The Executive Board is responsible for managing the scientific, educational and professional activities of EuChemS. It comprises the President, the President Elect/Past President, the Treasurer, members elected by the General Assembly and other members appointed by the Executive Board to provide special expertise.
EuChemS Executive Board is also in charge of task groups: focus is on a particular topic, usually of strategic importance.
Angela Agostiano is currently Full Professor at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy. Her area of expertise is Chemical-Physical Processes. She is currently involved with preparation and characterization of nanosized semiconductors for photochemical, environmental and sensing applications amongst other topics.
She was the first woman President of the Italian Chemical Society (SCI) from 2017 until 2019. During her presidency, she strongly promoted the European dimension of SCI and displayed organisational expertise and capacity to connect different disciplinary areas of chemistry, and between academia, industry and professional organizations. Working with issues related to major social challenges and developing credible and shared proposals and positions to support the image and culture of chemistry towards civil society and politics through drafting official positions on chemical weapons is also amongst her achievements.
She was elected as EuChems President-Elect during the 2022 General Assembly meeting in Lisbon, Portugal and began her full presidency in 2024. She is also the Chair of the EuChemS Task Group on Inclusion and Diversity.
Floris Rutjes has served the scientific community as President of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society‘s (KNCV) and as Vice-Dean and Professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. His area of research is the synthesis of organic molecules: (i) developing new and sustainable (catalytic) synthesis methodology, (ii) the design and synthesis of biologically active small molecules, (iii) new click-probes for bio-orthogonal conjugation, and (iv) continuous flow chemistry in microreactor systems.
He is involved in bridging the gap between the scientific innovation and commercial application of science. For this, he has received the “Most entrepreneurial scientist of the Netherlands” award in 2008, alongside other honours, such as the “2003 AstraZeneca award for research in organic chemistry” and “2002 Gold Medal of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV)”. More information about his work can be found here.
He was elected EuChemS President-Elect in 2019, at the in Bucharest, Romania. Under his presidency, EuChemS adjusted to the COVID Crisis, increased its policy activities and further established the visibility of the EuChemS brand.
Hans Peter Lüthi was an adjunct professor at the ETH Zurich Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Switzerland, while also teaching at the University of Zürich and Geneva. The focus of his research activities was on electronic structure theory and its application towards molecular design, and he was teaching classes in computational chemistry, scientific computing and basic physical chemistry. In addition, he holds a certificate in Business and Administration from the University of Zürich.
Since 2017, he has been serving as Director of the Foundation of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS), which supports SCS programs, such as the Alfred Werner Excellence Program, and he also represents the SCS in Scienceindustries, the Swiss chemistry, pharma and life sciences business organization.
He was elected as Treasurer during the 2022 General Assembly meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. He also served as treasurer for the Swiss Chemical Society and for the EuChemS Division of Computational and Theoretical Chemistry.
Elected Members
Società Chimica Italiana
(2nd mandate; end of term: 31/12/2025)
Nicola Armaroli got the Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences in 1994 at the University of Bologna. Since 2007 he has been Research Director at CNR, the Italian National Research Council. He is a member of the Italian National Academy of Sciences and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Within EuChemS, he has served as representative on several occasions such as the overseas Circular Economy Missions of the European Commission.
His scientific activity is concerned with photochemistry and photophysics, in particular luminescent materials and systems for the conversion of light into electricity and fuels. He also studies the transition of the global energy system towards more sustainable models, also in relation to climate change and scarcity of natural resources.
He was awarded the Grammaticakis-Neumann International Prize in Photochemistry, the Premio Letterario Galileo for science dissemination, the Gold Medal Enzo Tiezzi of the Italian Chemical Society and the Ravani-Pellati Chemistry Prize of the Turin Academy of Sciences. More information about his work can be found here.
Royal Netherlands Chemical Society
(1st mandate; end of term: 31/12/2028)
Jeroen Cornelissen is a professor at the University of Twente, specialising in supramolecular chemistry, catalysis, and nanotechnology. He studied at the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Nijmegen, where he earned his Ph.D. (cum laude) in 2001. After post-doctoral research at the IBM Almaden Research Center, he returned to Nijmegen and later took on his current role at the University of Twente in 2009. From 2015 to 2018, he also served as the Scientific Director of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology.
