Enrico Traversa

-   Present position:                Professor of Materials Science and Technology,

                                               Dept. of Chemical Science and Technology,

                                               University of Rome Tor Vergata                                                      

-   Born in Rome (Italy) on December 19th, 1959.

-   University education:

1978-1986, "Laurea" (Italian doctoral degree) in Chemical Engineering, Summa cum laude, at the University of Rome La Sapienza.

-   Professional positions:

1986-1988      Awarded a Postdoctoral Scholarship by Nuova Samim S.p.A. to study the corrosion behaviour of copper alloys for heat exchanger tubes in seawater, in collaboration with the University of Rome La Sapienza.

2018-2024      Scientific Counsellor, Embassy of Italy in Japan, Tokyo.

-   Academic positions:

1988-1992      Research Associate in Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemical Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata.

1992-2000      Associate Professor of Materials Technology, Department of Chemical Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata.

2000-date       Professor of Materials Science and Technology, Department of Chem­i­cal Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Univ. Rome Tor Vergata.

2001-2009      Director of the Doctorate Course in "Materials for Health, Environment and Energy", Department of Chemical Science and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata.

2003-2008      Director of the Italy-Japan joint lab on Nanostructured Materials for Environment and Energy at the University of Tokyo.

2004-2009      Director of the Italy-USA joint lab on Nanostructured Materials for Solid State Ionic Devices at the University of Florida.

2005-date       Graduate Faculty, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida.

2008-2013      Director of the Univ. of Tokyo joint lab in Rome on Automotive Fuel Cells.

2009-2012      Principal Investigator, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan.

2010-2012      Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University.

2011-2012      Part-time Professor, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo.

2012-2017      Director of the Department of Fuel Cell Research, International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Lab of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China.

2013-2015      Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Physical Science Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia.

2017-2022      National Distinguished Professor, School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, China.

-   Professional awards:

1992   Grant under the auspices of the Scientific Co-operation Agreement between the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), which was used to spend three months as Visiting Research Associate at the Research Center for Advanced Science & Technology (RCAST), Univ. of Tokyo.

1993   The same grant, for twenty days.

1994   Grant of the Faculty of Engineering of the Ehime University to spend 40 days as Visiting Researcher at the Department of Applied Chemistry.

1995   Grant of JSPS-CNR, for twenty days at the University of Tokyo.

1996   Grants of AIST-MITI, Japan, for 14 days at the National Institute of Materials and Chemical Research (NIMC), Tsukuba, and for 5 days at the National Industrial Research Institute of Nagoya.

1996   Grant within the framework of the European Union S&T Grant in Japan, for 6 months at the RCAST of the University of Tokyo.

1998   COE (Center of Excellence) Fellowship for 14 days at the NIMC, Tsukuba.

1998   Grant of CNR within the framework of the Short Term Mobility Program, for 3 weeks at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the University of Florida.

1999   Grant of the Ministry of Culture and Education of Japan to spend 28 days at the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ehime University.

2000   Grant of JSPS-CNR, for twenty days at the University of Tokyo.

2000   COE (Center of Excellence) Fellowship for 4 days at the NIMC, Tsukuba.

2000   Grant of the Ministry of Culture and Education of Japan to spend 14 days at the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ehime University.

2001   Grant of the Faculty of Engineering of the Ehime University to spend 14 days as Visiting Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

2002   Grant of JSPS-CNR, for 28 days at the Institute of Industrial Science, Univ. of Tokyo.

2003   AIST Fellowship for 14 days at the NARC, Tsukuba.

2007   Elected in the World Academy of Ceramics.

2008   MEXT Fellowships (three times) at the MANA-NIMS, Tsukuba.

2011   American Ceramic Society Ross Coffin Purdy Award for the paper “High proton conduction in grain-boundary-free yttrium-doped barium zirconate films grown by pulsed laser deposition” that was published in Nature Materials, for the best paper on ceramics published in 2010.

2011   Visiting Professor at the Multidisciplinary Center for the Development of Ceramic Materials (MCDCM) for 30 days in Brazil.

2011   Recipient of an ICREA (Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies) Fellowship (declined).

2011   Recipient of “1000 Talent” Scholarship from the Government of China.

2013   Fellow of the Electrochemical Society.

2014   Academic Visit to the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at National University of Singapore (NUS) for 9 days.

