemistry of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in 1994, majoring in chemistry, which she completed in 1999. She started her scientific work as an assistant in the Department of Analytical Chemistry and Instrumental Analysis of UMCS at the beginning of the academic year 1999/2000 at the Faculty of Chemistry of UMCS in Lublin. After defending her doctoral dissertation in 2006, she was promoted to the position of adjunct professor. She defended her habilitation dissertation in 2015, and from October 1, 2017, to March 2021, she was employed as a professor of UMCS. By the decision of March 22, 2021, the President of the Republic of Poland granted her the title of professor of exact and natural sciences in the discipline of chemical sciences.

The research area of Prof. Agnieszka Nosal-Wiercińska covers studies of electrode mechanisms of selected depolarizers in the aspect of the "cap-pair" effect and adsorption phenomena occurring at the phase boundaries: electrode-solution, solid-solution. She is the Author and co-author of about 150 scientific papers, including over 115 from the Philadelphia list, whose citations allowed her to appear in the prestigious ranking of the most influential people in science in the world – World’s Top 2% Scientists.

A very important role in the scientific and didactic development of the Professor is played by cooperation with numerous research centers both in the country and abroad (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, University of Warsaw, University of Łódź, Poznań University of Technology, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University-Turkey, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Charles University-Czech Republic), where she completed numerous internships.

Prof. Agnieszka Nosal-Wiercińska is a co-founder and chairwoman of the Scientific Council of the University of the Third Age in Biecz; vice-chairwoman of the Electroanalysis Team of the Committee on Analytical Chemistry of PAN; chairwoman of the Commission for Development and Promotion of Achievements of Young Scientists of PAN Branch in Lublin; chairwoman of the Chemical Engineering Section of the Commission of Engineering and Technical Sciences of PAN Branch in Lublin; member of: Commission of Fundamentals and Applications of Physics and Chemistry in Technology, Agriculture and Medicine of PAN Branch in Lublin, International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE), editorial board of the journals “Journal of Scientific Perspectives” and Turkish Journal of Analytical Chemistry, Program Council of the Lublin Business Club, Polish Chemical Society (Lublin branch), Lublin Scientific Society; co-organizer of national conferences, such as: "Physicochemistry of Phase Boundaries - Instrumental Methods" or "Innovations in Practice".

Since 2019, Professor Agnieszka Nosal-Wiercińska has served as the faculty coordinator of the Croatian Network “Colloids and nanomaterials in education and research” CIII-HR-1108-03-1920, under the Central European Exchange Program for University Studies (CEEPUS).

For her scientific and organizational-popularizing achievements, she has been repeatedly awarded, among others: Rector of UMCS awards, Medal of the Commission of National Education (2013), Award of the Mayor of the City of Biecz "Meritorious for the City" (2018) - for supporting and promoting the city and commune of Biecz within the Biecz University of the Third Age, and the Silver Cross of Merit (2023).

Since 2022, she has served as the Treasurer of the Main Board of PTChem.

SECRETARY

Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Miecznikowski

Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Miecznikowski completed his master's studies in chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Warsaw in 1995. In 2000, he defended his doctoral dissertation concerning composite materials based on conductive polymers and transition metal hexacyanoferrates, and in the same year began scientific work as an assistant at the Faculty of Chemistry UW in the Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry. During his doctoral studies, he completed two several-month foreign internships at Miami University in Oxford (USA). He subsequently completed several longer and shorter foreign internships at, among others, Miami University, University of Geneva, Universita di Camerino, and University of Bordeaux. He obtained the degree of habilitated doctor of chemical sciences in 2013. Currently, he is employed as a university professor.