His work has made significant contributions to the fields of materials and biomedical science, particularly in the innovative use of protein cages. He has published over 200 research articles and supervised more than 50 Ph.D. students. His research has earned him numerous accolades, including an ERC Consolidator Grant and the prestigious EURYI Award in 2007.
Beyond his research, he has served as the President of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society (KNCV) from 2019 to 2022 and as Editor-in-Chief of both Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Materials Advances from 2017 to 2024.
German Chemical Society
(1st mandate; end of term: 31/12/2028)
Tom Kinzel is the Executive Director of the German Chemical Society (GDCh), where he works to promote the advancement of the chemical sciences. Before joining GDCh, Tom held leadership roles at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, where he managed strategic collaborations across Europe and China. He also led the Life Science Chemistry Services department at Nuvisan, contributing to the advancement of pharmaceutical innovation.
He earned his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Göttingen, where his dissertation was recognized with the Academic Award of the Commerzbank Foundation for excellence in research. In 2013, Tom was honored with the Bayer Global Drug Discovery Award for his contributions to drug discovery. His research has been published in leading journals such as Science, with a focus on palladium-catalyzed reactions and organic synthesis, reflecting his contributions to advancing chemical knowledge.
In addition to his PhD, Tom completed an Executive MBA at HEC Paris.
Slovak Chemical Society
(2nd mandate; end of term: 31/12/2028)
Renáta Oriňaková is a research professor at the Department of Physical Chemistry, at the Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia, and Vice-Rector for Science, Research, and Projects. She holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Comenius University (1997), the title of Professor in 2017, and a DSc. from the Slovak University of Technology (2015).
She serves the chemical community as Head of the Division of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Slovak Chemical Society (since 2009) and a Member of the Presidency of Slovak Chemical Society (since 2020). She is a member of the International Society of Electrochemistry (since 2004), a Titular Member of the IUPAC Physical and Biophysical Chemistry Division, and Chair of the Slovak National Committee of IUPAC (since June 2024). She is also an expert in the Working Group on New and Emerging Battery Technologies (since 2019) and a state representative at European Technology and Innovation Platform “Batteries Europe”.
Her research focuses on electrochemistry, nanocatalysts for biosensors, hydrogen evolution catalysts, and resorbable biomaterials for orthopedic use. She has published over 145 papers and books, with around 2,000 citations, and has supervised 12 PhD, 28 master’s, and 30 bachelor’s theses.
Romanian Chemical Society
(1st mandate; end of term: 31/12/2025)
Cristiana Radulescu received her PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2003 and the habilitation in Environmental Engineering in 2021 at Politehnica University of Bucharest. She is Director of Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Science and Technology from Valahia University of Targoviste (VUT), Romania. She is President of Targoviste Branch – Romanian Chemical Society and member of EuChemS Division of Chemical Education. She is Evaluator/Expert of EU Toys Certification, according to Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC, from Romanian Movement for Quality (MRC) accredited by RENAR.
Her area of research is the synthesis and characterization of organic compounds and advanced materials for application in nanomedicine. Her research deals with different aspects of nanomaterials medicinal chemistry, and environmental chemistry as well.
She obtained numerous awards such as the „Costin Nenitescu” Medal and Diploma by the Romanian Chemical Society for special merits in the field of chemistry. Within the Romanian Chemical Society, she was involved in the promotion of chemistry for attracting young people to this science amongst other achievements.
Serbian Chemical Society
(1st mandate; end of term: 31/12/2025)
Slavica Ražić obtained her MSc degree at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Pharmacy. Her PhD was accomplished at the Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry. She is a full professor in the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Belgrade. She accomplished Specialist Academic Studies on toxicological risk assessment for environmental pollutants.
Her research interests lie in the analytics of environmental and biological samples, in method development and monitoring of trace and minor elements using atomic absorption and emission spectrometry combined with contemporary sample preparation techniques and chemometric methods of analysis.
