A tribute for two researchers

Empa researchers Bernd Nowack and Maksym Kovalenko are among the most cited in the world. According to this year's list of "Highly Cited Researchers", the publications of the two Empa researchers in their respective research fields are among the top percentiles of all papers most frequently cited worldwide.
Bernd Nowack is one of the most cited researchers worldwide. Picture: Empa

"Clarivate Analytics" analyzes annually the citations of natural and social science publications run in professional journals between 2008 and 2018. The most frequently cited works are those that belong to the one percent most cited for a given field of research and year of publication. This year's "Highly Cited Researchers" list includes around 6,200 researchers from 21 research fields.

Maksym Kovalenko heads the research group for functional inorganic materials, which is located both in Empa's Thin Films and Photovoltaics laboratory and at ETH Zurich. He is researching new semiconductor materials for optoelectronics and new concepts for high-performance batteries. Kovalenko was awarded the Rössler Prize for his work on bright nanoparticles this year and was already on the list of "Highly Cited Researchers" in 2018.

Environmental chemist Bernd Nowack is group leader in Empa's Technology and Society Department and Professor of Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich. Among other things, he investigates the release and environmental aspects of nanoparticles and microplastics. In spring 2017, Empa's Board of Directors promoted him to “Distinguished Senior Researcher”, a title that only four scientist at Empa have achieved so far; Nowack's name figures on the prestigious list of “Highly Cited Researchers” for the sixth time in a row now.