Exciting news for TUMCS and the Chair of Biogenic Functional Materials of Prof. Rubén Costa: The scientists Sara Ferrara and Luca Cavinato have won the prestigious Young Research Award of the European Material Research Society. This is the second time for Luca, while Sara was selected as the best PhD Thesis 2023 in the international competition.
Prof. Rubén Costa, head of the chair, said: “We are very proud that they were both selected for the prestigious Young Researcher Award in their respective symposia, congratulations!”
Successful EMRS 2023 – Fall Meeting: Sara and Luca are Young Researcher Awardees. Photos: BFM.
On the 19th of September 2023, Sara held an oral presentation at European Materials Research Society – Fall Meeting 2023 in Symposium N, showing her latest advancements on Bio-phosphors with natural and artificial fluorescent proteins for deep-red light-emitting diodes. Thanks to her research in the field of “Sustainable advanced and multifunctional polymer based materials for sensor and actuators, energy and environmental applications”, she was awarded the Young Researcher Award, a prestigious prize for Graduated Students. She also challenged other PhD students in the 3 Minutes thesis competition, where she won the 1st prize for delivering the impact and the main content of her research over the last three years in such a short time.
Sara is involved in the H2020 funded project ARTIBLED. ARTIBLED has as main scope the design and implementation of novel Artificial Fluorescent Proteins in Bio-Hybrid Light Emitting Diodes. Here, Sara studies the stabilization of the proteins once embedded in the polymer matrix, in order to understand and prevent their deactivation pathways in the solid state upon in operando irradiation conditions. To this aim, the optimization of the protein-polymer compatibility (amount of water, oxygen permeability and environment rigidity), as well as of the device architecture is crucial. Her contributions to the field already led to several publications in high impact factor journals.
Also on the 19th of September 2023, Luca delivered an oral presentation at the European Materials Research Society – Fall Meeting 2023 in Symposium K, showcasing his latest advancements in “Bright and stable yellow light-emitting electrochemical cells using BN-doped contorted nanoribbons.” Owing to his significant contributions to the field of “Smart Materials for nanoelectronics and nanophotonics,” he was honored with the Young Researcher Award. This esteemed prize, specifically designated for graduate students, is intended to recognize and encourage those whose academic achievements and current materials research demonstrate a high level of excellence and distinction.
Luca is actively engaged in the MSCA-ITN project STIBNITE, which primarily focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of sustainable 0D, 1D, and 2D materials featuring controlled doping patterns. The project also involves the integration of these materials into energy-efficient devices for applications in optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and thermal management. Luca’s contributions within this framework are related to the development of sustainable light-emitting electrochemical cells. His work spans a diverse range of emitters, encompassing luminescent coordination complexes to fully organic fluorophores. Additionally, he is actively involved in optimizing other components of the device architecture, such as biogenic electrolytes and graphene-based electrodes.