2014   International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Smart Materials Medal.

2015   Fellow of the European Ceramic Society.

2015   Featured in trade cards by the Electrochemical Society (ECS) as one of the 50 most influential electrochemists all time (with Volta, Faraday, Ampère, Edison, etc.).

2017   Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences.

-   Teaching experience:

He received Grants from the Ministry of University and Scientific and Technological Research of Italy (MURST) to establish a Joint PhD programme in Electroceramics with the University of Florida (1998) and a Joint PhD programme with the Ehime University, Japan (1999). 

From the academic year 2001/02 until 2009, he was the Director of a Doctorate Course in "Materials for Environment and Energy", established with the help of the above grants, which in 2007/08 was renamed "Materials for Health, Environment and Energy", and in 2024/25 "Materials for Sustainable Development".

In November 2003 he gave a course at the Petroleum and Petrochemical College of the Chulalongkorn University of Bangkok, Thailand. 

He advised or co-advised 46 PhD students, in addition to numerous Master students, and 48 Postdoctoral Associates, many of them working now in Academia worldwide. He received 60 Visiting Professors and Scientists. 

-   Services:

Acting Head of Delegation of Italy at the G7 Education Ministers’ Meeting, Kanazawa, 14-15 May, 2023.

Secretary-Treasurer (2003-2005), Jr Vice Chairman (2005-2007), Sr Vice Chairman (2007-2009), Chairman (2009-2011), and Past Chair (2011-2013) of the High Temperature Materials Division of the Electrochemical Society.

Chair of the European Section of the Electrochemical Society (2014-2017). Chair of the Fellow Subcommittee of the Electrochemical Society (2015). Chair of the Carl Wagner Award Subcommittee of the Electrochemical Society (2016-2017).

Member of the Ways and Means Committee of the Electrochemical Society (2007-2009). Member of the Publication Committee of the Electrochemical Society (2009-2012). Member of the Board of Directors of the Electrochemical Society (2009-2011). Member of the Honors and Awards Committee of the Electrochemical Society (2012-2017). 

Member of the International Relations Committee of the Materials Research Society (2003-2009).

Elected to the Advisory Board of the World Academy of Ceramics (2010-2014).

Member of the panel for the evaluation and funding of research project in the Materials field for the Science and Technology Foundation of Portugal (2007, 2009). Reviewer of projects for funding agencies of Canada, Singapore, UK, USA, France, Russia, Switzerland, and Italy.

Editor-in-Chief (2012-2021) and Founding Editor of Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy (Springer Nature publisher).

Member of the International Advisory Board of MRS Energy & Sustainability (2017-2019).

Volume Organizer of the MRS Bulletin (2014).

European Editor of Sensor Letters (2003-2007).

Associate Editor of the Journal of Nanoparticle Research (2008-2014).

Associate Editor of Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (2009-2011).

Coordinating Editor and Member of the International Board of the Journal of Electroceramics (founding member, until 2018).

Member of the Editorial Board of Cerâmica, the official journal of the Brazilian Ceramic Society (2007-), Interface (2005-2007) of the Electrochemical Society, and Journal of Materiomics (founding member, 2014-2018).

-   Research experience:

The research interests of Enrico Traversa encompass a wide range of themes on nanostructured materials for health, environment, and energy. Author of 13 patents, 34 books and special issues, and more than 500 papers mainly published on International Journals (376), with 23,558 citations, h-index 78 (Scopus, on 27/3/2024). Listed in the Essential Science Indicators/Web of Science as a highly cited researcher in Materials Science (2005-2018), Chemistry (2014-2018), Engineering (2005-2013), and All-Fields categories. Ranked within 12,000 in the Stanford-compiled science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators, for the career-long impact. 

He presented 172 Invited talks, 22 of which Plenary or Keynote lectures, at major international conferences, and 140 Invited seminars at major Universities and Research Institutes in Japan, Italy, Norway, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, USA, India, UK, Slovenia, Brazil, Australia, Spain, France, Mexico, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, and Turkey.

Organizer of more than 70 conferences or symposia, many in the frame of Electrochemical Society and Materials Research Society conferences. Chair, Conf. Electroceramics VIII-2002, Rome, Aug. 25-28, 2002, patronage of the Europ. Ceram. Soc.; Co-Chair, Intern. Conf. Nanostructured Materials 2010, NANO2010, Rome, Sept. 13-17, 2010.