GOULA MARIA

Professor of Catalysis

Director of the Laboratory of Fuels and Environmental Catalysis (LAFEC)

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Education

Summary

Maria A. Goula is Professor of Catalysis in the Department of Chemical Engineering and
Director of the Laboratory of Fuels and Environmental Catalysis (LAFEC), of the
University of Western Macedonia (UOWM). She is also a collaborating faculty member
in the Hellenic Open University (HOU) for the MSc program entitled “Environmental
Catalysis for Pollution Abatement and Clean Energy Production”.
Prof. M.A. Goula obtained her diploma (Chemistry) in 1987 and her Ph.D. (Catalysis) in
1993, from the University of Patras (UOP). From 1993-1997 she worked as a Senior
Researcher at the Chemical Process Engineering Research Institute (CPERI), and from
2001-2002 at the Institute for Solid Fuels Technology and Applications (ISFTA) – both of
the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH). From 2000-2004 she worked as
an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Departments of (i) Mechanical Engineering, (ii)
Medicine, and (iii) Biochemistry and Biotechnology, of the University of Thessaly (UOT).
In 2004 she was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental and
Pollution Control Engineering (Technological Educational Institute of Western Macedonia
TEIWM); the position became a permanent one in 2007. She was elected an Associate
Professor in 2012 and full Professor in 2017.
Prof. M.A. Goula is author or co-author of more than 90 research publications in Peer
Reviewed International Journals with a total Impact Factor= 640.10 and average IF/paper=
7.11, which have received over 3532 citations (Scopus), giving her a Hirsch (h)-index= 32.
She also has a large number of publications in peer reviewed international (> 154) and
national (> 85) conference proceedings. She is on the Editorial Board of five International
Scientific Journals (Chemistry/MDPI, International Journal of Environmental Engineering,
Journal of Environment and Waste Management) and acted as Guest Editor for the
International Scientific Journals Catalysts/ MDPI and Energies/MDPI. She acts as a regular
reviewer in over 140 Scientific Journals (>7500 reviews). She also acts as research
projects reviewer for HORIZON, Greek Secretariat for Research and Development, Science
Fund of the Republic of Serbia, Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation (RPF), ERA.Net
RUS Plus Innovation, American Chemical Society, Croatian Science Foundation (CSF), and
Marie Curie FP7-PEOPLE Prof. M.A. Goula has participated at seven (7) European projects and acted as Coordinator or Team Leader at fifteen (15) National R&D projects. She has also been
Coordinator at two (2) national projects, one (1) Interreg IRA, two (2) industrial R&D
contracts (awarded by GEOHELLAS S.A. and PPC S.A.). She has also been awarded a
research grant by the Centre for Catalysis and Separation of the Khalifa University of
Science and Technology, United Arab Emirates. Prof. M.A. Goula has developed a network with leading Universities and Research Institutions abroad (Khalifa University of Science and Technology/UAE, University College London/UK, University of Surrey/UK, University of Zaragoza/Spain, Italian National Research Council/Italy, University of Milan/Italy, University of Bolognia/Italy, University of Shanghai/China, Sichuan University/China, Beijing University of Chemical Technology/China, Cyprus University of Technology /Cyprus, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)/Netherlands, University of
Hamburg/Germany) and with academic and industrial collaborators in Greece (Technical University of Crete, UOP, UOT, CPERI/CERTH, HOU, GEOHELLAS S.A., HELBIO S.
A., PPC S.A., and INTERGEO S.A.). She has co-supervised four (4) PhD students and is currently supervising six (6) more. She has also supervised >18 MSc (HOU) and >56 diploma dissertations. Prof. M.A. Goula has taught a wide variety of undergraduate subjects (>20), published numerous laboratorial handbooks and was the scientist in charge of the translation (in Greek) of ‘Air Pollution Control: A Design Approach’ by C.D. Cooper and F.C. Alley. The book forms part of the recommended reading lists for relevant courses at UOWM, UOT and Democritus University of Thrace.
Prof. M.A. Goula also has extensive administrative experience as she served as: School
Vice Dean (2007-2008), Head of Department (2004-2008), Vice Head of Department (2008-
2016), Director of the Lignite Sector at the Centre of Research and Technology of TEIWM
(2010-2012), as Member of TEIWM Committee for Economic & Research development (2005-2010), Member of the External Evaluation Committee (2016-Present), and as Member of the Graduate Studies Committee (2014-Present); the latter two Committees are formed at Departmental level.
Prof. M.A. Goula has enjoyed research stays as invited Researcher at several excellent research centers e.g., Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), Khalifa University of Science and Technology (UAE), University of Aveiro (Portugal), the University of Surrey (UK), the University of Zaragoza (Spain), the University of Cyprus, the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), Beijing University of Chemical Technology (China) and the
Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany).
The research interests of Prof. M.A. Goula are focused on the fields of Heterogeneous
Catalysis and, especially, in materials synthesis and characterization, catalyst development
and evaluation, and investigation of reaction kinetics and mechanisms. Of particular interest
is the investigation of the surface chemistry and structure of dispersed metallic systems and
of reducible metal oxides and their mixtures. Materials are characterized using a
combination of physicochemical techniques, including selective chemisorption of probe
molecules, Temperature Programmed Desorption, Reduction, Hydrogenation and Oxidation
(TPD, TPR, TPH and TPO), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, Raman, X-ray Photoelectron
Spectroscopy (XPS) and Scanning / Transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM). In
parallel to catalyst development and testing, fundamental studies are made to identify the
surface parameters, which determine the catalytic performance.
The primary goal of Prof. M.A. Goula is the development of novel catalytic systems for: (i)
Hydrogen/syngas production via (a) Glycerol Steam Reforming, (b) Biogas dry reforming,
(c) Ethanol steam reforming, Bio-oil Steam Reforming (ii) Selective Catalytic Reduction
(SCR) of NOx present in the exhaust of lean-burn and diesel engines, (iii) Production of
“green diesel” via the selective deoxygenation (SDO) of natural triglycerides, (iv) CO2
hydrogenation for methane, methanol, higher hydrocarbons and higher alcohols production,
(v) Methane oxidative coupling (vi) Catalytic pyrolysis of biomass agro-residues (vii)
Experimental and theoretical studies of multiphase flows in porous media and transport
phenomena, (viii) Biomass sustainability through Life Cycle Analysis

Recent publications

Courses 2023-2024

Analytical Chemistry

Heterogeneous catalysis

Physical Chemistry II

Air quality engineering
(Courses catalogue)