Professor Marek Samoć from the Faculty of Chemistry was awarded the French-Polish Scientific Award for 2019. It is a prestigious prize for scientists from various countries granted by the French Chemical Society.

The researcher from Wrocław University of Science and Technology was recognised for his outstanding achievements in the field of non-linear optical properties of inorganic and metal-organic compounds, coupled polymers, and quantum dots.

Professor Marek Samoć heads WUST’s Department of Engineering and Modelling of Advanced Materials. He is a specialist in physical chemistry, dealing with research into new materials for optoelectronics and photonics. Materials of this kind consist of nanometre-sized objects and can be used in many fields, e.g. in medicine. Professor Samoć studies nanostructures of various nature: nano-particles, semiconductor quantum dots, nano-crystals containing lanthanide ions, as well as structures containing biological molecules such as proteins and DNA.

He worked for many years at the Laser Physics Centre of the Australian National University in Canberra (Australia) and has cooperated with numerous research centres around the world. Professor Marek Samoć also constructs unique devices for optical measurements.

The researcher is a winner of many prestigious grants, including the "Master" of the Foundation for Polish Science (2013) and the "Maestro" of the National Centre for Science (2014), as well as the Prime Minister's Award (2015) and the Wrocław Scientific Award (2016).

Also, the Foundation for Polish Science recognised Professor Samoć’s ground-breaking research, awarding him an exceptional prize in 2016 - the Polish Nobel Prize.

The official French-Polish Science Award 2019 awarding ceremony will be held in early 2020, during a formal meeting of the French Chemical Society in Paris.