Gian Piero Spada Medal
The “Gian Piero Spada Medal” is awarded annually to final-year PhD students in the Chemistry Doctoral Program at the University of Bologna, in recognition of outstanding thesis work that has made a significant contribution to the various fields of Chemistry.
Five prizes are awarded, each corresponding to one of the following thematic areas: (a) Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Cultural Heritage Chemistry; (b) Physical Chemistry; (c) Inorganic Chemistry; (d) Industrial Chemistry; and (e) Organic Chemistry. In cases where the number of candidates in a specific area is particularly high, it is possible for the award to be granted to two recipients ex aequo.
2025
Analytical Chemistry
Seyedeh Rojin Shariati Pour (supervisor Prof. Mara Mirasoli): Multiple Approaches for Ultrasensitive Quantitative Analyses in Complex Matrices: From Traditional Chromatographic Techniques Coupled with Mass Spectrometry to The Development of Biosensors for Point-of-care Applications Based on Biospecific Recognition Reactions
Physical Chemistry
Francesco Calcagno (supervisor Prof. Ivan Rivalta) for the thesis entitled "Exploring Frontiers in Computational Quantum Chemistry for Catalysis"
Inorganic Chemistry
Federica Ruani (supervisor Dr. Nicola Armaroli) for the thesis entitled "Light induced processes - from supramolecular systems to photoanodes"
Industrial Chemistry
Federico Bugli (supervisor Prof. Fabrizio Cavani) for the thesis entitled "Sustainable valorization of Lignocellulosic biomass for the production of chemicals and fuels"
Organic Chemistry
Chiara Palladino (supervisor Prof. Walter Cabri) for the thesis entitled "Alternative methods and cross-coupling reactions, Heck-Cassar-Sonogashira/Suzuki/Catellani, for the synthesis of bioactive molecules and the development of sustainable approaches for new peptide synthesis"
2024
Analytical Chemistry
Nicolò Interino for the thesis entitled "Development of MS-based analytical approaches for targeted/untargeted analysis of metabolites and bioactive compounds applied to different scientific fields"
Inorganic Chemistry
Alessandro Messori for the thesis entitled "Advancing green chemistry: unravelling organometallic complexes as catalysts for biomass derived feedstock conversions"
Industrial Chemistry
Stefano Scurti for the thesis entitled "Investigation on the role of polymeric ligands in heterogeneous nano-catalysis towards the development of hybrid metal-polymer catalysts"
Organic Chemistry
Chiara Portolani for the thesis entitled: "An organocatalytic approach to the stereoselective synthesis of N-N atropisomeric hydrazides via relay catalysis"
2023
Analytical Chemistry
Angela Punzo for the thesis entitled "Development of effect-based bio-chemiluminescent cell bioassays for nutraceutical and biomedical applications”
Physical Chemistry
Lorenzo Pandolfi for the thesis entitled “Spectroscopic investigation on photoreactivity, structure and polymorphism of organic molecular crystals”
Inorganic Chemistry
Elena Bassan for the thesis entitled “Organic Photosensitizers and Nanostructured Semiconductors for Photoredox Catalysis and Artificial Photosynthesis”
Industrial Chemistry
Anna Gagliardi for the thesis entitled “New catalysts and strategies for the transformation of bioethanol into fuels and chemicals ”
Organic Chemistry (ex aequo)
Paolo Ravarino for the thesis entitled “Low-Molecular-weight gels: from the rational design to the application of versatile soft materials”
Lorenzo Lombardi for the thesis entitled “New Catalytic Strategies for the Manipulation of Arenes"
2022
Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Pietro Morozzi for the thesis entitled " Innovative Methods for Ambient Aerosol Characterization and other Environmental Issues”
Physical Chemistry (ex-aequo)
Flavio Aleotti for the thesis entitled " Developing strategies for accurate simulations of photochemically relevant systems: parameterization of potential energy surfaces and interstate couplings with multireference perturbative methods for different flavors of nonadiabatic dynamics”
Sara Rebeccani for the thesis entitled " Insights into the mechanisms and applications of electrochemiluminescence”
Inorganic Chemistry
Federico Nicoli for the thesis entitled “Design, realization, and characterization of complex reaction networks in dynamic mechanically interlocked molecules”
Industrial Chemistry
Niccolò Giani for the thesis entitled “Production and characterization of novel composite materials for additive manufacturing applications”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (ex-aequo)
Juzeng An for the thesis entitled “Gold Catalyzed Functionalization of Alkyne and Allenamide”
Francesco Calogero for the thesis entitled “Functionalization of Carbonyl Compounds Enabled by Dual Photoredox and Transition Metal Catalysis”
2021
Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Elisa Musella for the thesis entitled " Newly Developed Electrosynthesis Of Layered Double Hydroxides: Application To Sensing, Energy Storage And Conversion”
Physical Chemistry
Sheng Gao for the thesis entitled "Advanced Luminescent Materials for Technological Applications””
Inorganic Chemistry
Sara Angeloni for the thesis entitled “Silicon Nanocrystals Tailored For Bioimaging And Energy Conversion””
Industrial Chemistry
Paola Blair Vasquez for the thesis entitled “Upgrading Bio-platform Molecules in the Gas Phase: from Levulinic Acid to Bio-Chemicals””
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (ex-aequo)
Demetra Giuri for the thesis entitled “Peptide-Based Low Molecular Weight Gelators for the Preparation Of Self-Assembled Materials”
Mirko Maturi for the thesis entitled “Advanced Functional Organic-Inorganic Hybrid (Nano)Materials: from Theranostics to Organic Electronics and Additive Manufacturing”
2020
Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry (ex-aequo)