Since 2002, she has chaired the Division of the Analytical Chemistry of the Serbian Chemical Society (SCS), and is representative of SCS in the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the European Chemical Society (DAC-EuChemS). She finished her term as Chairperson of DAC-EuChemS in 2022. She served as the Vice-president of the SCS and from 2013, official representative of the SCS in the IUPAC.
She is Honorary and Merit Member of the Serbian Chemical Society and awardee of Chamber of Commerce of Belgrade for the Best Doctoral Dissertation in 2001.
More information about her work can be found here.
Hungarian Chemical Society
(1st mandate; end of term: 31/12/2026)
Péter Szalay graduated in chemistry from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Hungary in 1986, and received his PhD at the University of Vienna, Austria in 1989. Between 1991 and 2011 he performed research work at the University of Florida, Universität Mainz, University of Texas at Austin and University of Reims. His research focuses on quantum chemistry, especially methods of electronic structure theory, molecular properties and potential energy surfaces. Currently, he is professor of chemistry at ELTE. Dr. Szalay carried several administrative positions at ELTE, e.g. Director of the Institute of Chemistry, Head of Department for Inorganic Chemistry and that of the Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry, as well as Director of Bolyai College. Between 2015 and 2019 he served as been Vice-Rector for Research.
He is the President of the Hungarian Chemical Society, and he Chaired the Division of Computational and Theoretical Chemistry.
French Chemical Society
(1st mandate; end of term: 31/12/2026)
Aura Tintaru is currently associate professor at Aix-Marseille University in France. She obtained her PhD in 2004, in co-tutorship between Université de Provence (France) and University of Bucharest (Romania). Afterwards, her formation pursuit with a post-doctoral fellowship at Manchester University (United Kingdom) and was recruited as an assistant professor at Aix-Marseille University in 2008.
Her research work is focused on the structural characterization of complex systems (polymers, dendrimers, natural products) using combined analytical approaches based on MS and NMR. She developed many scientific collaborations at national and international level (Italy, Taiwan, China, Canada etc). She is an active member of the French Society of Mass Spectrometry (SFSM) where she was elected president from 2016 to 2019. As President and member of SFSM she was actively involved in trainings and congress organisation but also in the promotion of the French scientific community, and in particular, of mass spectroscopists. Between 2018 and 2021, Dr Tintaru was elected French representative to the International Foundation of Mass Spectrometry (IMSF).
Since 2021, Dr Tintaru is also vice-president of French Society of Chemistry (SCF) in charge of International Relations, and she was elected vice-president of the Analytical Chemistry division of SFC. In addition, she was elected member of the Council of Physical Chemistry Division (DCP) from 2015 to 2018.
Appointed Members
Italian Chemical Society
Alexandra Albunia is Senior Group Expert in Innovation and Technology at Borealis, with more than20 years of experience in the field of polymer science. She joined Borealis as a scientist in 2011. From 2014 to 2021 she took over different managerial positions, responsible for operations and leading professional, and then she focused again mainly on the technical development. Her career is mainly focused around research and implementing innovation, first developing novel polymeric materials, from synthesis and characterization up to final application, from small scale to commercial scale production. Then, in the last years, she focused on circularity and sustainability of polyolefin solution and contributed to define the strategy and the action plan for reaching the company objectives. She studied chemistry at the University of Salerno (Italy), where she defended her PhD in 2003. By developing a business plan for an active packaging to increase horticultural produce shelf-life, she was awarded with the National Prize for Innovation (PNI, 3rd prize) in 2009. In 2010, she received the innovation prize from Italian President, On. Giorgio Napolitano, and was co-founder of a start-up (Nanoactive Film srl). In December 2013 she got the habilitation as assistant professor in Industrial Chemistry.
Portuguese Chemical Society
Joana S. Amaral is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Chemical and Biological Technology of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança and research member of the Mountain Research Center (CIMO). She served as president of the Food Chemistry Division of the Portuguese Chemical Society (SPQ) (2009-2012) and since 2011 has been representing SPQ at the Food Chemistry Division (FCD) of the EuChemS. As a delegate of FCD-EuChemS she has been actively serving the division, as secretary (2018-2020) and currently as chair (2021-2023).
