News 2026

Dear YCN Friends and Colleagues,

As my term on the Young Ceramists Network (YCN) committee comes to a close after a journey that began in December 2021 and ended this January 2026, I want to take a moment to share a few personal reflections and heartfelt thanks.

Dear Young Ceramists Community,

It is my great pleasure to briefly introduce myself and my ideas to you.

My name is Petar Kotevski, a first-year PhD candidate, working on a collaborative project between INSA Lyon and 3DCERAM, under the main supervision of Prof. Jérôme Chevalier.

Dear YCN community, dear colleagues, dear friends,

After an incredibly rewarding journey since 2022, the time has come for me to step down from the Young Ceramists Network (YCN) Committee. Writing these lines comes with mixed feelings of gratitude and pride for what we achieved together, and a little nostalgia as I hand over the baton to the new committee.

My name is Aliya Sharipova. I am a Senior Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS in Dresden. My work focuses on cold sintering for functional biomaterials and biomedical devices.

As “founding father” of YCN, I am pleased to see that YCN's activities continue to grow.

It all started with the foundation of JECS Trust (The Journal of the European Ceramic Society Trust), which was formally set up in December 2007. At the founding meeting in 2008, it was made clear that one of the main focuses in the expenditures of JECS Trust money is to support activities for students and young researchers.

The human body utilises electrical signalling for cellular communication, and exogenous electrical fields can be used to direct healing of both soft and hard tissues, such as bone. By harnessing the electromechanical properties of lead-free piezoceramics, we can design functional implants that supply electrical stimulation to bones and improve healing outcomes. In our work, we design sodium potassium niobate ((K,Na)NbO3, KNN)-based systems as bioactive ceramics targeted for orthopaedic applications. Through stoichiometric modifications, KNN-based systems can be engineered to have biosimilar electromechanical properties, in vitro stability, and excellent biocompatibility.

My research focuses on the design of advanced ceramic–polymer composite scaffolds and 3D in vitro models to address major challenges in regenerative medicine and cancer therapy. Through vat photopolymerization and biofabrication technologies, I develop gradient biomaterials that mimic complex tissue interfaces and investigate innovative therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer. My work bridges materials chemistry, additive manufacturing, and biomedical engineering to create functional systems with real clinical impact.

Bioactive glasses have been of interest in bone regeneration due to their ability of bonding with hard tissue and releasing ions, which stimulate bone healing processes like osteogenesis and angiogenesis. The field of ionic medicine utilizes these ion release mechanisms to enhance cellular responses, improving bone repair and regeneration. In my PhD studies I have mainly focused on optimizing bioactive glass compositions to understand their biological effects and bioactive behaviour.