Vadim Kessler

Vadim G. Kessler graduated with honours from the Moscow State University (MSU) in 1987 and obtained there his Ph.D. degree in inorganic chemistry in 1990. He was appointed an Assistant Professor at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry MSU. He has made his postdoc on a half-time basis as an Associate Researcher at the X-ray Crystallography Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1990-1991.

He has then spent his first sabbatical year (1992/93) as an associate Researcher of CNRS at the University of Nice with Prof. L.G.Hubert-Pfalzgraf and became an Associate Professor at MSU in 1995. The second sabbatical year, 1995/96, he worked as visiting scientist at the University of Stockholm and moved finally to Sweden appointed an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry SLU in Uppsala in 1997.

He received there his Habilitation Degree in 2000 and was promoted to Full Professor at the same University in 2004. He received in 2003 the International Donald Ulrich Award “For Excellence in Sol-Gel Science” and became a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology in 2006

Major focus in my research lies in the development of understanding of molecular mechanisms in soft chemistry approaches to nanomaterials and their surface reactivity. The applications of nanoparticles and nanostructures are sought in the domains of biomedicine and agriculture.

Vadim's teaching interests are rather broad – he burns for explaining the physical chemical principles of the world around us at all levels – from High School to Advanced Professional level.

4.2 Teaching experience

Teaching at the undergraduate level

I have been involved in the teaching process continuously since September 1989, when I received my first position at the University as Junior Research Associate followed then by different positions with teaching as the major responsibility (Assistant Professor, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, Full Professor) ever since then. 

I have been an associate teacher at the 2-term 1st year course of General and Inorganic Chemistry during the scholar years 89/90, 90/91, 93/94, 94/95, 96/97. This work included 72 h of lessons in problem-solving and 360 h of practical exercises. Except for the very first time, this course has been given by me at the High School of Materials Chemistry of the Moscow State University (HSMS, MSU) and incorporated a specially developed (by Dr.A.I.Zhirov, Dr.V.A.Kotov and me) General Chemistry part, based on the problem-based teaching concept. We had taken the course developed by Prof. Snyder at the State University of New York as the starting point: each pair of students received an oxide material and was developing its preparation in 10 weeks using the literature data and making acquaintance with the major blocks in the General Chemistry studies: Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Phase equilibria, Acid-base equilibria, Solubility, Electrochemistry, Chemical Kinetics (Course material, in Russian, is available on request).

Having moved to the Department of Chemistry, SLU, I have been responsible for the General Chemistry courses with the accent on the principles of the chemical analysis (1 year for the programs of Biotechnology and Environment Protection), including 40 h of lectures and 30 h of problem-solving (7,5 hp 1997-2007, 5 hp from 2008). I have made this course over 20 times (it was given twice a year). I have even been twice, in 1999 and 2000, involved into the practical exercises for such course (72 h each time). I have developed a new version of this course with the main accent on thermodynamics and energetics of nuclear and chemical reactions. This course, including also 40 h of lectures and 30 h of problem-solving exercises, I have made in the Fall terms of 2000 and 2001 for the 1st year students of the Energy Systems program of the Uppsala Technical High School (UU program shared with SLU). Since 2008 this course is 10 hp. Please, see the Course Plan, Schedule, Examples of the Examination and students evaluations (kursutvärderingar) enclosed. I have prepared both practical and theoretical treatizes (kompendier) for this course.

I was involved in the development of the Basic Chemistry Course 22.5 hp offered by our Department to all Agronomy programs since 2016 and was main responsible for its General Chemistry part (7.5 hp) in 2016 and co-responsible in 2017.

I have been involved in the teaching of Physical Chemistry (BioGeoChemistry) - a course for the 2nd year students of the Soil Science program at SLU. I made the practical exercises (64 hours) in the Fall term 1997, was responsible for the Coordination Chemistry part (4h lectures, 4h - problem-solving) in the Falls 1999 and 2000 and was the main lecturer (36 h of lectures, 18 h of problem-solving) in the Fall 2001. I was responsible for this course in 2003.

Teaching at the graduate level

I have, together with Dr. A.V.Shevelkov and Dr. O.G.Dyachenko, developed the new course in Modern Inorganic Chemistry for the 4th year students of the HSMS, MSU, and have been responsible for the Coordination Chemistry Module of this course (12 h) with a separate examination, focused on the structural and mechanistic aspects of the reactivity of coordination compounds. I have had this course three times in the Fall terms of 94, 95 and 96 (Course material, in Russian, is available on request).

I have been invited as a guest lecturer to present the Sol-Gel Technology part in the frame of Introduction to Materials Synthesis course at Stockholm University in the Fall 2005. 

I have been lecturing in Bio-Nanotechnology in the frame of the Nanotechnology course run by Prof. Venkat Rao at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in 2008-2013 (4 h lecturing, 6 h exercises/discussions).  This course was also open for the PhD students and young researchers.

I have been course responsible for the block Crystallography and Mineralogy (3 hp) in the Soil and Water Chemistry course at SLU in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Teaching at the post-graduate level

                      I have developed at the Department of Chemistry a new Ph.D. course "The Practical X-ray Crystallography" (12h lectures, 20h of individualized practical exercises plus individual research projects) and have given it twice - in the Fall terms of 1999, 2000, 2006 (all 7.5 hp), and in 2014 and 2017 (10 hp). The course was including the discussion of the basic principles of the symmetry theory, and interaction of the radiation with matter. It concentrated on the practical aspects of the choice of a proper single crystal, data collection and interpretation and subsequently the solution and refinement of the structure. The course literature was the book of C.Hammond “Basics of Crystallography and diffraction” and the SAINTPLUS and SHELXTL manuals by Bruker AXS.

