Prof. Szczepan Zapotoczny obtained his PhD degree at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Faculty of Chemistry (1999) working on polymeric photosensitizers under supervision of prof. Maria Nowakowska. He then joined the group of prof. Julius Vancso at University of Twente (The Netherlands) for a postdoc stage (1999-2001) where he worked on applications of atomic force microscopy for characterization of soft matter. In 2005 he rejoined the group in University of Twente as an experienced scientist (scholarship in Marie Curie Research Training Network) initiating the works on surface-grafted polymer brushes. He was appointed adjunct (2002), assistant professor (habilitation in 2009) and full professor (2012) at the Jagiellonian University where he is now leading Nanotechnology of Polymers and Biomaterials Group. In 2021 he was also appointed a professor (part time) of Academic Centre of Materials and Nanotechnology AGH in Krakow.
His current scientific activities cover mainly: (1) nanostructured polymeric materials for photochemical and biomedical applications; (2) polymer brushes as advanced functional platforms; (3) biocompatible microparticles/capsules for controlled drug delivery; (4) superparamagnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications (5) multilayer films and capsules prepared using “layer-by-layer (LbL) approach; (6) energy/electron transfer processes in confined environments; (7) antimicrobial coatings. He co-authored more than 150 scientific papers (H=29) in peer-reviewed journals and more than 10 patents or patents applications. He has been leading several research projects on national (e.g. TEAMS, IDEAS Plus) and international level (Beethoven, Sheng) and has collaborated with scientific groups from e.g. Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, China, Spain. Prof. Zapotoczny has been supervising 9 postdocs, 28 PhD students (16 graduated), and more than 50 master students.
He was awarded, among others, with the medal „For the contribution to inventiveness” awarded by the Prime Minister of Poland (2022), individual (2016) and group (2011, 2002) awards of Minister of Science and Higher Education for scientific achievements, Medal of the National Education Commission(2013), scholarships of the Foundation for Polish Science (2002, 2003) and numerous group and individual awards of the Rector of the Jagiellonian University. He served as a Management Committee Member of COST Action (Antimicrobial coating innovations to prevent infectious diseases, AMICI) (2016-2021) and a Steering Committee Member of the European Research Network “Precision Polymeric Materials” (2011-2015). He is a member of Scientific Councils of two institutes of Polish Academy of Sciences: (1) Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials in Zabrze and (2) Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies in Łódź.