professor in the discipline of chemical engineering
priority research area: MoleculeTech
Scientific achievements
Professor Marta Gmurek from the Faculty of Chemistry at Lodz University of Technology is a specialist in chemical engineering and advanced technologies for water and wastewater treatment. Her scientific output includes 75 publications listed in the JCR. She conducted research and completed fellowships at renowned international institutions, including Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Coimbra.
Research profile and research directions
Her scientific interests focus on advanced oxidation processes, photocatalysis, ozonation, electro-ozonation, and photosensitized oxidation. Professor Gmurek develops environmentally friendly methods and materials for the removal of organic micropollutants, xenobiotics, pathogens, and antibiotic resistance genes from water and wastewater. Among her most significant achievements is the development of multifunctional photocatalytic systems powered by solar energy, which can be used both for the elimination of hazardous contaminants from aquatic environments and for the production of green hydrogen from waste-derived substrates such as glycerol. Her research supports the circular economy and the development of technologies aimed at reducing water and energy consumption in industry.
Professor Gmurek led the SONATA project funded by the National Science Centre, focused on the synergy between ozone and novel catalysts in hybrid electrochemical ozonation of micropollutants, as well as a project carried out under the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellowship at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. She has also participated in projects funded by the National Centre for Research and Development, the Polish-Norwegian Research Programme, and H2020, related to textile wastewater recycling and water recovery in industrial processes. She is currently leading a SONATA BIS project focused on investigating non-radical reaction pathways in the photocatalytic ozonation process.
Honours and recognition from the scientific community
She has been repeatedly recognized for her scientific achievements. She is a laureate of the Award of Division IV of Engineering Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences for outstanding published scientific works by researchers under the age of 40, the Scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for outstanding young scientists, and the START scholarship of the Foundation for Polish Science, including START with distinction. She also participated in the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program “Hidden No More: Empowering Women Leaders in STEM”.
Professor Gmurek is actively involved in the scientific community. She is a member of the Young Academy of Europe, was a member of the Young Scientists Academy of the Polish Academy of Sciences and served as its Vice-Chair. She is also a member of the Committee of Chemical and Process Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Societas Humboldtiana Polonorum. She cooperates with industrial and international partners in the fields of wastewater treatment technologies, catalyst design, and scaling up plasma.