Young researchers

Stefano received his MSc in Industrial Chemistry (cum laude) in 2012 from the University of Padova. His experimental work, carried out under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Scrimin, focused on the self-selection of a catalyst from a dynamic combinatorial library of molecules. In 2013, he began his Ph.D. studies in the research group of Prof. Wennemers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). During this period, he worked on the development of self-assembled nanoarchitectures (both inorganic and organic) based on peptidic components. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2018. Since 2017, he has been a research fellow in Prof. Credi’s group at the Center for Light Activated Nanostructures (CLAN, University of Bologna and CNR). From early 2022, he has held a fixed-term researcher position (RTD-a), and since 2025, he has been a tenure-track researcher (RTT) at the Department of Industrial Chemistry “Toso Montanari” of the University of Bologna.

He has published more than 15 peer-reviewed scientific articles in international journals and has participated in over 20 national and international conferences, presenting both oral and poster contributions. He serves as a referee for international journals. He was awarded the “Franco Scandola – Young Investigator Award 2023” by the Italian Photochemistry Group (GIF) for his contributions to the field of photochemistry, and the “NEST Award 2022” from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. He also received an honorable mention for the “Primo Levi” Award from the Young Chemists Group of the Italian Chemical Society and the Poster Prize at the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry 2015 (Strasbourg).

Massimiliano grew up in Naples (Italy), where he carried out his BSc and MSc studies under the guidance of Prof. Francesco Ruffo. After a brief period at the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IPCB), in 2014 he moved to the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom) to undertake doctoral studies within the CRITICAT CDT (Centre for Doctoral Training for Critical Resources Catalysis). During his time in Scotland, he studied redox-active ligands acting as mediators for electron transfer reactions in small molecule activation, under the supervision of Prof. Jason Love. In 2018, he was awarded a ScotCHEM Postgraduate and Early-Career Researcher Exchange (PECRE) grant to undertake an internship at the Technical University of Munich (Germany) and work with Dr Alexander Pöthig on transition-metal complexes of polycarbene macrocycles. He joined the CLAN team as a post-doctoral research associate in 2019, developing light-operated artificial molecular machines. In 2023, he was appointed as a Junior Assistant Professor at the Department of Industrial Chemistry of the University of Bologna (Italy).

Brian received a MSc in Chemistry from Freie Universität Berlin in 2018. After a research period at BOKU University in Vienna, in October 2020 Brian joined the CLAN team as an Early Stage Researcher in the frame of the ITN ArtMoMa network. He is also a PhD student in Chemistry at the University of Bologna. Brian's research activity is focused on the synthesis and characterisation of light-responsive molecular-based systems, motors and materials. Since 2023 he is a postdoctoral fellow in the CLAN lab.

Chiara received her MSc degree cum laude in Photochemistry and Molecular Materials in 2019 from the University of Bologna. In November of the same she started the PhD course in chemistry at the University of Bologna under the supervision of prof. Alberto Credi, thus joining the Clan laboratory. Chiara's research activity deals with the spectroscopic, photophysical and photochemical characterization of supramolecular systems. Since 2021 she is a postdoctoral researcher in the CLAN laboratories.

Leonardo Andreoni received his laurea (MSc) in Photochemistry and Molecular Materials from the University of Bologna in 2019. He then joined the CLAN laboratory as a PhD student in Nanoscience. His tasks in the project include the spectroscopic, photo physical and electrochemical characterisation of molecular and supramolecular systems. Since 2021 Leonardo is a postdoctoral researcher in the CLAN.