Cristian Pezzato was born in Rovereto, a small town in Northern Italy. He obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 2015 at the University of Padova, Italy, working on nanoparticles-based systems for recognition and catalysis with Prof. Leonard J. Prins. Afterward, he spent three years (2015 – 2018) in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Prof. Sir J. Fraser Stoddart at Northwestern University, United States, focusing on the design and synthesis of mechanically interlocked molecules, molecular machines, and redox systems for battery technology. From 2019 to 2022, he was a junior group leader at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, where he started his independent career thanks to a Swiss National Science Foundation “Ambizione” Grant. There, he developed tools for probing the thermodynamics and kinetics of merocyanine photoacids, which are compounds able to reversibly dissociate protons following visible light absorption. In 2022, he joined the Laboratory for Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry (MOC) as Tenure-Track Assistant Professor sponsored by the Italian Rita Levi Montalcini Program for young researchers. His current research encompasses the synthesis and physicochemical characterization of reversible photoacids and photobases, and the development of devices for solar energy conversion and storage.
Appointments
08/2022 - present Tenure-Track Assistant Professor (RTDb)
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
01/2019 - 12/2022 SNSF Junior Group Leader
Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland
09/2015 - 09/2018 Postdoctoral Fellow (with Nobel Laureate J. F. Stoddart)
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, United States
03-08/2015 Postdoctoral Fellow (with Leonard J. Prins)
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
Education
03/2015 PhD, Chemistry (with L. J. Prins)
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
07/2011 MSc, Chemistry (110/110 cum laude)
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
07/2009 BSc, Chemistry (110/110)
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
Awards and Recognition
2025 Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (Thieme Chemistry)
2022 Young Organic Researcher to Watch (#NextGenOrgChem)
2020 Giacomo Ciamician Medal (Italian Chemical Society)
2018 Oustanding Research Award (International Institute for Nanotechnology)
2015 Primo Levi Prize (Italian Chemical Society)