START scholarship for two young AGH University researchers

START scholarship for two young AGH University researchers

Dr Oleksandr Cherniushok from the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics and Maciej Moździerz, MSc Eng., from the Faculty of Energy and Fuels have been awarded scholarships within the START programme by the Foundation for Polish Science. The funds in the amount of PLN 30,000 may be allocated for any given purpose. The adept researchers specialise in materials engineering.

Dr Oleksandr Cherniushok got his master's degree in 2018 from Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (Ukraine) and - due to a double diploma programme - also from Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa. The same year, he began his doctoral studies at the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics under the supervision of Dr Krzysztof Wojciechowski. As part of a competition, he was included in the TEAM-TECH project and began conducting research for the development of new thermoelectric materials. By participating in the project, he had an opportunity to do an internship in the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden.

As part of his doctoral thesis, he performed systematic research on the relation between structural properties and heat transfer in a new type of thermoelectric materials. The results of conducted research helped him develop and patent a new thermoelectric material which is characterised by its high efficiency in converting heat into electricity (at the level of 13%) and contains only energy-friendly and economical elements. He actively participated in the implementation of the TECHMATSTRATEG project consisting in the development of a new type of thermoelectric modules. The research results translated into two patents and 17 joint publications. Over the period of 2021-2023, he was a holder of a scholarship by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange within the STER programme for the best foreign doctoral students of the AGH University Doctoral School.

In 2023, he obtained the scholarship of the Minister of Science and Education for outstanding young researchers. At present, he is occupied with his own research project within the PRELUDIUM competition financed by the National Science Centre.

Maciej Moździerz, MSc Eng., studied Materials Science (1st and 2nd cycle) at the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics. He was awarded a scholarship by the Minister of Science and Higher Education. He graduated with honours in 2020. His master's thesis on the "Synthesis and properties of high-entropy oxides from Co-Cr-Fe-Mg-Mn-Ni-O and Co-Cr-Fe-Mg-Mn-Zn-O systems" got him the AGH University InnoDiament award and came third in the AGH University competition Diamenty.

In 2020, he began education in the AGH University Doctoral School. At the Faculty of Energy and Fuels, under the supervision of Professor Konrad Świerczek and an auxiliary supervisor Dr Juliusz Dąbrowa, he has been carrying out research in materials engineering (within the PRELUDIUM Bis project of the Polish National Science Centre) on "High-entropy oxides as candidate anode materials for Li-ion cells." He participated in a 5-month-long internship at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was working on a new generation of cathode materials for Li-ion cells which allow for the departure from batteries containing cobalt and nickel problematic for the environment. He won a number of awards and received multiple honours, including the AGH University IDUB scholarship for the best doctoral students, the Maspex Foundation scholarship and the START scholarship from the Foundation for Polish Science.

In April this year, he graduated from the AGH University Doctoral School. His doctoral thesis is currently being reviewed, and the research conducted by him has lead to the development of guidelines for the design of a new group of anode materials for high energy density Li-ion cells.

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The START programme by the Foundation for Polish Science is the oldest such scholarship programme for the best young scientists representing all fields of science in Poland. Its aim is to support gifted young scholars and encourage them to grow even further in science.

START recipients are selected through a multi-stage competition that assesses the quality of their scientific output. The total amount allocated by the FNP for scholarships in the 32nd competition in the START programme is PLN 3,056,000. The prestigious scholarships will go to one hundred prominent young researchers, winners selected from a group of 641 candidates.

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