The Italian Ministry of Universities and Research has granted Maurizio Prato the prestigious title of Professor Emeritus.

The decree, signed by Minister Anna Maria Bernini on 5th August 2025, recognises Maurizio Prato’s extraordinary academic and scientific career as a former full professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Trieste.

The Emeritus Professorship is the crowning achievement of an extremely successful career full of awards. Prof. Prato began his career in 1983 at the University of Padua and continued from 1992 at the University of Trieste, first as an associate professor and, from 2000, as a full professor, until his retirement in 2023.

A member of the Accademia dei Lincei and Ikerbasque Research Professor at CIC biomaGUNE in San Sebastián (Spain), Maurizio Prato has made fundamental and interdisciplinary contributions to the field of nanoscience, particularly in the design and synthesis of carbon nanostructures for applications in bio-nanotechnology and in the conversion and storage of solar energy. 

His research has become an important point of reference for the scientific community thanks to his work on innovative, controlled and reproducible synthetic protocols and analytical methods for the functionalisation and design of carbon nanostructures – an area of research which, in recent years, has also been extended to include graphene and carbon dots. His contributions have significantly advanced the understanding and control of the chemistry of carbon nanostructures, placing them at the centre of a number of developments in technology.

Prof. Prato has received numerous national and international awards, including the prestigious Raffaele Piria Medal awarded in 2024 by the Italian Chemistry Society, reserved for scholars who have honoured Italian organic chemistry and represent a continuation of its distinguished traditions. He has also obtained significant research funding, including two ERC Advanced Grants, in 2008 and 2020, and was appointed a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in 2010, a member of the European Academy of Sciences in 2013, the Academia Europaea in 2015, the Venetian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts in 2018, the National Academy of Inventors (USA) in 2021 and the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain in 2022. He is an honorary professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

Over the years, Prof. Prato has formed a veritable school. His research group at the University of Trieste has trained over 230 students, PhD students, post-docs and visiting professors, many of whom come from abroad. Numerous former members of his group have embarked on successful scientific careers and now hold prestigious positions in high profile universities and research centres. The success of his colleagues and students is a testament to his ability to inspire and guide young scientists towards innovative and unexplored paths.

His intense research activity has led him to publish over 800 articles in high-impact international journals, with a total of over 82,000 citations and an h-index of 132 (Scopus). He has conducted research at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA (1980), University College, Dublin, Ireland (1983), Yale University, New Haven, USA (1986-87), and the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA (1991-92). He was a visiting professor at the Chemistry Departments of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 2001, the University of Namur, Belgium, in 2010, the University of Strasbourg in 2014 and the University of Mons (Belgium) in 2018. 

Maurizio Prato has also contributed to the community at the University of Trieste by holding important institutional roles. He was Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, leading the merge with the Department of Chemistry in 2010, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy from 2002 to 2013, PhD Coordinator for the Pharmaceutical Sciences programme for two three-year periods, and Vice PhD Coordinator for the Chemistry programme for an additional two three-year periods.

A chemist and scientist of the highest calibre, Maurizio Prato is internationally recognised for his scientific contributions, but also for his humanity and kindness. The ministerial conferral of the title of Professor Emeritus is a well-deserved recognition of an extraordinary career which has contributed significantly to strengthening the prestige of the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and our university, both nationally and internationally.

Rector Donata Vianelli congratulates Prof. Prato on this important recognition, expressing gratitude for his contribution to the scientific prestige, internationalisation and, more generally, growth of the University of Trieste on behalf of the entire academic community.