University of Minho, Portugal;Maria Manuela Silva obtained a Research Assistant position in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minho in 1991. She received her PhD in Chemistry in 1999 and was subsequently appointed Assistant Professor at the same university, where she is currently Full Professor.Her research activities focus on the synthesis and characterisation of solid polymer electrolytes and their applications in solid-state electrochemistry, particularly in batteries, electrochromic devices, and related technologies. She is also interested in the chemistry of organic–inorganic hybrid materials. She is the co-author of more than 230 papers published in SCI-indexed journals, 35 papers in conference proceedings, and 7 book chapters. Her scientific publications have received more than 7,000 citations, and she has an h-index of 45.

1. University of Patras, Greece;2. Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH)/Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences (ICE-HT), Greece;J. K. Kallitsis is an Emeritus Professor of Polymer Sciences and Technology in the Department of Chemistry, University of Patras. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany and as Research Fellow at Plastics Research Laboratory B.A.S.F. Ludwigshafen, Germany. He has been National Representative in IUPAC, Polymer Division (2005-2009), President of the Hellenic Polymer Association and member of the European Polymer Federation (EPF) (2010-2012). He has been an Invited Professor in Free University of Berlin-Germany, Université Louis Pasteur-Strasbourg-France, ΕΤΗ-Zurich-Switzerland, ESPCI-ParisTech-France, University of Bordeaux-France and co-founder of the spin-off company Advent Technologies SA. His research interests focuses on the synthesis and characterization of new polymer and nanostructured materials for various applications. He has more than 240 scientific publications and 18 patent applications. He has received more than 11,500 citations (h-index 46, Google Scholar) and is reviewer in more than 80 international scientific journals. He has supervised 25 PhD thesis and has participated in 25 European and 25 National Research projects.

Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal;Artur J. M. Valente obtained a Ph.D. in 1999 from Coimbra University, where he is currently Associate Professor with Habilitation. During his PhD studies he was visiting scholar at the Russian Academy of Sciences at Moscow and at the Free University of Brussels. He is currently Director of the Department of Chemistry and Coordinator of the Ph.D. programme in Chemistry at the University of Coimbra, and President of the Portuguese Electrochemical Society. He is a member of the Coimbra Chemistry Centre (CCC), and of the Associated Laboratory Institute of Molecular Science (IMS). He was Invited Professor/Researcher in the Lund University (Sweden), University of Alicante (Spain) and Universidade Estadual de Maringá (Brazil). He has published over 300 research articles, many with international and national collaboration, 27 book chapters and is co-author of 2 books and and 8 granted patents. He has supervised or co-supervised more than 12 PhD and 40 MSc theses. He has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals and has edited multiple special issues. He has also organised conferences in the fields of biopolymers, colloids and interfaces, and electrochemistry, and has actively participated as a member of the scientific and organising committees of numerous national and international conferences. He leads the Macromolecules and Transport Phenomena Research Group at the Coimbra Chemistry Centre. His research focuses on the development of mesoporous polymeric materials and biogels for applications in sensing, environmental remediation, and controlled drug delivery; the study of transport phenomena in macromolecular and polyelectrolyte solutions; and supramolecular chemistry, with particular emphasis on host-guest interactions.