Alexei A. Kornyshev

Alexei Kornyshev is a scientist specializing in theoretical condensed matter chemical physics and its applications to electrochemistry, biophysics, smart materials, optical metamaterials, nanoscience, energy generation and storage. Theoretical physicist by training, he performs his research in close relation with experiments and development of applications; over the years he has led many joint theoretical-experimental projects. His style of work as a theorist is developing where possible analytical theory, supplied where needed with computer simulations, and then testing and realizing the theory predictions, in the laboratories of experimental partners, updating theoretical models in feedback with experimental findings. 
The particular areas of his studies were electron and proton transfer reactions and processes, hydration, metal/electrolyte and liquid-liquid interfaces, transport phenomena in solid electrolytes and polymer electrolyte membranes, theory of modern fuel cells and supercapacitors, and biomolecular assembly. In the last 20 years he focused on DNA biophysics, electro tunable photonics and nanophotonics modified optical devices, ionic liquids and solvent-in-salts systems, molecular electronics and machines, electrochemical micromechanics (electric actuators and reverse actuators) and nanotribology. 
== Career and research ==
=== Career steps ===
(1970-1991) Russia. His undergraduate and masters education was at the Faculty of Theoretical & Experimental Physics of the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute Moscow Engineering Physics Institute where he graduated with Master’s degree in Theoretical Nuclear Physics (1970). In 1974, he earned his PhD in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics under the guidance of Prof. R.R. Dogonadze Revaz Dogonadze, at the Institute of Electrochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (directed then by Prof. A.N. Frumkin Alexander Frumkin. He continued there as a researcher at the Theory Department headed by Professor V.G. Levich Veniamin Levich. After defense in 1986 of his DSc dissertation (“Electrostatics of Media with Spatial Dispersion”) and several promotions, Alexei continued in the same Institute as a Leading Researcher. He also researched abroad – at the Heyrovsky Institute in Prague https://www.jh-inst.cas.cz, University of Duesseldorf University of Dusseldorf, CNRS Lab of Interfacial Electrochemistry in Paris Cnrs, as a Visiting Professor at Purdue University Purdue University, IN, USA, and a Research Leader at the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste ICTP. Towards the end of his working period in USSR, he also taught at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
(1991-2002) Germany. In 1991 he received Humboldt Prize Humboldt Prize for his works in electrochemistry and physical chemistry, and then spent a year at TU Munich Technical University of Munich hosted at the laboratory of Medical Biophysics. He was subsequently invited to join Research Centre Jülich (FZJ) Forschungszentrum Jülich where he created and led a Theory Group at the new Institute for Energy Process Engineering. In 1997, Alexei was promoted to Head of the Section of Theoretical Physical Chemistry at the Institute for Materials and Processes in Energy systems, later also jointly appointed by the FZJ and the University of Dusseldorf as Professor of Theoretical Physics. In the following years he was moreover a Scientist-in-Residence at the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara (CA; USA) Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Denmark Technical University of Denmark, Visiting Researcher at the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD,USA) nih. 
(2002-…) United Kingdom. In 2002 Alexei took a Chair of Chemical Physics at the Chemistry Department of the Imperial College London; for the first 5 years supported by an inaugural Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/wolfson-research-merit/. He was the only foreign recipient of that award at the launch time. Since then, he was leading Theoretical Chemical Physics group with an international appeal and guest researchers from the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Israel, India, China, Russia, and Ukraine. In turn, Alexei continued his regular research visits to National Institute of Health (Bethesda), participated in further NSF programs at the Kavli Institute at University of California at Santa Barbara Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, worked on leave at Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (Leipzig), University of Iowa, Doshisha University, University of Duesseldorf, etc. He also regularly visited HUST– Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan, China) Huazhong University of Science and Technology as an Advisory Professor; in 2019 HUST bestowed him the status of a Honorary Professorship https://english.hust.edu.cn/info/1102/1840.htm. He was also a Principal Investigator of an Imperial-MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology collaboration project.