Prof. Krzysztof Miecznikowski's research interests concern the search for electrocatalytic materials for oxygen reduction and oxidation of small organic molecules of potential importance in low-temperature fuel cell technology, as well as photoelectrocatalytic materials for water splitting and photodegradation of organic water pollutants. Furthermore, his interests include studies of electrocatalytic, photoelectrocatalytic mechanisms, and corrosion processes. He is the author and co-author of over 100 scientific publications. Moreover, he is a co-author of numerous conference presentations in both oral and poster forms at national and international conferences. He has participated in numerous research projects, both national (NCN or NCBiR) and international (7 Framework Program (FP7), Horizon 2020) as a manager and contractor. Co-organizer and organizer of over a dozen national and international conferences.

Prof. dr hab. Zbigniew Galus – Honorary President

Honorary President of the Polish Chemical Society.

Dr hab. Paweł Rodziewicz, prof. UJK

Paweł Rodziewicz completed his master's studies in chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Wrocław. During his doctoral studies, he completed scientific internships (totaling one and a half years) at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), St. Petersburg State University (Russia), Leiden University (Netherlands), the Slovenian Academy of Sciences (Slovenia), and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (Russia). After defending his doctoral dissertation (January 24, 2006), he left Poland and was employed at the Department of Theoretical Chemistry at the Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) and subsequently, from 2008, at the Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials and the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany). In 2011, he returned to Poland as a laureate of the Foundation for Polish Science HOMING PLUS return grant and was employed at the University of Bialystok (habilitation - 2016). Since 2018, he has been employed as an associate professor at the Institute of Chemistry of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce.

His scientific interests focus on studying the time-resolved properties of systems with intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, the process of functionalization of carbon nanomaterials (nanotubes, graphene), and solvation of molecules of special importance (chemical warfare agents, drugs) using computational methods of quantum chemistry such as: density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). He is the author of 43 publications from the JCR list with a total impact factor (IF) equal to 121.

He has led or participated in 11 international and national research projects. Currently, he leads an OPUS project funded by the National Science Centre concerning chemical warfare agents dumped in the Baltic Sea after World War II. Since 2012, he has been a permanent collaborator of the special research group "Synthetic Carbon Allotropes" established at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where he stayed as a visiting scientist (total stay – over 2 years). Laureate of the scientific scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for outstanding young scientists (2012-2015). In 2021, he was nominated for the "Scientist of the Future" award granted to outstanding innovators by the Intelligent Development Forum and was awarded an individual 1st-degree prize for scientific achievements by the Rector of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce. An admirer of the wartime secrets of Lower Silesia and president of the board of the Lower Silesian Historical Society (Public Benefit Organization since 2012).

Prof. dr hab. Sławomira Skrzypek

Prof. dr hab. Sławomira Skrzypek completed her master's studies at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry of the University of Łódź in 1986. She received the title of professor in 2019 while working at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Łódź. Since 2014, she has been the head of the Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the aforementioned Faculty. In the years 2016-2024, she held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry UŁ for two terms. She was a member of the PTChem Audit Commission (2018-2024). Since 2021, she has served as the chairwoman of the PTChem Electrochemistry Section, and in the years 2017-2024, she held the position of treasurer in the Presidium of the Committee on Analytical Chemistry of PAN. Since 2012, she has been a member of the International Electrochemical Society (ISE). Her scientific interests are mainly related to electroanalysis and electrochemistry and concern the electrochemical determination of pesticides and other biologically active compounds on solid electrodes, modification of electrode surfaces (thin oxide layers by sol-gel method, nanomaterials: nanotubes, graphene, various types of conductive polymers: polyaniline, PEDOT, nafion, biocomposites: enzymes immobilized in a polymer matrix), investigation of mechanisms and kinetics of electrode processes using conventional electrochemical methods and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, theoretical and experimental studies of the catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction in the presence of an adsorbed catalyst using square wave voltammetry, electrochemistry of polarizable liquid-liquid interfaces (miniaturization, sensor development, modification with functional materials).

