Sławomir Porada, DSc, Eng. from the Faculty of Chemistry has become a recipient of the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant awarded by the European Research Council. It is the first distinction of this kind for a scientist representing a university from Wrocław.

In this year’s ERC Consolidator Grant call, 349 grants were awarded for a total of EUR 728 million. In Poland, funding went to only four people — three from the University of Warsaw and one from Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

The researcher from Wrocław University of Science and Technology received EUR 2 million for the project “Small Differences, Big Impact: Achieving Effective Selective Separations from Water by Tuning Ion Transport Processes” (“Niewielkie różnice, ogromny wpływ: Efektywna selektywna separacja jonów z wody poprzez regulację procesów transportu jonów”).

The project focuses on understanding and controlling ion transport processes—especially how ions are adsorbed and desorbed over time in electrode materials.

“I want to find a way to control the kinetics of these processes even when ions have very similar properties,” says Dr Sławomir Porada.

So far, Polish institutions have received only 19 grants of this type. The most have been awarded to researchers from the University of Warsaw, and up to 2025 the ERC Consolidator Grant had previously gone only to representatives of two other universities: Jagiellonian University and AGH University of Krakow.

Now, thanks to Dr Sławomir Porada, Wrocław University of Science and Technology is also part of this elite group.

About the ERC grant

The Consolidator Grant is one of the most prestigious international grant programmes. It is open to researchers who are 7 to 13 years after completing their PhD and can be used to conduct breakthrough projects and research that will significantly influence the development of science. A condition for receiving the grant is demonstrating outstanding scientific achievements, including publications in major peer-reviewed international journals and invited presentations at recognised international conferences.

For lower freshwater consumption in agriculture

Thanks to Dr Sławomir Porada's project at Wrocław University of Science and Technology, it will become possible to understand ion transport mechanisms for ions with very similar properties. This will form the basis for developing a new class of separation processes that use not only material properties but also smart control of the process operating time and cycle.

What does this mean in practice?

“Among other things, it will help reduce freshwater consumption in agriculture,” the scientist explains. “An example is the possibility of reusing greenhouse water after selectively removing sodium from it, which would reduce the use of freshwater by about 1,000 m³ per hectare per year. As a result, this could reduce Europe’s demand for freshwater by 210 million m³ per year—which corresponds to the annual water consumption of four million people,” he emphasises.

Sławomir Porada, DSc, Eng.’s idea will also help develop completely new techniques for removing and recovering ions from waters. This, in turn, will make European countries more resource-independent by using desalination brine and waste from spent batteries as new sources of valuable ions — primarily magnesium, sodium, and lithium.

“Recovered resources can be used in the production of chemicals, battery materials, and battery recycling processes — reducing imports of critical metals and supporting a circular economy,” he explains.

However, the whole endeavour will not be easy. The scientist from the Faculty of Chemistry admits that the most difficult aspect of implementing the project is the fact that ions of similar size and charge behave almost identically. This prevents them from being separated using classical methods.

“That is why I will focus on exploiting temporal differences in their transport and on designing materials and electrochemical processes that will amplify these differences,” says Sławomir Porada. “My goal is to find an ‘optimal point’ where even minor differences between ions translate into effective selective separation,” he adds.

The total funding awarded for Dr Porada's research amounts to EUR 1,993,767.50. The project will last five years, and the scientist will be supported by a team of three PhD students and one postdoc.

Not only the grant: ambitious plans for the future

The awarded grant is only part of the activities planned by the researcher. In the coming years, he intends to continue research on selective ion separation, decarbonisation of industrial processes, efficient water evaporation using solar energy, and the removal of PFAS-type pollutants.

“In addition, an important part of the tasks I set for myself is further developing international cooperation, among other things by organising scientific events,” says the laureate, who in May 2025 organised in Wrocław the “7th International Conference of Electrochemical and Membrane Separations – Science and Technology.”

“My work combines fundamental research, technology development, and international cooperation. This mix contributes to progress in electrochemical methods of water treatment, selective ion separation, and sustainable environmental technologies,” summarises Dr Porada.

Dutch experience, return to Poland, and… no time for hobbies

Sławomir Porada, DSc, Eng. has been working at the Faculty of Chemistry of Wrocław University of Science and Technology since 2022. He earned his PhD in technical sciences at Wrocław Tech in 2013.

From 2009 to 2013, he conducted doctoral research at the European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology WETSUS in the Netherlands. Then, in 2014–2015, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellow at INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials in Germany.

In 2017–2019, he completed a research stay under the prestigious VENI grant at the University of Twente (Netherlands). In the following years (2020–2022), he worked as a scientific project leader at WETSUS.

His research interests primarily include chemical compound separation processes — especially ion transport and adsorption in porous materials—as well as developing new materials for such applications.

“A large part of my work focuses on improving technologies for ion removal and separation, i.e., compounds that carry an electrical charge,” says Dr Sławomir Porada. “I have designed and studied both porous carbon materials and redox-active electrodes.”

In addition to research on capacitive deionisation (CDI), the ERC Consolidator Grant laureate also worked on ion-exchange membranes used in electrodialysis.

“The membranes I developed are characterised by higher selectivity of ion transport,” explains the chemist. “The results of this research were described in a series of publications devoted to the development of membrane technologies.”

He is the author or co-author of 53 scientific articles, book chapters in a monograph, and several non-peer-reviewed publications. His works have been cited more than 11,000 times according to Google Scholar (as of 18 Nov 2025) and about 7,000 times according to Web of Science (10 Feb 2025). His Google Scholar h-index is 39.

He is a recipient of awards and distinctions, including the NAWA “Polish Returns” grant, the Veni grant, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellowship, and an award from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment.

He belongs to the international working group “Capacitive Deionization and Electrosorption” and the Physics of Membrane Processes association. He has collaborated with companies such as Evides, Dunea, Voltea, Dow, Pure Water Group, Fujifilm, and AquaBattery.

Outside of work Sławomir Porada is a fan of motocross, skiing, and climbing.

“Unfortunately, I currently have very little time for the last of these hobbies, but for a father of three children — aged 2, 5, and 7 —priorities change a bit,” he adds.