
INVITED LECTURES
Click on the presenter’s name to see the biography, and on the lecture's title to see the lecture's abstract.
Dimitra Markovitsi

Dimitra Markovitsi is Emeritus Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated to the Institut de Chimie Physique (UMR8000) - Université Paris-Saclay. She has been the director of the Francis Perrin Laboratory (2001-2014) and the President of the European Photochemistry Association (2007-2010). Since 2018, she is the Chair of the International Foundation for Photochemistry.
She has expertise in the field of photophysics and photochemistry with special focus on time-resolved optical spectroscopy (absorption, fluorescence) from femtoseconds to milliseconds. After initiating spectroscopic studies on liquid crystals, where intermolecular interactions and structural disorder play an important role, she turned her attention to DNA multimers. She studies the primary processes induced upon absorption of UV radiation by DNA single- and double strands, as well as guanine quadruplexes (excitons, excited state relaxation, photoionization, dimerization reactions, as well as radical reaction dynamics).
DNA IONIZATION BY UV RADIATION
It is well known that DNA undergoes photoionization when it absorbs UV radiation at wavelengths shorter than 200 nm. But during the past decade it appeared clearly that this phenomenon also takes place at longer wavelengths (lower energies), extending to UVB, albeit with a smaller quantum yield ϕ. This phenomenon is important in respect to the oxidative damage of the genetic code and in relation with the efficiency of spermicidal lamps using UV radiation.
Time-resolved studies, performed on purified DNA in solution, allowed the characterization and the quantification of the resulting ejected electrons and guanine radicals by their absorption spectra. In contrast to the high-energy photoionization, the ϕ of the low-energy process strongly depends on the secondary DNA structure. No photoionization could be detected for mononucleosides (ϕ < 3×10-4). The ϕ determined for genomic calf thymus DNA (2×10-3) is similar to that corresponding to the formation of dimeric pyrimidine photoproducts, considered so far as the main lesions induced by direct absorption of UV radiation. Significantly higher values (1.5×10-2), were found for guanine quadruplexes. The generation of photoinduced charge carriers in these programmable systems renders them promising for the development of optoelectronic biosensors using intrinsic signals of nucleic acids.
Selected publications:
Markovitsi, D. On the Use of the Intrinsic DNA Fluorescence for Monitoring Its Damage - a Contribution from Fundamental Studies ACS Omega 2024.
Markovitsi, D. Processes Triggered in Guanine Quadruplexes by Direct Absorption of UV Radiation: From Fundamental Studies toward Optoelectronic Biosensors Photochem. Photobiol. 2024, 100 262.
Balanikas, E.; Martinez-Fernadez, L.; Improta, R.; Podbevsek, P.; Baldacchino, G.; Markovitsi, D. The Structural Duality of Nucleobases in Guanine Quadruplexes Controls Their Low-Energy Photoionization J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2021, 12 8309.
Balanikas, E.; Markovitsi, D. DNA Photoionization: From High to Low Energies. In DNA Photodamage: From Light Absorption to Cellular Responses and Skin Cancer, Improta, R., Douki, T. Eds.; Comprehensive Series in Photochemical and Photobiological Science, RSC, 2021; pp 37-54.
Balanikas, E.; Banyasz, A.; Douki, T.; Baldacchino, G.; Markovitsi, D. Guanine Radicals Induced in DNA by Low-Energy Photoionization Acc. Chem. Res. 2020, 53 1511.
Banyasz, A.; Martinez-Fernandez, L.; Balty, C.; Perron, M.; Douki, T.; Improta, R.; Markovitsi, D. Absorption of Low-Energy UV Radiation by Human Telomere G-Quadruplexes Generates Long-Lived Guanine Radical Cations. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139 (30), 10561-10568.
