3rd International Symposium on Chemical Thermodynamics for Young Researchers

Ramesh Laxminarayan Gardas was born and brought up in Surat, Gujarat. He completed B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University. Then he joined University of Coimbra, and University of Aveiro, Portugal, and Queen’s University Belfast, UK, for his postdoctoral research on physico-chemical properties and applications of ionic liquids.

Then, Dr. Gardas joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, in 2010, as an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and full Professor in 2020.

Dr. Gardas has more than 25-years of research and 15-years of teaching experience. So far, he has completed 15 projects (as PI and Co-PI) worth more than Rs. 10 crores, guided 20 Ph.D. and 17 M.Sc. project students. Co-authored 4 patents, 12 book-chapters, 7 conference papers, 4 Editorials, and more than 240 research publications which received more than 10,850 citations with h-index = 53, i10-index = 186 and average citations per paper of above 41. He has delivered more than 325 invited talks and guest lectures.

Dr. Gardas’ research group focuses on ‘Chemical Thermodynamics’ and ‘Phase Equilibria’ of industrially important solvents and their mixtures. His research group, is unique in the country, focuses on both ‘Science’ and ‘Technology’ part of the contemporary field – “Ionic Liquids/ Deep Eutectic Solvents as an alternative to Volatile Organic Solvents” and significantly contributes to connecting them. His research group substantially contributed to the development of non-conventional and environmentally benign solvent systems. Generated extensive databases on their thermodynamic properties and structure-composition-property correlations useful in refrigeration, separation science, and crude oil industry. These will have far-reaching implications in the design of application-specific solvent systems. His research group strives to design the task-specific ionic liquids and to provide an important insight into physical chemistry to regulate their properties for varied technological applications such as phase change materials, CO2 capturing, dissolution of tank bottom sludge, electrolytes in solar cell and supercapacitors, absorbents for refrigeration system, desulfurization of fuels, and also the extraction of metal ions, biomolecules, and value-added products.

More than 18,500 thermodynamic data points measured in his research lab at IIT Madras are included in NIST Standard Reference Database developed by Thermodynamics Research Center, NIST, USA. Dr. Gardas developed a model to explain the density of various ionic liquids over a wide range of temperature and pressure, which is referred to and extensively used by the peer scientific community as 'Gardas and Coutinho' model.

In recognition of his outstanding performance as a teacher and researcher, Dr. Gardas has been bestowed with several awards by prestigious institutes/ societies, including the Mid-Career R&D Award – 2020 and Best Teacher – 2023 by IIT Madras. Recently, he has been recognized as (i) Associate Editor of an American Chemical Society Journal, Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data, (ii) Fellow Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), UK, (iii) Asian Thermophysical Properties Research (ATPC) Significant Contribution Award 2022, (iv) Publons Top Peer Review Award 2019 (Top 1% of Reviewers in Chemistry), and (v) Featured in the list of “World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists” in database created by experts at Stanford University, USA, for consecutively 6 years from 2020 to 2025.

Brian F. Woodfield graduated in 1986 with a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Brigham Young University. He also received a M.S. degree in Chemistry from Brigham Young University in 1988 where he worked with Juliana Boerio-Goates to construct a low-temperature adiabatic calorimeter to study the thermodynamics and phase transitions of solids. He later attended the University of California, Berkeley where he worked for Norman Phillips and received his Ph.D.in Physical Chemistry in 1995. His doctoral work included the design and construction of a lowtemperature specific heat apparatus for use in magnetic fields up to 9 T and in the temperature range of 0.5 K to 100 K. The apparatus was primarily used to study high-temperature superconductors. After Berkeley, Brian received a National Academy of the Sciences Fellowship to pursue post-doctoral work at the Naval Research Laboratory. His post-doctoral worked included the design and construction of another low-temperature calorimeter which was used to study colossal magnetoresistance phenomena. After a one-year teaching position at Southern Virginia College, Brian received an appointment at Brigham Young University in 1997 as an Assistant Professor and was later promoted to Associate Professor in 2002 and Full Professor in 2007. His research interests originally have focused on chemical thermodynamics, solid-state and low temperature physics, and the intrinsic properties of novel materials. For the past several years his research has also focused on novel synthetic techniques to produce a wide array of high surface area materials, catalyst supports, and catalysts. Brian has over 240 publications, mostly in solid-state physics and thermodynamics, 35 U.S. and international patents, and has given over 500 presentations globally. 

