Information
Membership Number: FCA3534
Membership Type: Fellowship
Division: Engineering and Applied Sciences
Corresponding Email: ******ghineanu@cnstm.utm.md; *****yanu@gmail.com
Homepage(s): https://ncmst.utm.md/sites/default/files/2026-05/CV_Tiginyanu_en_05.2026.pdf
Present and Previous Positions
Vice-President, Romanian Academic Council (since 26 March 2026).
President, Academy of Sciences of Moldova (since 9 April 2019; re-elected 17 November 2023).
First Vice-President, Academy of Sciences of Moldova (2012–2019).
Vice-President, Academy of Sciences of Moldova (2004–2012).
Founder and Director, National Center for Materials Study and Testing, Moldova (since 2001).
Vice-Rector, Technical University of Moldova (1998–2004).
Visiting Professor, EECS Department, University of Michigan, USA (2000–2001).
Visiting Professor, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany (1995–1996; 1998–1999).
Senior and Leading Research Scientist; Head of the Laboratory, Institute of Applied Physics, Academy of Sciences of Moldova (1984–1998).
Fields of Scholarship and Research Interests
Physics of materials; nanotechnology; materials science; semiconductor physics; photonic and optoelectronic materials; three-dimensional nanoarchitectures; porous materials; metamaterials; nanocomposites for electronic, photonic, and nonlinear optical applications
Professor Ion Tiginyanu is a Moldovan physicist, materials scientist, and nanotechnology researcher whose work has been closely associated with the development of modern nanoscience and advanced materials research in Moldova. His scholarship ranges across semiconductor materials, nanostructured thin membranes, three-dimensional nanoarchitectures, aero-materials, photonic crystals, and related functional materials for optoelectronic, photonic, sensing, photovoltaic, and biomedical applications.
His scientific work has developed from early research on ternary and multinary semiconductor compounds into a broader and highly original program in nanotechnologies and nanomaterials, including porous III–V and II–VI compounds, ultra-thin membranes, semiconductor–metal ordered networks, and multifunctional nanoarchitectures. A particularly important dimension of his work has been the micro- and nanostructuring of semiconductor materials for waveguides, splitters, focusing elements, sensors, random lasers, and other advanced functional structures.
He has also made notable contributions to technological innovation through developments such as Surface Charge Lithography, Hopping Electrodeposition, and Aerogalnite, the first artificial material with dual hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. Across these areas, his career has consistently brought together fundamental materials research, technological invention, institution-building, and international scientific cooperation.
Honors, Awards and Other Membership
Vice-President, Romanian Academic Council (since 2026).
Academician, Academy of Sciences of Moldova (since 2012).
Fellow, International Science Council (2022).
Member, European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2022).
Member, Academia Europaea (2021).
Fellow, SPIE — the International Society for Optics and Photonics (2018).
Senior Member, Optica (formerly Optical Society of America) (2018).
Honorary Member, Romanian Academy (2015).
Honorary Member, Academy of Technical Sciences of Romania (2024).
Honorary Member, Academy of Legal Sciences of Romania (2025).
Honorary Member, Academy of Scientists of Romania (2013).
Doctor Honoris Causa, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași, Romania (2019).
Doctor Honoris Causa, State University of Balti, Republic of Moldova (2014).
Honorary Doctor, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (2015).
Honorary Professor, Shizuoka University, Japan (2017).
Outstanding Inventor Award, World Intellectual Property Organization (2011).
Inventor of the Year Award, TeleRadio-Moldova Company (2016).
Champions of Change Award (2019), Laboratory of Initiatives for Development (LID-Moldova).
National Prize in Science and Technology, Republic of Moldova (2004).
Scientist of the Year and Honoured Person of the Republic of Moldova (2005).
Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, Bonn, Germany (1995).
Award of the Academies of Sciences of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine for scientific achievements (2014).
Award for Emeritus Scientist in Physical Chemistry @ Materials Science, 2nd Central and Eastern European Conference on Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, Kaunas (2024).
