Gianfranco Pacchioni is Full Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Milano-Bicocca, where he served as Vice-Rector for Research from 2013 to 2019. He earned his degree in Chemistry from the University of Milano in 1978 and completed a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the Free University of Berlin in 1984. He has held research positions at prestigious institutions, including the IBM Almaden Research Center in California (1987) and the Technical University of Munich (1993).

Professor Pacchioni has received numerous national and international honors, including the Nasini Medal (1994), the Pisani Medal (2017), and the Cannizzaro Medal (2024) from the Italian Chemical Society. He is also a recipient of the National Prize “Federchimica” (1996), the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2005), the Blaise Pascal Medal from the European Academy of Sciences (2016), and the Chini Medal from the Division of Industrial Chemistry (2018).

He is a Fellow of several prestigious academies, including the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (2014), Academia Europaea (2012), and the European Academy of Sciences (2009).

Professor Pacchioni has held numerous leadership roles, including:

• Chair of the Department of Materials Science at the University of Milano-Bicocca (2003–2009)
• Chair of the COST Action “Inorganic Oxide Surfaces and Interfaces” (2006–2010)
• Chair of the PE5 Panel for Advanced Grants at the European Research Council (2008–2012)
• Chair of the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society (2011–2013)

He served as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (Institute of Physics, UK) from 2018 to 2024.

He has been a member of the scientific board or advisory council of several national and international institutions, including:

• Tronchetti Provera Foundation (2008–2024)
• CORIMAV Consortium for Advanced Materials (2004–2022)
• EnergyLab Foundation (2009–2016)
• Lake Como School for Advanced Studies (2015–present)
• KIC Raw Materials (2015–2018)
• National Research Council of Italy (CNR, 2016–2021)

His research focuses on the theory and electronic structure of materials for energy and environmental applications, with particular emphasis on nanomaterials for catalysis, photocatalysis, and sustainable energy production.

Professor Pacchioni is the author of over 650 scientific publications, with about 50,000 citations and an h-index of 113 (Google Scholar). He has delivered more than 600 invited lectures at international conferences and leading research institutions.

He is the author of several popular science books, some of which have been translated into English and Spanish.