On the educational side, Brian is the creator and director of the Y Science virtual lab project, a set of sophisticated and realistic simulations for middle school, high school, and college-level science students. The conceptual foundation of the simulations is to put students into an environment where they are free to make the decisions they would confront in an actual laboratory setting and experience the resulting consequences. Failure is a necessary part of learning, and these virtual labs allow students to experiment, explore, and fail in a levelappropriate setting. The current set of simulations include products in chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, physical science, and biologyu. At their height, usage was over 1,000,000 students per year. These labs are currently sold through a startup called Beyond Labz (www.beyondlabz.com) and are accessible as a web-based product in English and Spanish.

Scopus ID: 7003545107 

Prof. Dr. Sergey P. Verevkin is a Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Rostock, Germany. He obtained his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Byelorussian State University (1984) and Habilitation in Physical Chemistry at the University of Rostock (2001). He received a DAAD scholarship (1988–89) and an Alexander von Humboldt scholarship (1992–93) at the University of Freiburg. He is co-author of more than 500 articles referenced in Scopus, Web of Science, and ISI, as well as 8 patents. He is also the winner of international grants in various fields of chemical science, including the DFG-SPP 1191 “Study of vapor pressure and heat of vaporization of ionic liquids” program (2006–2013), the EU project “Biofuel Metrology” (2011–2014), DFG-Project “Glycolysis: thermodynamics and pathway predictions” (2018-2021) and DFG-SPP 1807 program „Control of Dispersion Interactions” (2015-2022). His research interests mainly include chemical thermodynamics and thermochemistry, equilibria in chemically reacting systems, combustion calorimetry, ionic liquids, hydrogen storage, and quantum chemical calculations.

Scopus ID: 7006607848

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0957-5594

Scopus ID: 57221014261 

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5015-8410

Michal Fulem is Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague (UCT Prague). His research bridges chemical thermodynamics, materials science, and pharmaceutical chemistry. He uses experimental and theoretical approaches to understand phase behavior and the physical stability of molecular systems, including crystalline polymorphs and amorphous formulations, which he currently applies to the rational design of drug delivery systems, from bulk materials to nanoparticles. He is also focused on developing instruments and methodologies for calorimetric and phase behavior studies.

He has extensive international experience, including postdoctoral research at the University of Alberta, Canada, the University of Porto, Portugal, and short-term research stays at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA. He has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications and has presented his work at numerous international conferences, including invited lectures. His contributions have been recognized with awards including the Ministry of Education, Youth and Physical Education of the Czech Republic Award for outstanding academic achievements. He has led several national and international research projects and is currently principal investigator of projects on polymorph stability mapping of molecular crystals and on modeling-guided design of excipients for drug delivery. His professional activities include serving as Work Group Leader (WG4: Other Methods to Determine Physical Properties) and Core Group Member in COST Action CA22107 – Bringing Experiment and Simulation Together in Crystal Structure Prediction, and membership in the ICTAC Scientific Committee on Thermodynamics and Thermochemistry.

Scopus ID: 6507096850

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5707-0670

Adriaan van den Bruinhorst was recruited as an assistant professor at the Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA, Clermont-Ferrand, France) in 2024. He has worked at the forefront of deep eutectic solvent (DES) development since the start of his master's thesis at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, 2012). His academic career kicked off with a seminal review on DESs at the beginning of his PhD (TU/e), under the supervision of Prof. Maaike Kroon. This was followed by several publications on the characterisation and application (biomass fractionation, CO2 capture, and liquid–liquid extraction) of novel DESs and ionic liquids. In 2015, he joined the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Prof Remco Tuinier at TU/e to pursue a more fundamental line of research towards DES formation via the measurement and modelling of DES phase behaviour, on which he obtained his PhD in 2018. His thermodynamic view on DESs resonated in the community. 

After a short industry-funded post-doc at TU/e, he joined the Ionic Liquids group of Res. Prof. Margarida Costa Gomes at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (France) for a post-doc position in 2019. There, he studied unusual thermodynamic signatures in DESs and ILs. For the first time, he measured the melting properties of choline chloride and quantified the excess entropy of mixing in DESs. The impact of his work has been recognised on a national and international level, with 24 peer-reviewed publications in reputed journals (h-index 20), 16 oral contributions at (inter)national conferences (3 invited), and a regional (AURA Ambition Internationale) and international (ANR-PRCI) grant allocated in 2025 to design new DESs from a thermodynamic perspective. At UCA, he develops experimental methods to unveil the chemical origins of the entropy–enthalpy balance in DESs and related mixtures.

Scopus ID: 55320578400 

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3508-5983

Helena Passos is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) and a researcher at LSRE-LCM – Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering – Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials, as well as at ALiCE – Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering. She earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Aveiro in 2017. From 2017 to 2022, she was a researcher at CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials

Her research focuses on applied thermodynamics, with emphasis on understanding the fundamental behavior of liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction systems. More recently, she has been developing advanced processes for the recovery of critical and precious metals from spent materials, in alignment with Circular Economy and Green Chemistry principles. Passos has published more than 60 scientific articles, accumulating over 2,500 citations and an h-index of 28. She has delivered over 150 oral and poster presentations at national and international conferences, including two invited lectures. She is currently one of the principal investigators of the Portuguese national-funded project PlatILPlus (https://platilplus.wixsite.com/platilplus), which targets the recycling and recovery of platinum group metals and rare earth elements from spent automotive catalytic converters.

