Bert F. Sels obtained his PhD in 2000 at KU Leuven in the field of oxidation chemistry with heterogeneous catalysis. He was awarded the DSM Chemistry Award in 2000, and in 2005 the Incentive Award by the Societé Chimique Belge for his research achievements. In 2005 he was appointed assistant professor at KU Leuven, and full professor in 2008. He now teaches courses on advanced analytic organic chemistry, sustainability of chemical processes, spectroscopic tools in surface chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis.
He heads a research group in the Center for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis at KU Leuven. His current field of research interest focuses on synthesis, characterization and use of heterogeneous catalysis, mainly in transformation of renewable resources to chemicals. He is co-founder of the European Research Institute of Catalysis (ERIC). He was recently elected co-chair of the IZA Catalysis Commission.
Prof. L. Kustov has an experience in zeolite chemistry and catalysis since 1976 when he started to work on his MS degree under the leadership of Prof. Boris Romanovsky at Chemistry department of Moscow State University. He received a Ph.D. degree in chemistry at N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry in 1982 under the supervision of Academican Vladimir Kazansky. His Ph.D work was devoted to development of diffuse-reflectance IR spectroscopy for characterization of acid-base properties of zeolite catalysts. In 1992 he defended the Doctor of Science Thesis with the focus of his work on the relation between the structure and properties of Lewis acid sites in zeolites and their role in a variety of catalytic processes (cracking, aromatization, oxidation of aromatics with N2O, cation-radical formation, etc.). He became a full professor in 1999. Further research interests of Prof. Kustov was extended to Metal Organic Frameworks and zeolite-like materials with supported metal nanoparticles. He efficiently spent some time at Northwestern University in the laboratory of Prof. W.M.H. Sachtler in 1990. His Hirsch index is 29 and the citation index over 3500. He served as Chief Executive Editor of the English translation of Kinetics and Catalysis Journal, now he is also a member of Editorial Boards of J. Phys. Chem. (Russ.), Catalysis in Industry (Russ.) and Russ. J. of Chemistry. He wrote over 40 reviews to peer-reviewed journals and edited books.
