Gabriele Centi is a Full Professor of Industrial Chemistry at the University of Messina, Italy, and President of the European Research Institute of Catalysis (ERIC). The research interests encompass the fields of applied heterogeneous catalysis, sustainable energy and chemical processes, hydrogen production and use, biomass conversion, and environmental protection. Recent activities focus on the development of catalytic technologies for solar fuels, carbon circularity, and the electrification of chemical production.
He was the coordinator of the EU Network of Excellence IDECAT and is the past President of IACS (International Association of Catalysis Societies). Previously, he served as the President of EFCATS (European Federation of Catalysis Societies). He has served as the coordinator or PI in over 30 EU projects. He recently initiated and coordinated an ERC Synergy project on plasma catalysis. He is also a member of the board of SUNERGY, the European initiative on solar fuels, and SUNER-C, the EU coordination and support actions to prepare a partnership on substituting fossil fuels.
He has received numerous awards, including i) the International Fellowship Initiative of the President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, PIFI, as a Distinguished Scientist, ii) the Humboldt Research Award, iii) the Chini Memorial Lecture and the Gold Medal S. Cannizzaro of the Italian Chemical Society and iv) the EFCATS & APCATS Award M. Che. He is involved in various publishing activities. He chaired the editorial board of ChemSusChem until 2019 and is co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Energy Chemistry, which has been elevated to a high-IF journal, and the Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis series of books, one of the oldest and best-known in catalysis. He has been chairperson of numerous international conferences, including Europacat 2017 in Florence and the 16th International Zeolite Conference, jointly with the 7th International Mesostructured Materials Symposium (Sorrento, Italy, 2010). He has been extensively plenary and keynote lectures worldwide.
He is the author of over 650 scientific publications (Iris Cineca) and 15 books, and he serves as the editor of more than 20 special issues of internationally recognised journals. The current h-index is 100, with ~42,000 citations and more than 450 articles that have received more than 10 citations (Google Scholar, July 2024). In the 2024 ranking by Stanford University of the top 2% of worldwide scientists, he was among the top 5,000 researchers worldwide in all scientific areas and among the first in Sicily.