Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology
Located at the heart of Belval Innovation Campus, which gathers the key Luxembourgish research players on a unique single site, LIST is a challenging hosting multidisciplinary and multicultural institution with coworkers coming from all over the world. LIST is a young organization, resulting from the merger of CRP-Henri Tudor and CRP-Gabriel Lippmann in 2015 and devoted to applied research. Its main role rests in the transfer of science-based technologies to socio-economic partners. In this context and owing to significant investments in world-class facilities, the creation of the Functional Polymer Unit within the Materials Research and Technology Department has attracted high level researchers from all over the world, with the aim of valorizing cutting-edge polymer composites as well as innovative polymeric materials, in line with national priorities.
PhDs have the opportunity to:
• work in the context of applied research, oriented towards the development of innovative technologies;
• perform their research closely alongside national and international industry;
• benefit from state-of-the-art equipment, facilities, tools and capabilities;
• have personalized support throughout fulfilment of PhD work;
• receive individual training plan for personal development;
• get professional supervision from leading expert in polymer and materials science.
SCIENTIFIC TEAM
Alexander SHAPLOV (Principal Investigator)

Prof. Alexander Shaplov received his PhD in polymer chemistry (2005), Associate Professor (2010) and Doctor of Science degrees (Dr. habil., HDR) in macromolecular chemistry (2014) from A.N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds Russian academy of sciences (INEOS RAS). Since 2008 he started to develop his own research activities as he was able to perform short edge-cutting research stays abroad. As such, he made postdoc (2006-07) with Prof. Buchmeiser at Leibniz-Institut für Oberflächenmodifizierung (Germany) and then was invited associate professor (2008-2014) at Université de Cergy-Pontoise (France), invited scientist (2010-2012) at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), visiting professor (2015) at POLYMAT (Spain) and at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (2016, France). Each stay was accompanied by synthesis of novel polymers and new types of their application, thus broadening his research experience. He has received prestigious awards: Academia Europaea’s Award (2007) and S.V. Lebedev’s Award (2013). Since 2017 he moved to Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), where he is holding the position of Research & Technology Associate (2017) and from 2020 – Senior R&T Associate. In 2017 he received full rights to supervise PhD students from University of Luxembourg. During 24 years, he was focusing his research interests in the field of polymer synthesis and polymer materials preparation. He has contributed a lot to the development of new trends in polymer chemistry associated with the use of ionic liquids (ILs) in synthesis and modification of polymers. Further on he transferred his knowledge of ILs towards synthesis of >50 novel functional ionic monomers and innovative polyelectrolytes, that were applied in all-polymer-based fast switching electrochromic devices, high safety all-solid-state Li batteries, artificial muscles, solar cells and supercapacitors.
Daniel SCHMIDT

Prof. Daniel F. Schmidt obtained his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering at Cornell University, advised by Prof. Emmanuel P. Giannelis on the subject of polysiloxane nanocomposites (2003). He was one of four post-docs making up the first BASF group to locate in Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn’s Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg, France, where he developed nanoporous materials for thermal insulation (SLENTITE®). In 2005 he joined the Plastics Engineering faculty at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (USA), a top-ranked plastics program worldwide. There, he pursued work on polymer (nano)composites and networks, materials chemistry & characterization, pre-ceramic polymers and sustainable materials. In 2006, he was chosen as an ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow, and worked with Dr. Rich Vaia at the US Air Force Research Labs on novel polymer nanolaminates and porous shape memory materials. In 2009 he was awarded the first Mark and Elisia Saab Endowed Professorship in Sustainable Plastics Engineering. In 2011 he was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor, and in 2012 he was recognized at the Massachusetts State House as University Research Champion by the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI). In 2017 he joined Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) as a Lead Research & Technology Associate, and in 2019 he became Group Leader of the Sustainable Polymers group. He is focusing his research on additive manufacturing, where he sees major opportunities related to polymers, in the generation of sustainable polymer (nano)composites, given the critical need to use resources more wisely, and in the design of safe, sustainable, high-performing polymeric materials more generally.
Luca MONTESEL (DC05)

Luca Montesel is a recent graduate of the University of Trieste (Italy), where he completed the Master’s degree in Chemistry with a specialization in Organic Biomolecular Chemistry. He graduated with a thesis entitled “Synthesis and Applications of Cationic Amphiphilic Poly(amino ester)s as Degradable Carrier Materials,” which was conducted at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Germany) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Pol Besenius. During his time in the Besenius group, Luca gained extensive hands-on experience in the field of block copolymers, with a focus on organocatalyzed ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of N-acylated azacaprolactones. His expertise also extends to the study of the self-assembly behavior of amphiphiles in water.
With a keen interest in environmental issues and a background in industrial chemistry from his undergraduate studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy), Luca is strongly committed to developing solutions for the green transition. Leveraging his expertise in polymer science and his engagement in advancing energy technologies, he is actively involved in researching solid polymer electrolytes to address the challenges of the Net Zero Emission by 2050 agenda.