Research group

 

 

 

Personal data & Academic degrees

  • Date of birth: October 25, 1971
  • Married with Wim Schelles (1996)
  • 3 children: Maarten (1997), Vincent (2000) and Charlotte (2002)
     
  • M. Sc. Chemistry: University of Antwerp, 1993
  • Ph. D. Chemistry: University of Antwerp, 1996

Scientific & Academic career

  • 1993 - 1997 : Ph.D student at University of Antwerp (FWO fellowship).
  • 1994: Visiting researcher at the “Institut für Spektrochemie und angewandte Spektroskopie“ (ISAS), Dortmund, Germany.
  • 1996: Visiting researcher at University of Florida (US).
  • 1997 - 2004 : Postdoctoral researcher at University of Antwerp (FWO fellowship).
  • 1997: Visiting researcher at the University of Wales Swansea (UK).
  • 1999: Visiting researcher at Indiana University (US).
  • 2003 - 2004 : Part-time professor  (“docent”) at University of Antwerp (10%).
  • 2004: Founder and head of the research group PLASMANT.
  • 2004 - 2007: Full-time professor (“docent”) at University of Antwerp.
  • 2008 - 2011: Full-time professor (“hoofddocent”) at University of Antwerp.
  • 2011: Member of the Academia Europaea.
  • 2012 - 2013: Full-time professor (“hoogleraar”) at University of Antwerp.
  • 2012: Member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts.
  • 2013: Member of the Local Scientific Committee for Chemistry of the Solvay Institutes.
  • 2013 - 2016: Francqui Research Professor.
  • 2014 - now: Full professor ("gewoon hoogleraar") at University of Antwerp.
  • 2021: Co-founder of the spin-off company D-CRBN, out of my research group; also shareholder and member of the Board of Directors.
  • 2022: Co-founder of the spin-off company Optanic, out of my research group; also shareholder and member of the Board of Directors.
  • 2023: Co-founder of the spin-off companies Tales of Land, and Atomic16, out of my research group; also shareholder and member of the Board of Directors (to be further developed).

Research interests

I am studying plasma chemistry and plasma reactor design, as well as plasma-surface interactions, by means of computer modelling and experiments, for various applications, with main focus on (i) CO2, CH4 and N2 conversion into value-added chemicals by plasma and plasma catalysis, (ii) plasma medicine, mainly focussing on cancer treatment, and (iii) microelectronics. In the past, I modelled plasmas for analytical chemistry.

I started my own research group PLASMANT from scratch, after the retirement of my PhD supervisor (2004), based on my own PhD work, on modelling an analytical glow discharge plasma.

More information about this research can be found on the link of my research interests and topics, including some recent publication highlights, as well as on the PLASMANT website.

Scientific activities

  • Over 650 papers in A1 journals or books with refereeing-system (since 1995).
  • Over 27,500 citations with H-index = 84 (Web of Science).
  • Over 40,000 citations with H-index = 100 (Google Scholar).
  • Over 190 invited talks at international conferences (since 1998).
  • Over 75 invited seminars (in Belgium and abroad (since 1995)).
  • Supervisor of 55 defended PhD theses (since 2005), and supervisor of 30 running PhD theses (including several joint PhD students) and 10 postdocs.
  • President of the International Plasma Chemistry Society (IPCS; about 600 members)  (2022-2023); before Vice-president (2020-2022); and member of the Board of Directors of the IPCS (2014-2023).
  • Methusalem Grant “Plasma” (2018-2024).
  • ERC Synergy Grant “SCOPE” (2019-2026).
  • ERC Proof of Concept Grant “PREPARE” (2022-2024).
  • Spokesperson-coordinator of Excellence of Science project “PLASyntH2” (2022-2025).

Journal editorships

  • Topics editor of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, responsible for the programme “Plasmas for a Sustainable Future”, 2018 - 2021.
  • Editor of Spectrochimica Acta Part B, responsible for the review papers, 2002-2018.

Memberships of academia and related organisations

  • Member of the Acadaemia Europaea, since 2011.
  • Member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts, since 2012.
  • Member of the Solvay Local Scientific Committee for Chemistry, since 2013.

