Valérie Sciannamea was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1979. She studied chemistry at the University of Liège, where she started undergraduate research in the Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM) under the supervision of Professor R. Jérôme. The topic of the project was on-situ nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (in-situ NMP) using nitrones as precursors of nitroxides. She extended this research program in her Ph.D. thesis, which she defended with the highest mark in 2006. She is now working with the “Belgian Science Policy” in Brussels, Belgium.
Robert Jérôme studied chemistry at the University of Liège, Belgium, where he obtained his graduate degree (“licence”) in 1964 and Ph.D. degree (1970) in Physical Chemistry. His doctoral thesis focused on the preparation and electrochemical properties of ion-exchange membranes under the supervision of the late Professor Victor Desreux. Then he joined Professor Philippe Teyssié and collaborated with him to develop the laboratory of “Macromolecular Chemistry and Organic Catalysis”. He was director of the laboratory of “Macromolecular Chemistry and Organic Materials” (1989−1994) and of the “Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules” (CERM) (1994−2006) (approximately 40 persons). He was also president of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Liège. Throughout his scientific career, he has focused his attention on macromolecular engineering based on living anionic polymerization, controlled radical polymerization, and controlled ring-opening polymerization. This research effort is oriented toward the development of novel or at least improved multiphase polymeric materials, including block and graft copolymers and their supramolecular assembly, polymer blends, filled polymers with a special emphasis on nanocomposites, porous materials, and biomaterials. Nowadays he is paying attention to macromolecular chemistry without using organic solvents, thus in the melt or with the assistance of supercritical fluids. He is co-author of several hundreds of scientific papers and several tens of patents. He is a member of the editorial board of several international scientific journals. He was holder of a “Chaire Francqui” in Belgium in 2006.
Christophe Detrembleur was an undergraduate student at the University of Liège (Belgium), where he conducted a research project on structure/polarizability relationships in a novel type of push−pull conjugated system. In 1996, he started his Ph.D. thesis under the supervision of Professor R. Jérôme at the Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM), University of Liège, Belgium. His major research topic was the search for new regulators for the controlled radical polymerization of (meth)acrylic monomers. He was an invited researcher at IBM, Almaden Research Center, CA, for 3 months in 1998. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2001. Then, he joined the Research Center of Bayer AG in Leverkusen (Germany), where he worked on materials synthesis, polymer processing, and development of high-performance UV coatings. In October 2003, he was awarded a permanent Research Associate position at CERM under the auspices of the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS). His main research projects are in the field of new controlled radical polymerization techniques, preparation of new polymeric materials by these techniques, and contribution of macromolecular engineering to nanotechnology.