University of Cyprus maintains its position among the world’s Top 401–500 universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026
October 9, 2025General Assembly of the Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN) 2025 at the University of Cyprus,13 October 2025
October 14, 2025International recognition for her work in Advanced Oxidation Technologies and environmental protection.
The University of Cyprus is proud to announce that Professor Despo Fatta-Kassinos has been selected to receive the Dion Special Recognition Award from the International Scientific Committee of the Iberoamerican Conference on Advanced Oxidation Technologies (CIPOA) — one of the world’s foremost scientific fora in the field of Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs).
CIPOA brings together a vibrant international community of researchers and professionals advancing both photochemical and non-photochemical AOTs in homogeneous and heterogeneous systems. As one of the largest and most established platforms in this domain, CIPOA plays a pivotal role in fostering innovation across the environmental, chemical, food, energy, and climate sectors throughout Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, contributing to the global transition towards a sustainable, carbon-neutral circular economy.
The Dion Special Recognition Award is specifically reserved for scientists working outside the Iberoamerican region, a fact that makes the honor especially significant given the large number of outstanding non-Iberoamerican scientists contributing to the field worldwide. The award will be presented in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2026, at a ceremony organized by the Committee of CIPOA.
“I am deeply honored by this recognition from CIPOA’s Committee, particularly because it is awarded amid so many exceptional non-Iberoamerican scientists,” said Prof. Fatta-Kassinos. “From Cyprus to Spain, Portugal, and across Latin America, I’m proud that Gaia-Laboratory of Environmental and Engineered Water Processes and Systems of the University of Cyprus is making an impact among scientists in Advanced Oxidation Technologies on other continents and regions, and is being recognized by the many countries and amazing scientists that form the CIPOA family; this honor deepens my commitment to open, two-way collaborations and to nurturing the next generation of scientists in Advanced Oxidation Technologies”.
An internationally recognized chemical and environmental engineer, Prof. Fatta-Kassinos leads Gaia Laboratory at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Nireas-International Water Research Center, at the University of Cyprus. Her research integrates advanced chemical analytics, advanced oxidation processes mechanistic elucidation and transformation-product profiling, and eco-evolutionary engineering of wastewater microbiomes and resistomes, linking technological solutions to decision-useful metrics (micropollutant abatement, antimicrobial-resistance risk, and receiving-water protection).
About the Dion Special Recognition Award (CIPOA)
Conferred every two years by the International Scientific Committee of CIPOA, the Dion Award honors non-Iberoamerican scientists whose sustained excellence and leadership have advanced AOTs science and its real-world implementation.