Memberships of editorial or advisory boards of international journals

Furthermore: Guest editor for special issues in:

Organisation/Chair of symposia/conferences/training courses

  • April 2022: Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Seminar (Workshop) “Non-Equilibrium Plasmas for Sustainable Chemistry”, Bad Honnef, Germany, April 23-27, 2022.
  • November 2021: Solvay Workshop on "Plasma Technology and Other Green Methods for Nitrogen Fixation", Brussels, Belgium, 15 - 17 November 2021.
  • June 2019: Co-organization of the Summer School of the International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry, Napels, Italy, June 7-8, 2019.
  • March 2019: International Workshop on Plasma for Cancer Treatment, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • January 2016: EU ITN "Rapid" training course on “Plasma Modelling – Commercial Tools", Antwerp, Belgium.
  • July 2015: International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry, Antwerp, Belgium (almost 600 participants).
  • June 2014: EU ITN "Rapid" training course on “Introduction to Plasma Modelling", Antwerp, Belgium.
  • March-April 2014: Solvay Workshop on “Plasmas for Environmental Applications”, Brussels, Belgium.
  • November 2013: IAP Symposium “Fundamentals of Plasma-Surface Interactions”, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • November 2011: Symposium  “Plasma-assisted catalysis: recent advances and perspectives”, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • June 2006: Symposium “Fundamentals and applications of laser interaction with solids and with plasma”, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • October 2005: Symposium “Applications of CalcUA, the Antwerp supercomputer”, Antwerp, Belgium.

Furthermore, I was involved in the organisation of conferences or symposia (local organising committee) of over 30 other conferences.

Memberships of international scientific committees of conferences

  • Member Board of Directors of the International Plasma Chemistry Society, since 2014; Vice-President (2020-2022) and President (2022-2023).
  • Member International Organizing Committee of the International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry (ISPC), since 2014.
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the International Workshop on Plasmas for Cancer Treatment (IWPCT) since 2014; International Chair (2017-2020); Member of the Advisory Board since 2020 (as past ISC Chair).​
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the PLATHINIUM (Plasma Thin film International Union Meeting), September 2019, 2021 (online), 2023 and 2025, Antibes, France.
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the Plasma Surface Engineering Conference, September 2018, (Garmisch-Partenkirchen and 2022 and 2024, Erfurt, Germany.
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (51th ICOPS) and Asia-Pacific Conference on Plasma and Terahertz Science (4th APCOPTS), June 2024, Beijing, China.
  • Member Program Committee of the Plasma Etch and Strip in Microelectronics (PESM) Workshop, since 2007.
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the International Symposium on Plasmas for Catalysis and Energy Materials (ISPCEM), since 2020.
  • Member Program Committee of the Micro Nano Engineering (MNE) Conference, 2020 (cancelled) and 2022, Leuven, Belgium. 
  • Member Scientific Committee of the Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference, 2020, Bonn, Germany.
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the International conference on energy conversion and renewal energy, November 2019, Oran, Algeria.
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the Plasma Surface Engineering Conference, September 2018 and September 2020, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
  • Member of the International Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Plasma Physics and Applications (CPPA), June 2017, Bucharest, Romania.
  • Member of the  Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Cold Plasma Sources and Applications (COPSA2018), November 2018, Ypres, Belgium.
  • Member International Scientific Committee of the Symposium on Plasma Physics and Technology, June 2018, Prague, Czech Republic.
  • Member of the International Advisory Board of the 7th International Symposium for Plasma Biosciences (ISPB-2017-7), June 2017, Jeju, Korea.
  • Member of the Scientific Committee of the Congress on Computational Chemistry for Combustion-Generated Pollutants Mitigation, March 2017, Paris, France.
  • Member of the International Scientific Committee of the International Workshop on Plasmas for Energy and Environmental Applications (IWPEEA), August 2016, Liverpool, UK.
  • Member of the Scientific Committee of the Brussels Sustainable Development Summit (BSDS) – Track 3 on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilization, October 19-20, 2015, Brussels, Belgium.
  • Member of the Scientific Committee of the Laser and Plasma Applications in Materials (LAPAMS) Conference, 2010-2012.
  • Member of the International Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Microelectronics and Plasma Applications (ICMAP), 2011-2013.
  • Member of the International Scientific Committee of the High Tech Plasma Processes (HTPP) Conference, 2010.
  • Member of the International Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Phenomena in Ionized Gases (ICPIG), 2007-2013.
  • Member of the International Scientific Committee of the European Sectional Conference on Atomic and Molecular Physics in Ionized Gases (ESCAMPIG), 2004-2012.