Scopus ID: 55250786300 

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0573-093X

Currently an Associate Professor and Leader of the Computational Thermodynamics Group in the Department of Physical Chemistry at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (UCT Prague), this academic has built a robust career since earning a Master's in Physical Chemistry, Summa cum laude, from UCT Prague in 2012. Their academic journey advanced with a PhD in Chemistry from UCT Prague in 2015, followed by significant international postdoctoral experiences with Prof. Costa Gomes in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and as a Fulbright research scholar with Prof. Gregory Beran at the University of California, Riverside.

Their established research record includes 59 papers in impacted journals, which have garnered over 1,200 citations (excluding self-citations) for an h-index of 23, and 26 conference contributions, including 7 invited talks. As a Primary Investigator on five research projects, such as a prestigious Junior Star grant, they also actively mentor the next generation, having supervised 16 student theses. This work is further supported by major international collaborations with researchers at institutions like UC Riverside, ENS Lyon, and NU Singapore, as well as industrial partners Zentiva and Synthon.

Important Publications:

• C. Červinka. Introducing the Coupled-Cluster Theory to the Amorphous World of Liquids and Their Thermodynamic Simulations. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 21, 9868, 2025.

• J. Ludík, V. Kostková, et al. First-Principles Models of Polymorphism of Pharmaceuticals: Maximizing the Accuracy-to-Cost Ratio. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 20, 2858, 2024.

• M. Klajmon, C. Červinka. Does Explicit Polarizability Improve Simulations of Phase Behavior of Ionic Liquids? Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 17, 6225, 2021.

• C. Červinka, M. Klajmon, V. Štejfa. Cohesive Properties of Ionic Liquids Calculated from First Principles. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 15, 5563, 2019.

• X. Mao, P. Brown, C. Červinka, et al. Self-assembled nanostructures in ionic liquids facilitate charge storage at electrified interfaces. Nature Materials 18, 1350, 2019.

• C. Červinka, G. O. J. Beran. Ab initio prediction of the polymorph phase diagram for crystalline methanol. Chemical Science 9, 4622, 2018.

• M. F. Costa Gomes, L. Pison, C. Červinka, et al. Porous Ionic Liquids or Liquid Metal-Organic Frameworks? Angewandte Chemie International Edition 57, 11909, 2018.

Kseniya V. Zherikova has held the position of senior researcher at the Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (NIIC SB RAS) since 2012. She completed her Chemistry degree at Novosibirsk State University (Russia) in 2003 and subsequently earned her doctorate in Inorganic and Physical Chemistry from NIIC SB RAS in 2007, with a dissertation focused on "The volatile compounds of hafnium(IV) and zirconium(IV): synthesis, structure, properties". Dr. Zherikova's scholarly output comprises over 100 publications in internationally recognized, peer-reviewed journals, in addition to numerous presentations, including invited and plenary lectures, at both national and international conferences.

Dr. Zherikova’s research activities are primarily oriented towards volatile coordination compounds of metals with organic ligands, which serve as precursors for the generation of metallic, oxide, and composite film materials via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A core component of her expertise lies in the physico-chemical investigation of these complexes, encompassing synthesis, structural characterization via X-ray diffraction, analysis of thermal behavior in the condensed phase through thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, alongside vapor pressure measurements and studies of sublimation/vaporization thermodynamics, for the purpose of elucidating structure-property correlations.

Scopus ID: 35554851800  

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7938-1456

Carlos Bernardes is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and a researcher at the Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE, Portugal). His research focuses on molecular thermodynamics, crystalline materials, solution structure, soft matter, and biochemistry, combining experimental and theoretical approaches to understand structure-property relationships in molecular systems. On the experimental side, his work involves the development and application of calorimetric techniques to study the relationships between molecular organization in the solid state (Crystal Engineering) and the energetics of organic materials, with a particular emphasis on pharmaceutical compounds. From a theoretical perspective, his research includes the development of force fields for molecular dynamics simulations of both solutions (e.g., ionic liquids) and crystalline materials, aiming at the prediction of physical and chemical properties of organic substances with unprecedented accuracy. Within this scope, he is currently leading a research project that aims to combine ab initio methods and artificial intelligence to enhance theoretical models, guided and validated by benchmark experimental data.

Scopus ID: 12766518600   

ORCid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1490-9728