Institute of Chemical Engineering – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Prof. Dr. Jiří Kučerík,

Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

HYDROGEN PRODUCTION BY FERMENTATION METHODS – PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES

CO₂ CAPTURE, UTILIZATION, SEQUESTRATION CHAIN: A CYCLIC AND INTEGRATED APPROACH

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND SOME CARBON SEQUESTRATION STRATEGIES

Venko Beschkov, PhD, DSc was born in 1946 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He has got PhD in 1978 and DSc degree in 1996 in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.  His present interests are chemical and biochemical processes for environment protection and for utilization of renewable energy sources. He published over 200 scientific papers, 2 monographs and 14 chapters in selected issues. He was editor of 2 books on selected topics. Over 1900 citations of his papers have been noted. He has been Head of the Institute of Chemical Engineering at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1993/2014) and deputy-minister of environment (1991/92).

Prof. Panos Seferlis is a Professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Senior Researcher at the Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute of the Centre for Research and Technology – Hellas. His main research interests are in the area of process systems engineering with emphasis in separation, reactor, and energy conversion systems as well as the design and control of complex mechanical systems. Particular focus is placed on the integration of materials selection, process design, and control system design for enhanced sustainability, improved dynamic performance and optimal economic impact. He has authored more than 250 articles in scientific journals, conference proceedings and book chapters. He is currently serving as an Associate Editor in Journal of Cleaner Production. He has been the editor in two collective volumes and acted as guest editor in several journal special issues. He has coordinated several research projects at the European and National level whereas he is participating in a leading position in several projects involving sustainable process design, advanced control systems and defence applications.

Prof. Dr. Jiří Kučerík obtained his Master’s degree in Consumer Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic. From 2010 to 2016, he worked at the Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany, as a Privatdozent. In 2021 he became a professor of Chemistry and Technology of Environmental Protection. Between 2016 and 2023, he served as the director of the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Environmental Protection at the Brno University of Technology. Since 2024, he has been working at Mendel University in Brno.

His research activities primarily focus on environmental chemistry, with a particular emphasis on soil processes, soil organic matter dynamics, the development and testing of soil amendments, sustainable agriculture, (bio)degradation, waste management, and the transformation of polymers. He is also specialized in thermal analysis, particularly in differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry.

Prof. Kučerík is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (Springer) and the chairperson of the Scientific Committee “Life & Environmental Science” under the International Confederation of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.