Scientific awards

  • April 2024: AHA!-Award on Research Valorization (category “Achieved”) of VOKA (Kamer van Koophandel) and University of Antwerp (Award ceremony at the Antwerp Innovation Night).  See also movie (in Dutch, with English subtitles) and pictures.
  • July 2023: European Physical Society Plasma Innovation Award for our research on plasma-based CO2 conversion and the creation of a spinoff (together with G. Trenchev).
  • June 2022: ​Plasma Medicine Award: This is the highest recognition awarded by the International Society for Plasma Medicine (ISPM) for lifetime achievements in the field of the Plasma Medicine.
  • May 2022: Selected as one of the 30 “Europe’s best chemistry professors” to recreate the iconic 1927 Solvay picture, and to help shape the future of chemical innovation in Europe, at the occasion of the Cefic 50th anniversary.
  • 2022: ERC Proof of Concept Grant PREPARE: Most prestigious European research grant (for building plasma reactors in real-life environment).
  • March 2022: One of the four finalists, nominated for the AHA Award on promising research valorization of the University of Antwerp.
  • September 2020: "Educational Award of the Science Faculty"
  • 2019-2025 -  ERC Synergy Grant SCOPE with G. Centi, E. Rebrov and V. Hessel : Most prestigious European research grant (2.5 M€)
  • October 2013 - September 2016: Francqui Research Professor.
  • February 2009: Winter Plasma Award 2009, in recognition for “Outstanding contributions in the field of laser ablation modeling”.
  • September 2008: Lester W. Strock Award of the New England Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, in recognition for “Outstanding contributions in the areas of plasma and surface modeling”.
  • March 2005: Spectrochimica Acta Atomic Spectroscopy Award 2003 for a research paper, “as the most significant contribution to spectroscopy, published in Spectrochim. Acta Part B, in 2003”.
  • December 2004: Prize “Robert Oppenheimer Rosa Blanckaert” of the Research Council of the University of Antwerp.
  • May 2004: Prize “The Outstanding Young Persons” of the “Youth Chamber Belgium”, in the category “Sciences, Technology and Environment”.
  • June 2003: Alumni Prize of the “Belgian-American Educational Foundation” (competition with all Belgian researchers born after 1967).
  • December 2001: Prize of the “Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten” in de category Exact Sciences (competition with all Flemish researchers born after 1960).
  • December 1999: Prize of the “Association Francophone de Spectrométrie de Masse des Solides”.
  • November 1999: Spectrochimica Acta Atomic Spectroscopy Award 1997 for 2 papers “as the most significant contributions to spectroscopy, published in Spectrochim. Acta Part B, in 1997”.
  • January 1999: Poster prize at the “1999 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry, Pau, France (First prize for a total of ca. 400 posters).
  • June 1998: Prize of the Research Council of the University of Antwerp, in the category “Exact Sciences”.
  • April 1998: Bunsen-Kirchhoff-Prize of the “Deutscher Arbeitskreis für Angewandte Spektroskopie”, Munchen, Germany.
  • December 1996: J. S. Stas Prize of the “Académie Royale de Belgique”.July 1997: Poster prize at the “International Conference of Phenomena in Ionized Gases XXIII”, Toulouse, France (2 poster prizes for a total of 500 posters.
  • October 1996: Spectrochimica Acta Atomic Spectroscopy Award 1995 for 3 papers, “as the most significant contributions to spectroscopy, published in Spectrochim. Acta Part B, in 1995”.
  • June 1996: DSM-prize for Chemistry and Technology: First prize for Flanders.
  • June 1993: Youth prize of the “Koninklijke Vlaamse Chemische Vereniging (KVCV)”: Best student chemistry at the University of Antwerp.

Memberships of science panels