Legal Organs
Scientific Committees
Head of Division : March 2015 - April 2028
Prof. Pierre Braunstein - France
INSTITUT LE BEL - UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG
Since Sept. 2014, Pierre Braunstein is CNRS Emeritus Research Director and «Professeur conventionné» at the University of Strasbourg (Institute of Chemistry, UMR 7177 CNRS). His main research interests lie in the inorganic and organometallic chemistry of the transition and main group elements, where he has (co)authored over 500 scientific publications and review articles. He has received numerous national and international awards and he is also a member of the French Académie des Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Academia Europaea and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Prof. Pierre Braunstein has served as Head of the Chemistry Division since March 2015, across three consecutive mandates: March 2015 – March 2018; March 2018 – March 2021, extended until April 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; May 2025 – April 2028 (current and final consecutive term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws)
Officer : March 2019 - April 2028
UNIVERSITY OF BATH
Prof. Paul Raithby is a Professor of Inorganic and Structural Chemistry at the University of Bath. He is a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC) and of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He was awarded the RSC Corday Morgan Medal in 1988 and the RSC Prize for Structural Chemistry in 2008. He has served as President of the British Crystallographic Association and as a member of the IUCr Commission for Structural Chemistry.
He has published over 860 refereed research papers and has delivered more than 100 invited lectures at international scientific meetings. His current h-index is 62. His research focuses on coordination chemistry, platinum poly-ynes as sensor materials, and the development of time-resolved crystallographic techniques for studying excited-state structures with millisecond lifetimes.
Prof. Paul Raithby was elected as a member of the Chemistry Division Scientific Committee since March 2019 across two consecutive mandates: March 2019 – March 2022, extended until April 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and now for a second mandate, serving from May 2025 to April 2028, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws.
Officer : March 2015 - April 2028
Prof. Joao Rocha - Portugal
UNIVERSITY OF AVEIRO
João Rocha is a Professor of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry at the University of Aveiro and Director of the CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials. He is a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc), the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and ChemPubSoc Europe.
He has received several prestigious distinctions, including the Madinabeitia-Lourenço Award (Real Sociedad Española de Química), the Ferreira da Silva Prize (Portuguese Chemical Society), and the Scientific Excellence Award from the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT). He was a member of the Portuguese National Science and Technology Council and chaired the IUCr Commission on Inorganic and Mineral Structures.
Prof. Rocha has published over 510 refereed research papers, received approximately 17,000 citations (h-index 62), holds 4 patents, and has given over 200 conference presentations. He has also supervised 40 post-doctoral researchers and 25 PhD students. His research interests include microporous silicates, lanthanide-based photoluminescent materials, Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for sensing and nanothermometry, multimodal imaging nanosystems, solid-state NMR, and X-ray diffraction.
Prof. João Rocha was elected as a member of the Chemistry Division Scientific Committee since March 2015, across three consecutive mandates: March 2015 – March 2018; March 2018 – March 2021, extended until April 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; May 2025 – April 2028 (current and final consecutive term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws)
Officer : March 2015 - April 2028
Prof. Hans-Joachim Freund - Germany
FRITZ-HABER-INSTITUT DER MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT
Hans-Joachim Freund is a Scientific Member and Professor Emeritus at the Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at five universities in Germany and the United Kingdom.
He has received several prestigious awards, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Karl-Ziegler Award from the German Chemical Society. In 2012, Prof. Freund was awarded the Blaise Pascal Medal in Materials Science by the European Academy of Sciences, along with numerous other international distinctions.
He is a member of several prestigious academies and scientific societies, including the Academia Europaea (Chemical Sciences Section), the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Academia Brasileira de Ciências, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Chemical Section), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds three honorary doctorates and is a founding member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC).
Prof. Hans-Joachim Freund was elected as a member of the Chemistry Division Scientific Committee since March 2015, across three consecutive mandates: March 2015 – March 2018; March 2018 – March 2021, extended until April 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; May 2025 – April 2028 (current and final consecutive term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws)
Officer : May 2025 - April 2028
Prof. Armando Pombeiro - Portugal
INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO - UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Prof. Armando Pombeiro is Full Professor Jubilado at Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon) and a Full Member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, where he has held multiple leadership roles. He is also a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc) and Academia Europaea, and a Corresponding Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.
With over 1,000 scientific publications and an h-index of 81 (Web of Science, Jan. 2025), his research focuses on catalysis under mild and sustainable conditions, small molecule activation, supramolecular structures, and molecular electrochemistry. He has lectured and collaborated internationally, chaired major scientific events — including the EurASc 2024 Symposium on Science for Sustainability — and is the editor of the EurASc 20th anniversary book.
Prof. Pombeiro has received numerous national and international awards for his scientific contributions and leadership in chemistry, and he continues to play an active role in advancing the field through both research and institutional service.
Prof. Armando Pombeiro was elected as a member of the Chemistry Division Scientific Committee for a first mandate, serving from May 2025 to April 2028.