Zoran Ristovski

Professor Ristovski is an atmospheric scientist with over 25 years of experience in aerosol science, working at the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He specializes in aerosol science, air quality, and climate change. Over his career, he has supervised more than 35 Ph.D. students to completion and authored over 290 peer-reviewed journal articles on various aspects of airborne particle pollution. He has held several leadership positions, including serving as the inaugural head of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, the director of the Centre for Environment at QUT, and he is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Atmospheric Environment X.
In recent years, his work has expanded to include projects on airborne infection transmission. His team is investigating the key factors influencing airborne virus survival and how this knowledge can be applied to reduce infection transmission risks.
Professor Ristovski has secured more than $11 million in grants from the Australian government, industry, and international sources, including the European Union. His research group, which currently includes four postdoctoral researchers and over ten postgraduate students, is a well-established and internationally recognized research group.
Evaluating the role of ultraviolet radiation in atmospheric chemistry and indoor air disinfection: Implications and challenges
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation plays a critical role in the study of aerosols and atmospheric sciences due to its involvement in photochemical processes. In atmospheric chemistry, UV radiation triggers the photolysis of various compounds, affecting the formation of secondary pollutants like ozone and impacting the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. This activity is essential for understanding aerosol dynamics, including changes in chemical composition and optical properties, which influence both health impacts and climate interactions. Additionally, UV-C radiation is effective in disinfecting airborne pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, making it vital for infection control in environments with high transmission risks, like hospitals and laboratories. Technologies such as UV air purifiers and upper-room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) systems are utilized to continuously disinfect indoor air, reducing harmful microorganisms.
However, the increased use of germicidal UV (GUV) disinfection has raised concerns about the production of oxidants, including ozone (O₃) and hydroxyl radicals (OH), and their byproducts like ultrafine particles. These can exacerbate indoor air pollution, a significant public health issue as highlighted by the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates 3.8 million deaths annually due to indoor air pollution. The impact of GUV irradiation on indoor air composition and its potential to produce chemical byproducts remains uncertain. This presentation explores key aspects of GUV use for airborne virus disinfection in indoor environments with a special highlight on potential health hazards from GUV exposure in built environments and the risk of forming high-risk secondary chemical byproducts that may harm human health within indoor air.
Prof. Dr. Jovan THERESKA
As Technical Officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), October 1995- June 2003, has promoted, transferred and implemented radiometric technologies, such as radioactive tracers and sealed radiation sources in industry and environment. Dozens of scientific research and technical cooperation projects were designed and implemented in tenths of IAEA member states. A series of technical-scientific documents in the field have been published. Several ISO standards of mature radiometric methods as applied to industry and environment have been published.
Co-author of the Encyclopaedia of Nuclear Energy: Chapter Modern industry: Diagnostics and Process Control, published in 2021.
Cofounder of the International Society for Tracer and Radiation Applications (ISTRA) in 2016. Motivated by the importance of radiometric technologies for problem solving in industry and environment, ISTRA was founded aiming promotion of radiometric technologies as well as training and certification of specialists throughout the world.
SEDIMENT DYNAMICS INVESTIGATION USING RADIOMETRIC METHODS
Radiometric methods help in investigating sediment dynamics providing important parameters for better designing, maintaining, and optimizing civil engineering structures such as beaches, harbours, rivers and dams, which play an important role in human life. The main radiometric methods for sediment dynamics investigation in water bodies are, radioactive tracer method as well as natural gamma radionuclide method.
Radioactive tracer method is used for direct real time quantitative assessment of sediment transport pathways. For ‘in situ’ measurements, gamma emitting radioisotopes are used. Specific radioactive tracers can be produced of activable glasses, i.e. containing an element (gold, iridium, chromium, scandium) with very low content (0,3 to 0,5%) suitable for be transformed into radionuclide after irradiation by neutrons in a nuclear reactor. The selection of a suitable radioisotope for a particular investigation depends upon half-life, gamma energy, neutron absorption cross-section and radiotoxicity. The half-life of the radioisotope to be used as a tracer, should be long enough for detection till the end of the study and at the same time short enough not to pose environmental hazards. Based on the above considerations, the most used radionuclides for bedload sand transport investigations are Ir -192 and Au-198.