Emanuele Porru for the thesis entitled " Development and validation of new separative methods coupled to mass spectrometry for bioactive signaling molecules”
Federica Mariani for the thesis entitled " Design and characterization of Electrochemical Sensors for Organic Bioelectronics”
Physical Chemistry
Mattia Melosso for the thesis entitled " Rotational and ro-vibrational spectroscopy of small nitrogen-containing species and their astrophysical applications”
Inorganic Chemistry
Luca Fornasari for the thesis entitled “Static And Dynamic Crystal Engineering: Towards New Materials Based On Boronic Acids And Solid-State Molecular Motion”
Industrial Chemistry
Martina Marinelli for the thesis entitled “New Functional Polythiophene Based Materials: Fine-Tuning Of Photovoltaic Or Chiroptical Propertie”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (ex-aequo)
Juzeng An for the thesis entitled “Gold Catalyzed Functionalization of Alkyne and Allenamide”
Michele Anselmi for the thesis entitled “Synthesis of new integrin ligands for therapeutic and diagnostic applications”
2019
Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Angelo Mullaliu for the thesis entitled " Disclosure of the redox mechanism of hexacyanoferrate-based electrode materials”
Physical Chemistry,
Irene Ruggeri for the thesis entitled " Beyond Li-ion batteries: novel concepts and design”
Inorganic Chemistry
Chiara Parise for the thesis entitled “Supported gold nanoparticles for organic transformations”
Industrial Chemistry
Giada Innocenti for the thesis entitled “Understanding how the Guerbet chemistry is influenced by acid-base catalysts”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Lorenzo Gualandi for the thesis entitled “EPR investigation of supramolecular architectures”
2018
Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry (ex-aequo)
Luca Alfio Andronico for the thesis entitled " Investigation of the Thermochemiluminescent (TCL) phenomenon as an innovative detection technique for (bio)analytical applications: from the synthesis of new TCL candidates to the realization of TCL-based probes for immunoassays”
Maria Maddalena Calabretta for the thesis entitled " Exploiting multicolor luciferases for smartphone-based bioluminescence cell biosensor”
Physical Chemistry
Marco Macis for the thesis entitled " Mechanical coarse-grained model for the simulation of “active drops”
Inorganic Chemistry
Martina Zangoli for the thesis entitled “Synthesis of oligo- and polythiophenes and their organization into nano/microsized supramolecular structures for application in biology and organic electronics”
Industrial Chemistry
Matteo Rizzuto for the thesis entitled “Crystallization kinetics of double crystalline Poly(Lactide)/Poly(ε-Caprolactone) blends upon the additions of different compatibilizers”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Ilaria Monaco for the thesis entitled “Organic functionalization of metallic nanostructures for Theranostic Nanomedicine Applications”
2017
Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Michele Ghidotti for the thesis entitled " Analytical methods for the characterisation of volatile and water-soluble organic compound in biochar - Relationships with thermal stability and seed germination”
Physical Chemistry,
Elena Villani for the thesis entitled " Combination of supramolecular recognition and electrochemiluminescent detection for quantification of sarcosine in urine for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer”
Inorganic Chemistry
Marianna Marchini for the thesis entitled “Photoactive molecules in supramolecular architectures and photoredox reactions”
Industrial Chemistry
Olena Vozniuk for the thesis entitled “Chemical-loop reforming of bio-alcohols for hydrogen production”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Nicola di iorio for the thesis entitled “New organocatalytic strategis for the selective synthesis of centrally and axially chiral molecules”
2016
Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Donato Calabria for the thesis entitled "Implementation of chemiluminescence and color-based detection techniques in smartphone for bioassays”
Inorganic Chemistry
Raffaello Mazzaro for the thesis entitled “Graphene and semiconductor or metallic nanoparticles for energy conversion”
Industrial Chemistry
Juliana Velasquez Ochoa for the thesis entitled “Unravelling the mechanism behind the transformation of ethanol on acid/base mixed oxides catalysts”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Elia Matteucci for the thesis entitled “Design and synthesis of new luminescent materials: from light sources to biological applications”
2015
Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Angela Punzo for the thesis entitled "Development of effect-based bio-chemiluminescent cell bioassays for nutraceutical and biomedical applications”
Inorganic Chemistry
Iacopo Ciabatti for the thesis entitled “Homo- and Heterometal Carbonyl Nanoclusters”
Industrial Chemistry
Alessandro Chieregato for the thesis entitled “Glycerol oxidehydration to acrylic acid on complex mixed-metal oxides”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Roberta Manoni for the thesis entitled “Synthetic strategies of new spin-labelled supramolecular systems”
2014
Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Qian Gou for the thesis entitled “Non-Covalent Interaction: Revealed by Rotational Spectroscopy”
Inorganic Chemistry
Massimo Sgarzi for the thesis entitled “Caratterizzazione di sistemi molecolari e nanoparticelle a trasduzione ottica per lo sviluppo di sensori chimici”
Organic Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (ex aequo)
Erica Locatelli for the thesis entitled “Synthesis and surface modification of silver and gold nanoparticles. Nanomedicine applications against Glioblastoma Multiforme”
Daniele Tedesco for the thesis entitled “Chiroptical properties of bioactive molecules: sensitivity to conformation and solvation"