Graphene Week 2025 Speakers

Bio: Amalia Patanè studied at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” where she received her MSc in Physics (1994) and PhD (1998). She then moved to the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nottingham to research quantum semiconductor systems. She has been Professor of Physics (since 2011) and Director of Research (2019-23) at the University of Nottingham. Since 2015, Patanè is the UK Director and Council member of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory, a national facility of the EPSRC that develops and operates world class high magnetic field systems. Since 2018 she leads the EPI2SEM facility at Nottingham for development of atomically thin semiconductors. Her EPSRC Programme Grant (NEED2D 2025-30) with Queen Mary University of London and the University of Glasgow brings together UK research institutions and industry to develop prototype low-energy-consumption electronic devices beyond traditional semiconductor systems.

Her research achievements were recognised by the Sir Charles Vernon Boys Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics (2007), an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship (2004-09), a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (2017-19), a Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) President’s International Fellowship Award (2018-19), and an honorary professorship at the Institute of Semiconductors, CAS, Beijing (since 2019).

Title: Lead halide 2D perovskites: 2D materials for photovoltaics and polaritonics

Bio: Emmanuelle Deleporte is a full professor at Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, where she conducts her research activities at the LuMIn (Light, Matter and Interfaces) laboratory. In 2005, she founded a multidisciplinary research team, composed of physicists and chemists, which synthesise crystals, thin films and nanoparticles of 2D and 3D lead halide perovskites, and studies the linear and non-linear, continuous and time-resolved optical properties of these materials, both in the context of photovoltaics and light emission. The main topics addressed concern confinement effects at the nanometric scale, excitonic properties, charge carrier relaxation mechanisms, energy and/or charge transfers, and light-matter interaction in photonic cavities containing perovskites. Since 2017, Emmanuelle Deleporte is the director of the CNRS National Research Group "Halide Perovskites" (Groupement de Recherche (GDR) HPERO).

Bio: ICREA Prof. Stephan Roche is working at the Catalan Institute of Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and BIST. He leads the Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience group which focuses on physics of Dirac materials (graphene and topological insulators) and 2D materials-based van der Waals heterostructures. He pioneered the development of linear scaling quantum transport approaches enabling simulations of billion atoms-scale disordered models (www.lsquant.org). He studied Theoretical Physics at ENS and got a PhD (1996) at Grenoble University (France); worked in Japan, Spain & Germany; was appointed as assistant Prof. in 2000, CEA Researcher in 2004 and joined ICREA in 2009. He received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany). From 2013 till 2023, he has been very active in the Graphene Flagship, as leader of the work package SPINTRONICS and as DIVISION leader. Finally, he is leader and coordinator of the “Quantum Communications” activities at ICN2.

Senior professional with over thirty years of experience in the financial and strategic consulting sectors, with a strong focus on corporate finance, M&A and the evolving needs of the corporate world. Over the past decade, he has increasingly dedicated his expertise to supporting high-tech and high-impact knowledge transfer including spinoff and scaleup ventures. Since 2016, he has been collaborating with the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), initially contributing to the humanoid robotics think tank; he joined later IIT Technology Transfer department full-time, becoming part of the Industrial Innovation business unit, which he now leads. He also served for five years on the Innovation Team of the Graphene Flagship and recently has been selected as an Expert in Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship with the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), contributing to train the next generation of European innovators supported by the Agency.

Francesco is a Senior Innovation Advisor whose expertise spans materials science research, corporate R&D, and renewable energy technology development. With a track record as co-founder of several start-ups and joint research-industry labs, and as a former Programme Manager at the European Innovation Council, he now advises Fondazione Bruno Kessler and other institutions and is a cofounder of Nanoshuttle. Francesco is dedicated to bridging the gap between research and practical application, helping turn scientific innovation into impactful solutions.

Dr. Abhishek Kumar commenced his academic background in 2008 in Dept. of Aerospace Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, India, developing expertise in computational and experimental design of composite materials. He was then offered a full PhD scholarship as a Research Assistant at the Center of Advanced Vehicle Systems at the University of Alabama funded by NASA Glenn Research Center, USA where he worked on multiscale material models and experimental validation of advanced composites incorporated with nanomaterials like graphene for aerospace applications. He started his industrial experience in 2017, working with Collins Aerospace facility in Foley, USA as a Materials Review Engineer, during which he worked on several prominent programs like Airbus A320, Bombardier C-series, Embraer E175, E190 and Rolls Royce T700 on structural analysis and repair of engine nacelles and nozzles.