Natural radionuclides of sediments, U-238, Ra-226, Th-232, Ra-228 and K-40, provides interesting information on sediment dynamics. Measuring the distribution of concentration of natural radionuclides of floor sediments in coastal and fluvial areas provides data for sediment dynamics evaluation. Marine gamma-ray spectrometers have been employing for a range of applications in sediment transport studies, such as coastal erosion, optimisation of dumping of dredged material, etc. Careful interpretation of natural gamma radiation mapping of sediments on water bodies floors provides information about direction and distance of transport of fluvial sediments, accretion and erosion zones along the coastline, transport of fine sediments from a dumpsite. In this respect, the natural radioactivity of sediments can be considered as “tracer” for qualitative evaluation of sediment dynamics in water bodies. Radiometric mapping of natural radionuclides 232Th, 238U and 40K have been conducting in many countries and valuable correlation has been founding between natural radioactivity distribution and sediment movement.
Measurement of density of water-sediment mixture using radiation transmission method provides data for in-depth understanding of the silting-up process in dams, controlling dam flush for optimal exploitation of dams. Portable X-ray based instruments are constructed to monitor the density of mud in dams, rivers and harbours worldwide. These instruments allow measuring the navigable depth in the channels of access to the ports and harbour basins. They are daily employed by hydrographers to supplement the indications given by the echo-sounders in muddy zones.
Michael Zharnikov

Michael Zharnikov received a Master's degree (with honour) in Solid State Physics from the Moscow Engineer-Physical Institute in 1981. From 1981 to 1991 he worked in the RSC Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, where he received a PhD degree in experimental physics in 1989. After two post-doctoral stints with Prof. Dietrich Menzel at the Technical University Munich (1991-1994) and Prof. Jürgen Kirschner at the Max-Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle/Saale (1994-1996), Zharnikov joined the Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences at the Heidelberg University (initially, the group of Prof. Michael Grunze), where he currently holds a professor position. Zharnikov has published 400 papers in peer-reviewed journals, which have attracted over 13300 citations with an h-index of 60 (Web of Science). He holds 2 patents and has given 196 lectures, including 79 invited/keynote/plenary conference talks. His research interests include interface engineering, functional organic and metal-organic films, biointerfaces, molecular electronics, organic electronics and photovoltaics, molecular sensors, soft matter nanofabrication, membranes, electron beam and UV lithography, and molecular structure of liquids. The group frequently applies advanced X-ray spectroscopy/microscopy techniques, using synchrotron radiation facilities worldwide. Zharnikov is a member of the Editorial Boards of J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom. and J. V`ac. Sci. Technol. and of the Advisory Board of Membranes.
Chemical lithography and nanofabrication with monomolecular templates and electron irradiation as the primary tool
Monomolecular resists and templates provided by self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) represent a versatile platform for electron beam lithography and nanofabrication. Depending on the molecular architecture, these films can serve both as positive and negative resists within the framework of conventional lithography, but also be used as a primary matrix for Chemical Lithography. The latter approach exploits either selective modification of specific tail groups at the SAM-ambient interface (in the case of the aromatic backbone) or irradiation-promoted exchange reaction between the primary SAM and potential molecular substituents (in the case of the aliphatic backbone). An alternative technique is Electron Beam Activation Lithography, which involves activating amino tail groups of the primary SAM template disabled by specific quencher moieties. This method is useful for the fabrication of morphological patterns. Further lithographic techniques, particularly suitable for biological applications, utilize protein-repelling templates. One can either perform direct writing in such a template, which can be both SAM-based and polymer-like, or apply irradiation-promoted exchange reaction. In the latter case, both species bearing specific protein receptors and functionalized ssDNA strands can be introduced into the template. Using the above techniques, chemical patterning and surface engineering on a length scale ranging from cm to nm is possible. Not only simple dot or stripe structures but complex gradient-like and biology-inspired patterns can be fabricated.