Dr. Ioannis Konidakis is an Associate Researcher at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH). I. Konidakis was born in Crete, Greece, in 1980. He has a B.Sc. Honours degree in Chemistry from the University of Aberdeen in UK (2002). He received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the same University in 2006. After spending one year for military service (obligatory in Greece), from June 2008 to August 2011 he has been a Post-doctoral fellow at the Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute (TPCI) of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF). He joined the IESL of FORTH in September 2011. During his first IESL appointment until April 2016, he was involved in research on the field of micro-structured optical fibers. In his present IESL research appointment he is part of the Ultrafast Laser Micro- and Nano-Processing (ULMNP) Laboratory that runs under the supervision of the Director of Research Dr. E. Stratakis. He leads the subgroup of Lasers in Optoelectronics within ULMNP Laboratory that consists of post-docs, post-graduate students, and undergraduate students. His current research interests are focused on the synthesis and laser diagnostics of composite glasses and energy harvesting materials for advanced photonic, optoelectronic, thermoelectric, and photovoltaic applications. I. Konidakis is a main Researcher in the European Projects “InComEss” (H2020, LC-NMBP-32-2019, 42 months, 258K €), and “APPROACH” (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-03-01, 42 months, 833K €). In addition, his expertise on the development of advanced composite glasses lead to the successful evaluation of his Glas-A-Fuels proposal (HORIZON-EIC-2023-PATHFINDEROPEN-01-01, 42 months, 800K €). From 2011 to 2017 he was appointed a part-time Lecturer at the Department of Materials Science and Technology of the University of Crete. He is the main author and co-author of several research articles including one in Nature Nanotechnology, a review paper, and the author of a book chapter.
Education
- 2006- Ph. D., “Activation volumes and ion transport mechanisms in glasses and polymers” - Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, UK.
- 2002-Bachelor, Honours in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, UK.
Career
- 5/2016 - Today, Post-doctoral Researcher, Ultrafast Laser Micro- and Nano-Processing (ULMNP) Laboratory, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
- 9/2011 - 9/2017: Part-time Lecturer, Department of Materials Science and Technology, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
- 9/2011 - 4/2016, Post-doctoral Researcher, Photonic Materials and Devices Laboratory (PMDL), Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
- 6/2008 – 8/2011, Post-doctoral Researcher, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute (TPCI), National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), Athens, Greece.
Interests
- Development, laser-assisted synthesis and characterization of composite glasses and perovskites for advanced photonic and photovoltaic applications.
- Time resolved femtosecond laser Transient Absorption Spectroscopy in nanocatalysts, photovoltaic, thermoelectric, and optoelectronic materials.
- Non-linear optical properties of oxide glasses and crystals.
- Growth of glassy and crystalline materials inside photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), towards sensing, switching, opto-fluidic and photonic bandgap applications.
- Structure-properties correlation of inorganic oxide glasses.
- Physical chemistry of glasses and polymers - Ion transport and conductivity mechanisms.
- Investigation of ion dynamics in glasses and polymers - Impedance spectroscopy (IS) under Variable Pressure - Variable Temperature (VPVT) conditions.
- Thermal and mechanical properties of glasses and polymers (DSC, DTA, TGA).
Awards/Prizes/Distinctions
- 2023: Successful evaluation of Glas-A-Fuels (GA 101130717), HORIZON-EIC-2023-PATHFINDEROPEN-01-01 proposal.
- 2022, Co-author of paper in Nature Nanotechnology.
- 2014-IKY Fellowship of Excellence for Post-graduate Research in Greece - Siemens Program, awarded from the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY), (24 months, 39K €).
- 2002-Ph.D. Studentship, awarded from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, UK).
- 2000-COUTTS PRIZE, awarded from the Department of Chemistry for excellent performance in level 2 Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, UK.