                      Our book on “The Chemistry of Metal Alkoxides” that appeared in March 2002 has already been used for the reading courses in our group at SLU and also at the Laboratoire des Multimateriaux et Interfaces, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon-1, France and at the Technical University of Wien, Austria and at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, France. It is quoted broadly in the Internet-based teaching publications in Materials Chemistry, see http://www.solgel.com/articles/jun02/preref.asp 

It has served as textbook for the course “Metal alkoxides – Chemistry and Applications” I have delivered as Guest Professor in Clermont-Ferrand in April 2009 (the PowerPoint presentations for 4 h lecturing are enclosed in teaching materials).

                      Our book “Sol-Gel Methods for Materials Processing. Focusing on Materials for Pollution Control, Water Purification and Soil Remediation” appeared in July 2008 and is already an international best-seller (over hundred hits on Google).

                      I have been involved as lecturer at the Sol-Gel Basics Research School organized by the International Sol-Gel Society for PhD students and industrial researchers in connection with the XIVth International Conference on Sol-Gel Science and Technology in Montpellier, France in September 2007. The teaching materials from this School are available from the Internet sites of the International Sol-Gel Society (http://www.isgs.org/files/OnedayWorkshop_flyer.pdf http://www.isgs.org) and via the Sol-Gel portal supported by Dow Corning Corporation (http://www.solgel.com).

                      I was involved as an invited professor in the activities of the ENHANCE international network (European Research Training Network of New Materials: Innovative Concepts for their Fabrication, Integration and Characterisation)ear led from the University of Ruhr-Bochum, Germany (2009), where I have a 10 h lecturing course in the physico-chemical methods for characterization of molecular precursors (http://www.enhance-itn.eu/). 

I have been responsible for the part associated with the physicochemical methods (4h lecturing) at the 1st National Research School in Inorganic Chemistry for PhD students, carried out at SLU and Uppsala University in June 2010. It has been highly estimated by the participants (evaluations are available on request).

                      I was course responsible for the Sol-Gel block of the courses at the “From Molecules to Materials” International Research School organized by the University of Helsinki, August 22-26 2011.

                      I was co-responsible for the advanced Inorganic Chemistry course for the Swedish national research school in inorganic chemistry 2011 and 2014.

                      I was main organizer and principal lecturer at the Electron microscopy and Thermal analysis courses offered by the Research School in Organism Biology in 2009 and 2012 (3 ECTS). I was main organizer and principal lecturer for the course Biomaterials on Nanoscale offered by the Research School Focus on Food and Biomaterials in 2018 (5 ECTS).

4.3 Experience as a supervisor

I have supervised 25 students at the undergraduate and Master level: Andrei Korolev, Dmitrii Tcheboukov(Chebukov), Andrei Panov, Albina Borisevich, Sebastien Peuvrier, Anders Johansson, Magnus Roman, Marco Donat, Eugeniya Suslova, Svetlana Eliseeva, Oxana Kotova, Renata Tekoriute, Olle Viotti, Johanna Lundqvist, Felix Hentchel, Sarah Abtmeyer, Nicole Groenke, Marion Collart Dutilleul, Mikaela Koenig, Sandra Selaskowski, Aurelien Mondiere, Laura Caillot, Leonie Chretien, Philip Eriksson, Maiwenn Perrais. Majority of these projects resulted in joint publication(s). 

I have been main supervisor to 4 PhD students who defended their theses: Pia Werndrup, Gerald Spijksma, Kai Wilkinson and Olga Galkina. I am at present acting as main supervisor to Martin Palmqvist and one PhD position is under recruitment.

I acted as assistant supervisor to 3 PhD students who defended their theses: Camelia Hagfeldt, Kersti Nilsson and Olesya Nikonova. I am at present a co-supervisor to Elizabeth Polido Legaria and Frank Schmieder. 

4.4 Training in teaching and learning in higher education

I have taken the courses in Ground University Education (5 weeks), Scientific Supervision (5 weeks) and Pedagogics of Graded Evaluation (1 week). The certificates are attached.

4.5 Course development and course administration

I have developed two basic education courses and prepared the course treatises (compendium) for the 7,5 and then 10 hp courses for the Energy System Engineering Program UU-SLU: General Chemistry for ES and General Chemistry and the Chemical Energy Sources. I am working at present on the new version of the Soil Chemistry course at SLU and preparing a laboratory treatise for it.

I have acted in 10 years as the director of studies for PhD education – a report to the Swedish Higher Education Department, prepared in collaboration with Prof. Thomas Norberg (director of undergraduate studies) and myself, is attached.

4.6 Teaching material

I have produced one ground level compendium published by Cengage Learning ISBN 978-1-4080-6066-7 and a lot of illustrative materials (in PowerPoint format) for PhD and advanced level courses (Applied X-ray Crystallography, Sol-Gel Chemistry, The Chemistry and Applications of Metal Alkoxides, BioNanotechnology)

4.7 Teaching awards and honors

Invitations to develop and deliver high-level courses in Sol-Gel (for the Finnish National Research School in Inorganic Chemistry) and in MOCVD (for the EU-supported International Research School ENHANCE) technologies can be regarded as such.

4.8 Other activities related to teaching

I have been in many years a member of the Program Committee for Technical Education at SLU. 

I am as the head of Department leading the process in development of new Molecular Science course block at SLU at present. 

The Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology at SLU is giving support to the chemistry education at two High Schools in Uppsala, Katedralskolan and Rosendahlgymnasiet. I participated actively in organization of a summer school for the students of Katedralskolan in 2012 and I have organized an excursion to our Department for the students of Rosendahlgymnasiet in the Spring 2015. I have also delivered for them a lecture “Att se en molekyl, att räkna molekyler…”