Dr hab. inż. Elwira K. Wróblewska, prof. ZUT

Dr hab. of technical sciences in the discipline of chemical technology, professor at the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin at the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, employee of the Department of Organic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry. Graduate of the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the Szczecin University of Technology in Environmental Protection with a specialization in Environmental Analytics (1998 - Attempts to use merocyanine solvatochromic indicators to assess the composition of binary solvent systems). In the years 1998-2002, she completed Doctoral Studies at FCT&E SUT, which she concluded by defending her doctoral dissertation (2002 - Synthesis, physicochemical and application studies of selected solvatochromic dyes derived from the 7H-indolo[1,2-a]quinolinium cation and its precursors); she obtained the habilitation degree in 2018 (New areas of application of selected solvatochromic dyes). Employed at her alma mater since 2003.

Her main areas of scientific interest include developing analytical methods, with particular emphasis on spectral methods, as well as electrochemical and mathematical ones, which can find application in industrial laboratories, research on compounds exhibiting solvatochromic properties, and the phenomenon of diffusion in plastics, including biodegradable polymers.

She is a person who constantly improves her competences: she completed Postgraduate Studies in Pedagogical Preparation at WSH TWP in Szczecin (2011), Postgraduate Studies in Organization and Management in Education at Collegium Balticum (2015), and a certified course of the Tutoring School of Collegium Wratislaviense (2016). As an academic teacher, she has conducted or continues to conduct didactic classes in the vast majority of fields of study at FCT&E, including under the ERASMUS program and at Postgraduate Studies in Chemistry for Teachers, of which she was the head. She was involved in launching new fields of study at FCT&E, including the English-language Chemical Engineering program; she was a member of the program committee for Environmental Protection, secretary of the Program Committee for Chemistry studies, and a member of the program committee for Chemical Engineering. For over 20 years, she has been involved in supervising interns of the IAESTE program. During her employment, she was a supervisor (3) and promoter (22) of engineering and master's theses. She has made herself known as a talented pedagogue with the right approach to students, she is a liked and respected teacher. She is a certified tutor and mentor cooperating, among others, with students of the Doctoral School of her alma mater. In 2012, she was awarded the Medal of the Commission of National Education, and in the years 2016-2023, she received individual Rector's awards for: scientific achievements; above-average scientific activity; didactic and organizational activity. As a scientist, she is the author or co-author of papers in journals of international range, conference applications, patents, and studies and expert opinions resulting from scientific-industrial cooperation. She is also a reviewer in English-language scientific journals. Her activity related to the popularization of science includes participation in the Program Council of the Children's University of Technology, conducting classes as part of the European Researchers' Night, organizing Open Days, and organizing the West Pomeranian Science Festival. Working with the tutoring method, she took care of outstanding students from Szczecin high schools and acted as a scientific supervisor for participants of the All-Polish Forum of Young Chemists. She was a manager and contractor in projects implemented under the Horizon 2020 Framework Program and PO KL, implemented, among others, by WSP TWP in Warsaw, WAT in Warsaw, FSN-NOT Council of the West Pomeranian Region in Szczecin. In 2017, she was involved in the West Pomeranian University of Technology of the Third Age Project. Since 2022, she has been cooperating as an expert with the Our Earth Foundation, being involved in the campaign implemented with T-Mobile "Planet Matters". Within her official duties, she actively works for the Faculty and University (Dean's Plenipotentiary FCT&E for the Organization of WPSF and for Promotion /2008-2016/). Since 2016, she has participated in the work of the organizing committee of the Szczecin Symposium of Young Chemists organized by the Szczecin Branch of PTChem and FCT&E, and since 2023, she has been a co-organizer of the Szczecin Student Microsymposium of Young Chemists.

Dr hab. inż. Elwira K. Wróblewska, prof. ZUT has been active in the society since 2008, serving, among others, as the Chairwoman of the Didactic Section in the Szczecin Branch, and in the years 2022-2024 Chairwoman of the Branch.

Privately, fascinated by Lower Silesia – its beautiful nature and history, loves hiking in the beloved Jizera Mountains.