She graduated in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Porto, Portugal, in 2000, and received her PhD in Nutrition and Food Chemistry by the same University in 2006. Her main research interests are related to Food Chemistry and Food Science, particularly regarding (i) the development of methodologies for assessing the authenticity of different foods and plant food supplements (ii) bioactive compounds in foods, with special focus in wild edible plants; (iii) extraction of bioactives from medicinal plants and agri-food by-products, and evaluation of bioactive properties (antioxidant, antimicrobial, enzymes inhibition).
German Chemical Society
Karsten Danielmeier is Vice President and Board member of the German Chemical Society, and a Senior Vice President R&D of Covestro, a German company producing premium polymers such as polyurethanes and polycarbonates. He has significant experience in strategic and operative management in the chemical industry in a global context.
Danielmeier completed his PhD with Eberhard Steckhan at the University of Bonn in 1995 and joined Bayer in 1996 as a lab leader for life science chemistry. After a few years he switched to Bayer Material Science and had positions with increasing global responsibility in R&D, Product Management, Supply Chain Management, and strategic functions in the US and Germany. In 2015, with the spin-off of Covestro he joined the executive management. He was the president of the German Chemical Society in 2022 and 2023 and received an Honorary professorship from University of Cologne in 2023.
He is the author or co-author of over 50 scientific publications and patents. In 2019 he published the book Polyurethanes, Coatings, Adhesives and Sealants with three colleagues.
Institute of Chemistry Ireland
Pat Guiry finished his PhD in Chemistry at University College Dublin (UCD) and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University with Dr. John Broan FRS from 1990-1993. He is a Full Professor of synthetic organic chemistry at UCD since 2006. His research group focuses on synthetic organic chemistry, with interests in both the development of asymmetric synthetic methodology through the application of new/existing chiral ligands in homogeneous metal-catalysed transformations and in the total synthesis of compounds of biological interest.
He is a member and Science Secretary of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and of member of UCD Governing Authority as well as the President of Institute of Chemistry of Ireland (ICI). Within EuChemS he serves as the Chair of EuChemS Division of Organic Chemistry. His achievements were recognised by the Boyle-Higgins Medal from the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland and the SFI Mentorship Award.
You can find more information on his research here.
German Chemical Society
Until his retirement in August 2024 Wolfram Koch was the Executive Director of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (German Chemical Society). Before that he was Professor of Theoretical Organic Chemistry at TU Berlin and a Senior Scientist at IBM research facilities in Germany and the US.
In his research Wolfram worked on quantum chemical investigations on properties and reactivities of open shell transition metal compounds as well as on spectroscopic properties of small molecules. He authored and co-authored some 190 papers in peer reviewed journals and is the senior author of a textbook on density functional theory.
During his more than 20 years as GDCh Executive Director Wolfram served on a number of consulting and advisory bodies, such as the EU Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP), the IUPAC Committee on Publications and Cheminformatics Data Standards (CPCDS), the Administrative Council of the German Copyright Collective (VG Wort) and was Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council of the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB). Currently he is IUPAC’s Treasurer. Wolfram is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Honorary Fellow of Chemistry Europe and holds honorary memberships of the Czech, the Israel and the Slovenian Chemical Societies.
Royal Society of Chemistry
Helen Pain is the CEO of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). She is a Chartered Chemist and a Chartered Scientist. She completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
At the RSC, which she joined in 1994, she has led many strategic functions, and she become Deputy CEO in 2015. She commissioned numerous campaigns related to inclusivity and sustainability, such as Breaking the Barriers, Chemistry for all and Elements in Danger amongst others.
In 2018, Helen was appointed as Chair of the Science Council, a UK organisation for the advancement of the science profession.
Division of Chemical Biology and Chemistry in Life Sciences
Francesco Peri is Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB) since November 2017. PhD in Chemistry in 1996, at the University of Parma, Italy. Second PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 1998. Appointed as Researcher in and then as Associate professor in Organic Chemistry (SSD chim06) at UNIMIB.
