Gheorghe Duca is the author of 1760 edited works, including 418 scientific papers, 136 editorial works, 165 patents, 83 monographs and textbooks, 513 articles on science popularization and more than 445 conference presentations and materials, including the first textbook "Ecological Chemistry," published in three editions and translated into three languages: Romanian , Russian, English. Prof. Gh. Duca developed and taught courses on Physical chemistry, Chemical technology, Ecological chemistry, Processes and equipment, Physico-chemical research methods, Chemical risk assessment, Kinetics and thermodynamics of ecological systems. He held the lectures at the State University of Moldova, State University "Dmitrie Cantemir", Universities of Rome, Turin (Italy), Texas, California (USA), Zurich (Switzerland), Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Czechia), Iasi, Timisoara, Cluj, Bucharest (Romania). Under his supervision 30 PhD were granted, including thesis in cooperation with INSA, Lyon, France (1998) and 5 Habilitate Doctors. He founded Department of Industrial and Ecological Chemistry, SUM (1991), Research Center of Ecological and Applied Chemistry, SUM (1992), Faculty of Ecology, International University of Moldova (1992), Research Center of Physical and Inorganically Chemistry (2006), High School for gifted children of the ASM (2007), University of the Academy of Sciences (2007), Nongovernmental organization for environmental protection "Terra Nostra" (1992), Moldovan Research and Development iAssociation, MRDA (2000), and the journals "Environment" (2002), "Chemistry Journal of Moldova" (2005), Journal of Science, Innovation, Culture and Art "Akademos" (2005). Acad. Gh. Duca is a member of Board of Directors of BSCSF-International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (2010), JRC-European Union Joint Research Center (2013), ALLEA-All European Academy (2018) and was delegated by the Government of Moldova to sign the Memorandum of Understanding for participation of the Republic of Moldova in the FP7, EU Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007-2013), Association Agreement for participation of the Republic of Moldova in the H2020, EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) and supervise the cooperation of the Republic of Moldova with the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation, CRDF (2000-2010). Besides, he is Honorary and Full Member of the Balkan Academy of Science, Bulgarian Academy of Science and Art (2018), Culture New and Sustainable Development, Bulgaria (2004), Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences "Gheorghe Ionescu-Siseşti" Romania (2006), Academy of Sciences and Arts of Montenegro (2006), Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy (2007), National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2009), Russian Academy of Sciences (2012), Research Network for Advance Studies of River System DANUBIUS (2013), APOLLONIA University, Iasi, Romania (2018), BABES-BOLYAI University, Cluj-Napoca University, Craiova University and Oradea University, Romania (2018). He was appreciated with a lots of awards and distinctions such as: Knight of the Order for Inventions of the Kingdom of Belgium (2003), the Cross of Commander of the Order of Honour, Poland (2004), the Gold Medal for Eminent Services to the cause of progress, Brussels (2005), Order "Cultural Merit" of Romania (2006), Gold Medal "N. S. Kurnakov ", Russian Federation (2007), International Socrates Award, Oxford, UK (2009), Silver Medal of the Association of Innovators of China (2010), Gold Medal "EUROINVENT", Brussels (2011), Order of the Republic of Moldova (2011), Award for outstanding achievements in the field of European Integration of the Economic Cooperation Organization of the Black Sea (2013), Medal of the National Commission of the Republic of Moldova for UNESCO (2014),the Order "The crown of Romania" with the rank of Commander (2015), Award of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (2016), Runners up Prize for Scientific Papers, Japan ICMSEM-2017, European Innovation Award with Diploma of Commander, European Commission, Belgium (2018), etc. Acad. Gh. Duca is not only a scientist, professor and prominent specialist in its field, but also a great organizer of research, skillful leader of the most important and prestigious institution of Moldova.
Ashok Vaseashta currently serves as the Chief Research Officer, Executive Director of Research and Chair of Institution Review Board and Office of Research Integrity at NJCU. Concurrently, he serves as Chaired Professor of Nanotechnology at the Academy of Sciences, Academician at Euro-Mediterranean Academy of Arts and Sciences and Senior Strategic Research Advisor for government and non-government organizations.. He is a scholar and thought leader who provides strategic leadership to promote and advance research initiatives and priorities in support of international defense, safety and security. Prior to joining NJCU, he served as Vice Provost for Research at the Molecular Science Research Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He also served as the Director of Research at the Institute for Advanced Sciences Convergence (IASC) and International Clean Water Institute (ICWI) for Norwich University’s Applied Research Institutes and currently serves as strategic advisor. Prior to his appointment at NUARI, he served as a Professor of Physics and Physical Sciences and Director of Research at the Nanomaterials Processing and Characterization Laboratories, Graduate Program in Physical Sciences at Marshall University. Concurrently, he held Visiting Professorship at the 3 Nano-SAE Research Centre, University of Bucharest, Romania and visiting scientist at the Helen and Martin Kimmel Center of Nanoscale Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. In 2007-08, he was detailed as a William C. Foster fellow to the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the US Department of State working with the Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism and Foreign Consequence Management program. He also served (2009-13) as a Franklin Fellow and strategic S&T advisor in the office of Verification and Transparency Technologies/Arms Verification and Control at the U.S. Department of State. His research interests span nanotechnology, environmental/ecological science and safety and security. Much of his work in nanotechnology has been on improving the understanding, design, and performance of nanofibers and sensors/detectors, mainly for applications such as wearable electronics, target drug delivery, detection of biomarkers and toxicity of nano and xenobiotic materials. In the security arena, he has worked on counterterrorism, countering unconventional warfare and hybrid threats, critical-Infrastructure protection, biosecurity, dual-use research concerns, and mitigating hybrid threats including fake-news. In addition, he has made numerous contributions in environmental/ecological science including directing research for International Clean Water Institute, pollution monitoring, contamination detection and remediation, and sustainability through green nanotechnology. He has authored over 250 research publications, edited/authored seven books on nanotechnology, and presented many keynote and invited lectures worldwide. Two books and a special edition of an international journal are currently under contract. He serves on the editorial board of Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, Digest Journal of Nano-bio structures, International Journal of Green Nanotechnology. He received PhD from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA in 1990 followed by Kobe post-doctoral fellowship. Since 2003. he served as the Director of several NATO Advanced Study Institutes (ASI)/Advanced Research workshops (ARW) supported by Emerging Security Challenges Division of the Science for Peace and Security. In 2008, he served as co-chair of an International Symposium on Nanotechnology and Environmental Pollution Prevention (ISNEPP). In 2009, he led the U.S. position on Nanotechnology in High Technology Coordination Group (HTCG) to joint US and India delegation. In addition, he served as a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST, and ANSI delegation to the U.K. representing the U.S. position on Standards in Nanotechnologies in the ISO/TAG to TC-229. He is a member of NATO-SET-040, an exploratory team panel investigating security and surveillance applications of nanotechnology. He serves as an expert counsel to the UNESCO, ObservatoryNANO, COSENT – south-east consortium on Nanotechnologies on NANO-Science and Technologies, and S&T advisor to NATO. He is an active member of several national and international professional organizations. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society (FAPS), Institute of Nanotechnology (FIoN), and the New York Academy of Sciences (FNYAS). He was awarded a Gold medal by the State Engineering University of Armenia for his contribution to Nanotechnology. In addition, he has earned several other fellowships and awards for his meritorious service including 2004/2005 Distinguished Artist and Scholar award.