Maria Chiara Sportelli
MCS graduated in Chemistry -summa cum laude- at the University of Bari in 2012, studying the synthesis and characterization of ZnO antimicrobials. Her work was awarded as the best Italian master thesis in Analytical Chemistry for 2012. From 2013 to 2016 she accomplished her PhD studies in Chemistry of Innovative Materials (Analytical Chemistry) at the University of Bari and Ulm University (DE), working on the development, characterization and analytical application of new nanostructured materials and organic/inorganic nanocomposites. Her PhD thesis was recognized as the best of the PhD School in Chemical Science, XXVIII cycle, winning the 2016 “Gianfranco Giorgio PhD Award”.
She received the "Young Scientist Award 2015” at XVIII Euroanalysis Conference, along with the Gordon F. Kirkbright Bursary Award 2017 from the Association of British Spectroscopists Trust (ABS Trust), the Ambrogio Mazzucotelli Award 2018 from the Italian Chemical Society, the European Young Chemist Award EYCA 2020 Gold Medal for the Early Career Researcher level, and Young Researcher Award from the Italian Chemical Society, “For the high quality of her research in the field of analytical chemistry”. The last four were granted for her achievements in the spectroscopic characterization of biofilms exposed to antimicrobial thin films.
Since 2016, she had several post-doc fellowships, still working on the synthesis, surface spectroscopic and microscopic characterization of nanomaterials, and their application as antimicrobial agents. She is currently tenured Associate Professor in Analytical Chemistry at the Chemistry Department of the University of Bari.
Since 2012, MCS is member of the Italian Chemical Society and has been part of the Organizing Committee of the PhD School “CHESS”, for the 2017 2019, and 2026 editions, along with the international iSo-Days 2020 and 2022 Conferences. MCS serves as referee many international Journals and her recognition within the scientific community is demonstrated by her membership on the Editorial Boards of several international, peer-reviewed journals: Frontiers in Chemistry – Analytical Chemistry, Frontiers (ISSN: 2296-2646, IF: 4.2); Micro & Nano Letters, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (ISSN: 1750-0443, IF: 2.4); and Academia Nano: Science, Materials, Technology, Academia.edu (ISSN: 3065-9736; IF pending). Additionally, she serves as Topic Editor for the “Antibiotics Use and Antimicrobial Stewardship” section of Antibiotics (ISSN: 2079-6382, IF: 4.6), and as Guest Editor for a special issue of Discover Nano (ISSN: 2731-9229, IF: 4.5), entitled Analytical and Multivariate Insights into Environmental and Health Impacts of Nanomaterials.
She has also been invited as a keynote speaker at major scientific events, including the XXIX Congress of the Analytical Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society in 2022, and the Analytical Spectroscopy Meeting in 2018, also organized by Italian Chemical Society. In 2025, she served as Chairperson for two keynote sessions at the XLIV Colloquium Spectroscopicum Internationale (CSI).
In early 2026, she was Visting Professor at Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (Unesp), teaching a Post-Grad course on "Antimicrobial Materials".
Her scientific production is documented by 68 papers on peer-reviewed journals, 15 conference proceedings, 6 book chapters, and more than 150 communications presented at national and international conferences. H-index = 26 (Scopus).