Announcements

Nobel Prizes are the world’s most prestigious recognition of scientific breakthroughs, honoring discoveries that push the boundaries of knowledge and reshape entire fields. They bring into the public eye researchers whose work might otherwise remain known only within specialized circles.

For many, winning a Nobel Prize is a surreal experience. Laureates often describe a mix of joy, humility, reflection, and gratitude for the teams and collaborators whose contributions made the achievement possible. Behind every Nobel-winning idea lies years of careful, incremental work—a process that often goes unseen.

When Prof. Steven Weinberg won the Nobel Prize in Physics in October 1979, his wife Louise, a legal scholar, reminded him to keep doing the ordinary hard work of science, joking: “Now you have to write some unimportant papers.” True to form, Weinberg continued to push the boundaries of our understanding of the Universe, showing that curiosity and dedication extend far beyond the moment of recognition (Hofmann 2025: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/17/6/840).

Discover the science behind the world’s most transformative ideas

Over the years, dozens of Nobel laureates have published their work with MDPI, entrusting our open access journals to disseminate their findings to a global audience. As of 2024, more than 40 laureates have contributed over 115 articles across 35 journals, ranging from pioneering research on microRNAs and mRNA therapeutics, to fundamental insights in theoretical physics, and advances in structural biology.

We regularly spotlight how Nobel Prize–winning research intersects with the contributions of our authors. This not only celebrates the achievements of the laureates, but also underscores the role of open access in ensuring that transformative science reaches the widest possible audience.

On this page, we invite you to explore selected works by Nobel laureates within the MDPI portfolio, and to join us in celebrating the global impact of their ideas.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 has been awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. MDPI sincerely invites you to explore research in a related field.

The Science Behind the Prize: 2025 Nobel Physiology or Medicine Roundtable
6 October 2025, 03:30 pm (CEST)
You are welcome to watch the recording here!

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit. MDPI sincerely invites you to explore research in a related field.

The Science Behind the Prize: 2025 Nobel Physics Roundtable
7 October 2025, 02:30 pm (CEST)
You are welcome to watch the recording here!

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal-organic frameworks. MDPI sincerely invites you to explore research in a related field.

Dr. Berns and Ms. Ashok are the authors of a notable paper published in our journal Actuators (ISSN: 2076-0825).

““You Scare Me”: The Effects of Humanoid Robot Appearance, Emotion, and Interaction Skills on Uncanny Valley Phenomenon”
by Karsten Berns and Ashita Ashok
Actuators 2024, 13(10), 419; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/13/10/419
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/13/10/419

The following is a brief interview with Dr. Berns and Ms. Ashok, in which they share their insights on the article:

1. Can you briefly introduce your latest research published in Actuators?
In our recent paper, we investigate how the appearance, emotional expressivity, and interaction skills of humanoid robots influence human perception in the context of the uncanny valley. We carried out two studies. The first was a field study in a university hallway where we observed spontaneous reactions to the robot Ameca. The second was an online evaluation of three humanoid robots, ROMAN, ROBIN, and EMAH, before and after interaction.

2. What inspired you to focus on this topic?
We see that actuator technology and humanoid design are advancing quickly, but people still sometimes react with discomfort. The uncanny valley is a strong challenge for social robotics. We were motivated to study how robot movements and interaction skills can support acceptance instead of causing unease.

3. What are the most exciting findings or innovations in your study?
We found that human reactions in the hallway varied a lot, from curiosity to unease. We also saw that impressions of human-likeness can change after interaction. EMAH and ROMAN in particular were judged differently by online participants. This shows that appearance alone does not decide acceptance. Expressive and adaptive interaction plays a key role in overcoming uncanny effects.

4. How do you see your research impacting the field of actuator technology?
Our results suggest that actuators should not only be optimized for precision or force. For social robots, expressiveness, timing, and adaptability are equally important. We hope our study encourages actuator design that supports natural and meaningful expression, which is essential for robots that need to interact with humans in daily life.

Date: 23 September 2025
Time: 11:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m
Location: The Chelsea Hotel, 33 Gerrard Street West, Toronto

MDPI is thrilled to announce our participation in the University of Toronto’s largest career fair, taking place at the St. George Downtown Campus. This exciting event brings together thousands of students, graduates, and professionals looking to connect with top employers and explore career opportunities.

We invite all attendees to visit the MDPI booth to discover how you can be part of one of the world’s leading open access academic publishers. Whether you are passionate about scientific research, editorial work, marketing, or supporting global innovation in publishing, we want to meet YOU!

What to expect at our booth:

• Learn more about MDPI’s mission and global impact;
• Explore exciting career opportunities in publishing, editorial, communications, and more;
• Network with our team and ask questions about working at MDPI.

Whether you’re just starting your career or looking to take the next step, don’t miss this opportunity to connect with MDPI. Bring your resume, your curiosity, and your questions—we look forward to seeing you there!

For additional information on the Career Fair and Open MDPI positions, please visit the following links:

• Learn more about the U of T Career Fair;
• Explore Careers with MDPI Canada.