Over the years of his work in Germany and the UK he has led/participated in a number of joint international projects with leading scientists of USA, Canada, Germany, France, Poland, Israel, China, Russia, Estonia, and Ukraine. 
Other Professional Activities
Alexei organized over 25 International meetings; among them was a series of conferences that he directed at the ICTP Trieste: “Condensed Matter, Atomic & Molecular Aspects of Electrochemistry” (1990) https://indico.ictp.it/event/a02800/, “Electron and Ion Transfer in Condensed Media” (1996) https://indico.ictp.it/event/a03107/, “Interaction and Assembly of Biomolecules” (2001), “From Physical Understanding to New Architectures of Fuel Cells” (2007) https://indico.ictp.it/event/a06196/material/0/0.pdf, “From DNA-Inspired Physics to Physics-Inspired Biology” (2009) https://indico.ictp.it/event/a08164/material/2/0.pdf: More recently he also chaired the Royal Society of Chemistry Faraday Discussion on “Chemical Physics of Electroactive Materials” (2017) https://www.rsc.org/events/detail/20368/chemical-physics-of-electroactive-materials-faraday-discussion.
He served as a member of “Liquids, Soft Matter & Biophysics” Board of the IOP Journal of Physics Condensed Matter (JPCM), Current Opinion in Electrochemistry (Elsevier), a Member of Advisory Board ChemElectroChem (Wiley), Head of Chemical Physics Panel of Scientific Reports (Nature PG). He is presently a member of the JPCM’s section “Physics of Chemical Processes”, is on Editorial Board of the, Russian J. of Physical Chemistry A (Springer), and is on Advisory Board of Chemical Physics Letters (Elsevier). He was an Editor of 5 multi-author books and collective monographs, and a number of special, topical journal issues. 
In 1995-1998 he co-chaired the Interfacial Electrochemistry Division of the International Society of Electrochemistry, and in 1999-2002 served as an Associate Member of Electrochemistry Commission of the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry. 
=== Publications ===
Alexei published >300 original articles in refereed journals, >35 monographic/review articles, and 3 Books. The latter two were an ambitious educational project, the two volume textbook: A.A. Kornyshev and D.O’Lee, “How to Derive a Formula” (World Scientific, Singapore) https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/197239/new-book-teach-anyone-derive-formula/
Vol. 1 Basic Analytical Skills and Methods for Physical Scientists (2020)
Vol. 2 Further Analytical Skills and Methods for Physical Scientists (2023) https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/q0377
=== Fellowships ===
2011 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
2004 Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK)
2002 Fellow of the IUPAC
=== Awards and honors ===
2023 Honorary DSc of Tartu University;
2022 Electrochimica Acta Gold Medal of the International Society for Electrochemistry. https://www.ise-online.org/awards/gol.php ; https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/240351/alexei-kornyshev-wins-international-society-electrochemistry;
2017 Inaugural winner of the first Lynden-Bell Award “for distinguished career in the field of the chemical physics of ionic systems”. http://ilmat.agence-vert.com/lynden-bell-award ;
2010 Interdisciplinary Prize, Medal, and Lectureship, a major RSC award for "his many outstanding contributions at the interfaces of chemistry with both physics and with biology" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdisciplinary Prizes (RSC) ;
2008 Foreign Member of Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters ;
2007 Geoffrey Barker Electrochemistry Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry 
– the main electrochemistry award in the UK –“for his pioneering works and outstanding achievements in the application of modern theory of condensed matter to electro-chemical systems” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey Barker Medal ;
2006 Fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry https://www.ise-online.org/fellows.php ;
2003 Christian-Friedrich Schoenbein Silver Medal (Contribution to Science) 
“for outstanding contribution to the understanding of the fundamentals of fuel cells” ;
2001 Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award;
1991 Humboldt Prize (Senior Humboldt Award) in Physical Chemistry/Electrochemistry. 
Category:Russian people
Category:Russian scientists