The Academy welcomes its first honorary member: Physics Nobel laureate Sir Konstantin Novoselov

Sir Konstantin Novoselov is the first honorary member of the Italian Academy of Engineering and Technology (ITATEC). Appointed by the Presidential Council, he was welcomed at the plenary assembly held in Rome on 18 September 2026.
Novoselov received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 together with Andre Geim for their experiments on graphene: in 2004, at the University of Manchester, the two isolated a two-dimensional material for the first time — a sheet of carbon one atom thick — and mapped its properties. That discovery gave rise to an entire field of research, with applications across electronics, energy materials, sensors and quantum technologies. It is a trajectory that joins fundamental science to industrial application, and one that matches our Academy's own vocation.
Novoselov is Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor at the National University of Singapore, where he directs the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials, and holds the Langworthy Chair of Physics at the University of Manchester. Since February 2026 he has also served as President of Constructor University in Bremen. His most recent research concerns functional intelligent materials and the use of artificial intelligence in materials design.