The award, promoted by the Istituto di Struttura della Materia (CNR-ISM), is presented annually by an international jury to two scientists having achieved outstanding breakthroughs in the field of Science of Materials in the last 5 years.
The award ceremony will take place at the Marconi Hall of the National Research Council (P.le Aldo Moro 7 in Rome), and will be broadcast live on the social media channels of CNR-ISM on 15th december at 3:00 PM (CET)
For the PRISM Senior category, the 2025 Prize has been awarded to Kin Fai MAK - Director of Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter - GERMANY
For the PRISM Junior category, the 2025 Prize has been awarded to Wouter Van GOMPEL- Assistant Professor at Hasselt University - BELGIUM
Program
15:00 Welcome and introduction of the PRISM prize
Stefano Fabris - Director of CNR Departement of Physical Sciences and Technologies of Matter
Aldo Di Carlo - CNR-ISM Director
15:30 Exploring synergies between the organic and inorganic components of low-dimensional hybrid perovskites: tuning optical and electronic properties
Wouter Van Gompel - winner Junior PRISM category
16:00 How a moiré pattern creates magic in semiconductors
Kin Fai Mak - winner Senior PRISM category
16:30 Award ceremony
16:50 Conclusion
Please inform us if you will be participating at https://forms.office.com/e/pxcRUkcSz6
Kin Fai Mak
Kin Fai Mak received his B.Sc. in physics and mathematics from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University.
Before joining Penn State University as an assistant professor in physics, he was a Kavli postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University.
He moved back to Cornell in 2018 and is now a Josephson Family Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.
He is also a scientific member and director at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter.
His current research interests include magnetism, superconductivity, strong correlation physics and exciton physics in 2D materials and their heterostructures.
Wouter Van Gompel
Wouter Van Gompel’s research lies at the intersection of hybrid materials chemistry and optoelectronics, with a focus on low-dimensional hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs). One pillar of his work explores how tailored organic cations can be integrated into inorganic frameworks to synergistically tune optical and electronic properties. Another pillar of his work explores the design and synthesis of organic molecules, such as ammonium salts and phosphonic acid derivatives, for use as interlayers or charge transport layers to improve the stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells.
Wouter obtained his Master’s degree in Chemistry from Ghent University in 2015 and completed his Ph.D. at Hasselt University in 2019 under the supervision of Em. Prof. Dirk Vanderzande, supported by a personal fellowship from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). Following his Ph.D., Wouter held postdoctoral positions at Hasselt University from 2019 to 2023. He conducted international research stays at EPFL (Switzerland) with the group of Prof. Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin and the University of Cambridge (UK) with the group of Prof. Sam Stranks.
In 2023, Wouter was appointed Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) in the Chemistry Department at Hasselt University, where he now leads the Hybrid Materials Design (HyMaD) group. His team focuses on establishing structure-property-performance relationships in HOIPs, aiming to rationally design hybrid semiconductors for applications in solar cells, photodetectors, and light-emitting devices. His approach combines the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel hybrid materials with in situ measurements, spectroscopy, crystallography, and computational modeling, supported by a strong international network of collaborators.
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