He has been Visiting Professor at the Department of Chemistry, UC Davis, California, and since 2009 he has a permanent professorship at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS), Lyon, where he teaches a Medicinal Chemistry course (3 ECTS) at M2 (master) level.
Scientific interests are centered in the field of Chemical Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and drug discovery, with special focus on the molecular mechanism of action of drug candidates.
The main research line is aimed at developing new small molecular drug hits, active in modulating the activity of the Toll Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) in the perspective to develop new generations of TLR-directed therapeutics. In this context, he coordinated Two European projects. The research in this field gave fundamentals achievement in the understanding aspects of TLR4 activation and inhibition, the technology transfer led to several patents on TLR4 antagonists and agonists in preclinical phase of development as anti-inflammatory drugs (antagonists) and vaccine adjuvants (agonists).
The granted patents on TLR4 agonists as vaccine adjuvants has been licensed to Croda/Avanti through the university spinoff CP2 Biotech. A collaboration contract among CP2 and Croda just started in March 2023 to bring to veterinary market and to clinic some new vaccine adjuvants.
Royal Flemish Chemical Society
Thomas Vranken is a researcher at Hasselt University in Belgium, affiliated with EnergyVille and imec. His research focuses on inorganic materials for energy applications, particularly Li-ion batteries, which are crucial for advancing sustainable energy storage solutions.
Thomas earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Hasselt University and completed a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology in 2011. Since 2012, he has been an active volunteer for KVCV (the Royal Flemish Chemical Society), where he began his involvement with Young KVCV. In 2014, he served as president of the Chemistry Conference for Young Scientists (ChemCYS), successfully transforming this regional event into an internationally recognized conference. He has also represented KVCV within EuChemS’ European Young Chemists Network (EYCN). Since 2015, Thomas has been a member of KVCV’s board and has held the position of Secretary-General since 2018.
Currently, he is Co-Chair of the 10th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC10), which will be hosted by KVCV in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2026.
Former Members of the EuChemS Executive Board
- Pilar Goya, President/Vice-President, 2017 – 2022
- David Cole-Hamilton, President/Vice-President, 2014 – 2019
- Ulrich Schubert, President/Vice-President, 2011 – 2016
- Luis Oro, President/Vice-President, 2006 – 2011
- Giovanni Natile, President/Vice-President, 2004 – 2009
- Eckart Rühl, Treasurer, 2017 – 2022
- Francesco De Angelis, Treasurer, 2010 – 2016
- José Empis, Treasurer, 2005 – 2009
- Rinaldo Poli, 2019 – 2023
- Ioannis Katsoyiannis, 2019 – 2023
- Péter Szalay, 2021 – 2022
- Kenneth Ruud, 2018 – 2021
- Nausicaa Orlandi, 2018 – 2020
- Marco Arlorio, 2018 – 2020
- Anna Trzeciak, 2018 – 2020
- Philippe Garrigues, 2016 – 2019
- Francisco Javier Pérez Trujillo, 2014 – 2020
- Saskia van der Vies, 2014 – 2019
- Bogusław Buszewski, 2014 – 2017
- Michael Droescher, 2014 – 2017
- Ivanka Popović, 2014 – 2017
- Pilar Goya, 2014 – 2016
- Eckart Rühl, 2014 – 2016
- Antonio Laganà, 2014 – 2016
- Robert Parker, 2011 – 2022
- Ehud Keinan, 2011 – 2015
- Igor Tkatchenko, 2011 – 2015
- Livia Simon Sakardi, 2010 – 2021
- Sergio Facchetti, 2010 – 2017
- Morten Bjerrum, 2010 – 2014
- Henrik Koroniak, 2010 – 2014
- Jay Siegel, 2010 – 2014
- Viktor Milata, 2010 – 2014
- Carlos Negro, 2010 – 2013
- Helena Grennberg, 2010 – 2013
- Pavel Drašar, ending in 2019
- Reto Battaglia, ending in 2011
- Evelyn McEvan, General Secretary, ending in 2011