Bio
Sébastien Leveneur is Associate Professor at INSA Rouen Normandie and affiliated with the Laboratoire de Sécurité des Procédés Chimiques (LSPC). His research combines calorimetric analysis, kinetic modeling, and process intensification for understanding the reactivity of complex chemical systems under various thermal conditions. He specializes in developing robust, predictive kinetic models for hazardous and emerging chemical processes, with an emphasis on thermal safety. He also serves as Docent in Chemical Process Technology at Åbo Akademi University since 2015.

Bio
Joris W. Thybaut (Ghent Belgium) is senior full professor in catalytic reaction engineering at the Laboratory for Chemical Technology at Ghent University since September 2022. He obtained his PhD on Single-Event MicroKinetic (SEMK) modeling of hydrocracking and hydrogenation at Ghent University in 2002 after which he went to the 'Institut des Recherches sur la Catalyse' in Lyon, France, for a postdoc on high throughput experimentation. Prof. Thybaut was first appointed at Ghent University in 2005 and, since then, actively investigates a variety of large-scale industrial hydrocarbon conversion reactions and more particularly, the rational design of the corresponding catalysts and reactors. Research projects range from bilateral contracts with industrial partners up to government funded large scale integrated projects, either as partner, PI or coordinator. He was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant (2014–2019) for the project i-CaD – Innovative Catalyst Design for Large-Scale, Sustainable Processes, with a budget of €2,000,000. The aim of this project was to develop a fundamentally new approach to the design of catalysts, enabling more efficient and environmentally sustainable chemical processes at industrial scale. By integrating advanced kinetic modeling, catalyst synthesis, and reactor design, i-CaD contributed to bridging the gap between molecular-level understanding and industrial application. Building on the outcomes of i-CaD, he later secured an ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) grant titled SERENiTi – Software Enhanced Research iN Transient Kinetics (2018–2020), worth €150,000. SERENiTi focused on the development and commercialization of a software tool to support advanced kinetic model development and interpretation, thereby enhancing the accessibility and industrial usability of transient kinetics methodologies.

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Frédérique Battin-Leclerc is a French chemist who studies combustion, particularly gas-phase combustion of hydrocarbons including biofuels, in order to develop cleaner-burning automotive fuels.[1] She is a director of research for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated with the Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés in Nancy, France. She earned an engineering degree from the École nationale supérieure des industries chimiques in Nancy in 1987, completed a Ph.D. at the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine in Nancy in 1991, and earned a habilitation at the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine in 1997. She has been a researcher for the CNRS since 1991. Frédérique Battin-Leclerc was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in 2008 for the project Clean-ICE – Detailed Chemical Kinetic Models for Cleaner Internal Combustion Engines. The project aimed to develop comprehensive chemical kinetic models that describe the formation of minor pollutants—such as aldehydes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and soot precursors—in internal combustion engines. By integrating detailed reaction mechanisms into combustion simulations, Clean-ICE sought to enhance predictive accuracy and support the development of cleaner and more efficient engine technologies Battin-Leclerc won the CNRS Silver Medal in 2010, and was named as a knight in the Ordre national du Mérite in 2012. She was elected to the inaugural 2018 class of Fellows of The Combustion Institute, "for innovative research on the formulation of detailed chemical mechanisms for complex practical fuels". She was the 2022 recipient of the Polanyi Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Bio
C. Michel is an expert in modeling chemical reactions occurring at the solid/liquid interface, with a special focus in the catalytic valorisation of biomass into chemicals. Using periodic DFT, she worked on a variety of reactions such as alcohol amination, alcohols hydrogenolysis, furanics and alcohol oxidation, the hydrogen transfer reaction to produce gamma-valerolactone from formic acid and levulinic acid. She recently extended her research activities to electro and photocatalysis but also catalyst deactivation.