Selected Publications
Tiginyanu, Ion, Tudor Braniste, Daria Smazna, Mao Deng, Fabian Schütt, Arnim Schuchardt, Marion A. Stevens-Kalceff, Simion Raevschi, Lorenz Kienle, Nicola Pugno, Yogendra K. Mishra, and Rainer Adelung. “Self-organized and self-propelled aero-GaN with dual hydrophilic-hydrophobic behavior.” Nano Energy 56 (2019): 759–769.
Braniste, Tudor, Mircea Dragoman, Sergey Zhukov, Martino Aldrigo, Vladimir Ciobanu, Sergiu Iordanescu, Liudmila Alyabyeva, Francesco Fumagalli, Giacomo Ceccone, Fabian Schütt, Rainer Adelung, Pascal Colpo, Boris Gorshunov, and Ion Tiginyanu. “Aero-Ga2O3 nanomaterial electromagnetically transparent from microwaves to terahertz for the internet of things applications.” Nanomaterials 10 (2020): 1047.
Wolff, Niklas, Vladimir Ciobanu, Mihail Enachi, Marius Kamp, Tudor Braniste, Viola Duppel, Sindu Shree, Simion Raevschi, Mariana Medina-Sánchez, Rainer Adelung, Oliver G. Schmidt, Lorenz Kienle, and Ion Tiginyanu. “Advanced hybride GaN/ZnO nano-architectured hollow microtubes for fluorescent microengines driven by UV-light.” Small 16 (2020): 1905141.
Plesco, Irina, Julian Strobel, Fabian Schütt, Cameliu Himcinschi, Nabiha Ben Sedrine, Teresa Monteiro, Maria Rosário Correia, Leonid Gorceac, Boris Cinic, Veaceslav Ursaki, Janik Marx, Bodo Fiedler, Yogendra K. Mishra, Lorenz Kienle, Rainer Adelung, and Ion Tiginyanu. “Hierarchical Aerographite 3D flexible networks hybridized by InP micro/nanostructures for multifunctional applications.” Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 13880.
Enachi, Mihail, Maria Guix, Vitalie Postolache, Vladimir Ciobanu, Vladimir M. Fomin, Oliver G. Schmidt, and Ion Tiginyanu. “Light-induced motion of microengines based on microarrays of TiO2 nanotubes.” Small 12, no. 39 (2016): 5497–5505.
Tiginyanu, Ion, Lidia Ghimpu, Vitalie Postolache, Matthias Mecklenburg, Marion A. Stevens-Kalceff, Veaceslav Ursaki, Nader Payami, Robert Feidenhansl, Karl Schulte, Rainer Adelung, and Yogendra K. Mishra. “Strong light scattering and broadband (UV to IR) photoabsorption in stretchable 3D hybrid architectures based on Aerographite decorated by ZnO nanocrystallites.” Scientific Reports 6 (2016): 32913.
Other Information
Professor Tiginyanu’s scientific work has resulted in more than 750 publications, including more than 450 articles in international journals, as well as 54 technological patents. His research has attracted more than 9,200 citations in Scopus and more than 13,400 citations in Google Scholar, with an h-index of 49 in Scopus and 59 in Google Scholar. He has also delivered over 150 scientific reports and lectures at universities and research centers across Europe, North America, and Asia. His scientific path has consistently joined fundamental research with technological innovation. Among the developments most closely associated with his work are Surface Charge Lithography, recognized with an Award of Excellence at INPEX 2005 in Pittsburgh, Hopping Electrodeposition, and Aerogalnite, which was highlighted by Physics World as the first artificial material combining hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties.
He has also played a major role in academic leadership and international scientific cooperation. Alongside his long service at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and the Technical University of Moldova, he has led or participated in major international projects supported by European, American, German, Swiss, NATO, FP7, and Horizon 2020 frameworks, especially in nanostructured semiconductors, photonic materials, random lasers, THz sources, nano-bio-sensors, and nanomaterials for biomedical applications.
Acceptance Letter CORE Academy.pdf
CV_Tiginyanu_En_04.2026.docx
Biographical Statement-Tiginyanu.docx
