Konstantin Hadjiivanov #

Brief Curriculum vitae

Konstantin Hadjiivanov (b. 1958). Ph. D. in Chemistry, 1991, from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Doctor of Sciences (Doctor Habil), 2000, from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Associate Professor, 1996, and Full Professor, 2002, in the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Member of the General Assembly of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Corresponding Member of the European Academy of Sciences. Director of the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry from 2004. Humboldt research fellow, 1998 - 1999, Munich, Germany. Invited Professor, 1997 and 2005, ISMRA, Caen, France; Invited Professor, 2003, 2005 and 2006, University "P. et M. Curie", Paris, France; Doctor honoris causa of the University of Cane, 2007. Scientific Activity: 146 scientific articles including 5 review papers.

Research Interests

The main research interests of K. Hadjiivanov and his research group are focused on the IR spectra of surface species. A series of investigations are devoted to the spectral identification of different nitrogen-oxo species in zeolites and on oxide surfaces. Recent works are aimed at applying adsorption of small molecules to the determination of the effective number of coordinative vacancies of cations (mainly in zeolites). The use of CO and NO as IR probe molecules for characterization of gold, palladium, platinum and iridium catalysts is of current interest.

Professional activities

According to ISI, Hadjiivanov has published 144 papers with 3900+ citations. The ISI H-index of Hadjiivanov is 31 and he is the most cited scientist presently employed in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The scientific interests of Prof. Hadjiivanov are mainly in surface chemistry. He is among the world top specialists in the characterization of surface species by vibration spectroscopy. His main achievements in this field can be summarized as follows:

• Identification of surface nitrogen-oxo species (a topic related to environmental catalysis). Using different approaches and applying isotopically labelled probe molecules, Hadjiivanov et al. have identified a series of nitrogen-oxo species and their assignments are now generally accepted. In addition, several intermediates in the catalytic conversion of NOx are isolated. The review of Hadjiivanov in this field is considered as a handbook.

• Formation of geminal species during adsorption. A theoretical model was developed and many experimental confirmations were found. In particular, the existence of two types of geminal adspecies was established; the formation of the so-called site-specified geminal species was related to the low coordination of the adsorption centre. Hadjiivanov is recognized as the leading specialist in this area.

• Methodology of HQ spectroscopy of probe molecules. Different approaches, e.g., simultaneous use of CO and NO as molecular probes, analysis of overtones, some manners of using isotopes, etc., proposed by Hadjiivanov, are used by various research groups.

Hadjiivanov is involved in many international co-operations. The most fruitful are those with: (i) Prof. H. Knozinger (Munich, Germany), 40 common papers; Prof. J.C. Lavalley and Prof. M. Daturi (Caen, France), 2l common papers, Prof. M. Che et ol. (Paris, France), 14 common papers; Prof. A. Davydov (Novosibirsk, Russia), 10 common papers; Prof. A. Odriozola and Prof. M. Centeno (Sevilla, Spain), 7 common papers; Prof. B; Gates (Davis, USA), 6 common papers, Prof. G. Busca (Genova, Italy), 6 common papers, etc. In addition, Hadjiivanov was the organizer or co-organizer of several international scientific events, e.g., I,II, III and IV Symposia of Advanced Micro- and Mesoporous Materials, SizeMat (I and II) and MetEcoMat workshops, and has been the member of the Organizing committees of other events, e.g., EuropaCat VII, etc.

Hadjiivanov has led a number of research projects funded by EC (incl. INTAS), (NATO, Alexander von Humboldt foundation, National Scientific foundation, etc. He has been the supervisor of 8 PhD students.

Along with the success in the field of science, Prof. Hadjiivanov is deeply involved in scientific management. Since 2004 he is Director of the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. During that time the Institute has achieved considerable success. Thus, Hadjiivanov was the coordinator of a Centre of Competence (EU project, contract INCO 016414). Immediately after the successful finishing of the project, ’ Hadjiivanov organized four of the top scientific institutions in Bulgaria to create in 2008 the National Centre of Excellence for New Materials (grant DO—02—82). In 2010 the Centre was { recognized as one of the two most successful national Centres of Excellence and received additional funding (grant CVP 02/2009). In addition, Prof. Hadjiivanov is a renowned populariser of scientific research in the mass media.

Prof. Hadjiivanov is a member of the General assembly of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and chairperson of the Expert Council for Young scientists. He is representative of Bulgaria in the Ideas programme of FP7; member of different scientific councils and expert commissions.