Rising Stars in Materials Science is an award given to 17 early career scientists who represent the breadth, diversity and interconnectedness of materials science conducted around the world. Dr Alicja Mikołajczyk from the Department of Didactics and Popularisation of Science in the Faculty of Chemistry was among the scientists recognised.
The editors of ACS Materials Au have selected a group of Rising Stars in Materials Science 2023 (Rising Stars in Materials Science). Seventeen young scientists were selected from more than 300 nominations. Each awardee wrote an article or review, which was collected in a virtual special issue of ACS Materials Au 2023 Rising Stars in Materials Science. The article published by dr Alicja Mikołajczyk from the Department of Chemistry is titled: 'A Quantitative Structure-Permittivity Relationship Study of a Series of Polymers'.
‘My research aims to develop computational models supported by artificial intelligence for the design of new chemicals and advanced materials integrating functionality and the Safe and Sustainable by Design framework. Artificial Intelligence and Advance Materials are 2 of 6 Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) that may contribute to the transformation of the EU industry into a more globally competitive and resilient one. Thus, the development of computational tools for SSbD in a cost- and policy-effective manner came at the forefront of the recent EU policy,’ says dr Alicja Mikołajczyk
ACS Publications is a leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through peer-reviewed journals and e-books. Research by Nobel Prize winners in chemistry and medicine has also been published in ACS Publications' journals and ebooks.
Alicja Mikołajczyk finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry in 2011 at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, University of Silesia in Katowice, and then in 2013, her Master’s Degree at the University of Wroclaw. In 2017, she received a Ph.D. Degree in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Tomasz Puzyn at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Gdańsk. Between 2014 and 2019, she completed 8 short-term scientific placements in the USA (Jackson State University, North Dakota State University), and Ecuador (Yacha Tech). Dr. Mikołajczyk continues her scientific research as an adjunct at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Gdańsk. She also digitalizes chemistry as a co-owner and R&D Specialist at QSAR Lab, a spin-off company established by employees of the Environmental Chemoinformatics Laboratory and Prof. Tomasz Puzyn. For over 10 years, Dr. Mikołajczyk has applied ML/AI methods to transfer chemistry from traditional laboratories to the virtual space to support cheaper, faster, and more efficient development of safe and sustainable-by-design multicomponent nanomaterials (MCNMs). Her current work is aimed at shifting the paradigm of Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship methods (QSAR) to make them applicable as regulatory-oriented methods for the design process of safer and more efficient MCNMs. Dr. Mikołajczyk is the author of 44 scientific papers in leading journals such as Nature Nanotechnology, ACS Nano, Chemistry of Materials, and business-oriented journals, e.g., Forbes magazine. She collaborates with 70 institutions on five continents, undertaking projects funded by the EU Horizon 2020, or Horizon Europe. Dr. Mikołajczyk is also the winner of Polish and international awards, including the scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for Outstanding Young Scientists, the START Scholarship of the Foundation for Polish Science, prizes from the Polish Academy of Sciences, and from the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization in Washington, DC. More information on Dr. Mikołajczyk and QSAR lab can be found at: https://www.qsarlab.com
Dr. Mikołajczyk’s Rising Stars Article is titled ‘A Quantitative Structure–Permittivity Relationship Study of a Series of Polymers’.