He has served as the Principal Investigator of Material Labs in Leonardo SpA since 2022, guiding a team of 13 scientists and several PhD thesis, and coordinating research areas of Multifunctional nanomaterials & composites, Advanced Manufacturing, Energy and Computational material modeling. He has an active role in several European funded civil (Horizon Europe, CHIPS JU) and defense (European Defense Fund) projects for research in disruptive materials and processes in aerospace and defense sector.

Over the past 15 years, Simone Ligi has been at the forefront of innovation in materials science, with a particular focus on the development and industrial application of advanced nanomaterials. His efforts have been instrumental in discovering practical uses for graphene, significantly enhancing the performance and sustainability of various products.

More recently, his work has expanded into the lubricant sector, where he has introduced cutting-edge products for both industrial and transportation applications. Through ongoing research and collaboration with global industry leaders, Ligi has established himself as a key figure in advancing nanotechnology and its real-world applications.

Simone has received his PhD in 2000 in Industrial Chemistry at University of Bologna, and in 2013 patented the graphene production technology.

He has 17 patents and has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals on catalysis and graphene applications.

Sergio Valenzuela obtained his PhD in Physics in 2001 at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) and held research positions at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since July 2008 he has been an ICREA Research Professor and leader of the ICN2 Physics and Engineering of Nanodevices Group. His research is focused on the unique properties of materials with nanoscale dimensions, motivated by both their intrinsic scientific interest and their potential for advanced electronic applications. His work encompasses spintronics, quantum computation with superconducting circuits and quantum metrology. Together with his collaborators, he has pioneered the use of non- local devices to study the spin Hall effect and of thermopiles to isolate the magnon drag in ferromagnetic materials, and he has implemented novel qubit control and spectroscopy methods. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and an Elected Member of the of the Academia Europaea.

Dr. Talieh Ghiasi is a Rubicon postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and will join TU Delft as an assistant professor in August 2025. She received her PhD in spintronics with cum laude distinction from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Her pioneering work on spin transport in graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures was recognized with the Minerva Prize by the Dutch Physics Council. Her research focuses on developing two-dimensional quantum spintronic devices with novel functionalities by harnessing emergent spin-related phenomena in van der Waals heterostructures.

Valentyn S. Volkov received his M.Sc. degree in physics in 2000 from Lomonosov Moscow
State University (Russia) and obtained his Ph.D. in 2003 from Aalborg University (Denmark).
From 2003 to 2008, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Physics and
Nanotechnology, Aalborg University (Denmark). Since 2008, has been an assistant professor
and associate professor at the University of Southern Denmark. In 2019, Valentyn S. Volkov
became the director of the MIPT Centre for Photonicsand 2D Materials (CP2DM) at the Moscow
Institute of Physics and Technology (Russia). Alongside his academic career, he is the cofounder and CTO of XPANCEO, a deep-tech company specializing in next-generation
optoelectronic devices, and the managing director of the XPANCEO Emerging Technologies
Research Center.
Valentyn S. Volkov's research interests encompass various areas such as 2D materials
and van der Waals heterostructures, quantum materials and applications, bio-sensing
technology, linear and nonlinear nanooptics, plasmonics, and scanning near-field optical
microscopy. His contributions to the field have been substantial, with over 260 published papers
and an impressive citation count exceeding 8000. These results form the backbone for the
development of XPANCEO smart lenses. His current research interests primarily focus on the
field of graphene nanophotonics, 2D materials, sensing, biosensors, and functional 2D materialsbased devices.
“At XPANCEO, our unique approach to Deep Tech startup creation involves a
dedicated team of scientists collaborating closely with product managers. This enriches our
common experience and significantly shortens the path from scientific discovery to product
implementation. By integrating scientists into our team, we bridge the gap between discovery
and product development more efficiently and effectively”