Dr. Jaime González-Sierra is one of the authors of a notable paper published in Actuators (ISSN: 2076-0825):

• “Active Disturbance Rejection Control for the Trajectory Tracking of a Quadrotor”
  by Mario Ramírez-Neria, Alberto Luviano-Juárez, Jaime González-Sierra, Rodrigo Ramírez-Juárez, Joaquín Aguerrebere and Eduardo G. Hernandez-Martinez
  Actuators 2024, 13(9), 340; https://doi.org/10.3390/act13090340
  Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/act13090340

The following is a short interview with Dr. Jaime González-Sierra:

1. Can you briefly introduce your latest research published in Actuators?
Our latest article, published in Actuators as part of the Special Edition “Dynamics and Control of Underactuated Systems”, addresses the trajectory tracking control of a quadrotor-type unmanned aerial vehicle, which is an underactuated system. We have utilized the Active Disturbance Rejection Control methodology to address the perturbations that affect this type of system. We are aware that the literature on controlling quadrotors is extensive; however, a gap remains between theoretical results and experimental outcomes. In this sense, one of the contributions of our work is to carry out experiments where a fan provides external perturbations to the quadrotor.

2. What inspired you to focus on this topic?
That is an interesting question. Nowadays, quadrotors are being used in various applications—for example, firefighting, logistics, agriculture, and environmental monitoring, among others. Therefore, for this system to perform optimally, its control must be robust, capable of handling both external and internal disturbances, even if its actuators fail. On the other hand, from a technical point of view, the underactuated nature of these systems and the intricate relationship between translational and rotational dynamics present a formidable challenge for researchers in controlling their position along
a desired trajectory.

3. What are the most exciting findings or innovations in your study? How do you see your research impacting the field of actuator technology?
From my perspective, what most caught my attention about this work is that it was possible to verify that the theoretical component was well-developed experimentally. That is, mathematically, we have begun to establish that if the system is affected by disturbances with a particular structure, then the proposed control will be able to deal with those disturbances, and despite this, the drone will still be able to follow the assigned trajectory. Furthermore, our work aims to close this gap between the theoretical and experimental components.
Regarding the other question, in our research, the actuators are the motors that rotate the drone's propellers. A misguided rotation of any of the motors can cause an accident. Therefore, before conducting experiments, numerical simulations help us to visualize that the motor rotations are within the operating range. Furthermore, the developed theory has the advantage of being able to be used in any type of actuator, since the mathematical basis is the same.

4. Why did you choose Actuators as the journal for your publication, and how has your experience been with the editorial process?
I received an email from the editorial committee of the special issue, and we were in the process of writing the article at that moment. We still didn't know which journal we would submit to. I think the invitation came at the right time. After reviewing the journal's metrics, it was an excellent option to show the international community what’s being done in Mexico.
My experience was good; we've already published with MDPI, and what we like about this publisher is the timeliness with which they manage the work. If everything goes well, the publication will be accepted within a month, which will help us a lot as researchers. We don't have to wait five, six months, or even a year to be told the article has been rejected.

5. What advice would you offer to early career researchers aiming to publish in Actuators, and would you recommend the journal to your peers?
As researchers, no idea is a bad idea. I advise you not to be afraid to submit your work and to have confidence in what you’re doing. Specifically, if you're planning to publish in Actuators, check that the journal’s scope and objectives are aligned with your research.
Yes, I recommend my colleagues submit their work to Actuators. And not just to that journal, but to any MDPI journal. With the work we’ve submitted, they've always treated us well and provided us with the necessary facilities, whether it was to submit the corrected version or even to make the payment. We’re happy with their processes.

Prof. Dr. Moon Kyu Kwak is one of the authors of the following notable paper published in our journal Actuators (ISSN: 2076-0825): 

“Slewing and Active Vibration Control of a Flexible Single-Link Manipulator”
by Dae W. Kim, Moon K. Kwak, Soo-Min Kim and Brian F. Feeny
Actuators 2025, 14(2), 43; https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/2/43
Available online at https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/14/2/43 

The following is a brief interview with Prof. Dr. Kwak, in which he shares his insights on the article: 

My latest research, published in Actuators, “Slewing and Active Vibration Control of a Flexible Single-Link Manipulator”, is closely related to the control of robotic arms and can be considered one of the main problems of reorientation of lightweight structures. This topic has attracted the attention of many researchers and has long been studied theoretically. However, compared to the extensive theoretical research, experimental studies on this topic have been quite limited. In this study, we succeeded in resolving the gap between theory and practice. The video of the experimental results has been uploaded to YouTube, and the link is as follows: https://youtu.be/U4tN9lfhO0E?si=eKXr3mYsAqL_OMzb. 

The research topic is a subject I have been contemplating for over 30 years. I, too, was interested in this problem and tried to predict experimental results using a numerical model, but I failed. Only recently have we been able to identify the error in the theoretical model and overcome the gap between theoretical and experimental results. The main reason was the low level of understanding among theoretical researchers regarding the operating principles of the motors (actuators) that drive the manipulators. 

We are pleased to report that the actuator that moves the manipulator cannot be considered the simple model assumed in theoretical research. We expect that this study will provide the right research direction for those studying dynamic modeling and control of flexible manipulators. 

After finding a solution to this problem, we chose Actuators to properly convey the importance of the research content, as the problems so far were caused by a lack of understanding of the actuator. I was pleased that my research received significant attention thanks to the rapid review process, timely publication, and open access availability. It was an honor to be able to contribute to the field, as open access allowed many researchers to engage with and explore my work. 

There are many kinds of actuators in the world. However, the only journal specializing in actuators is Actuators. If young researchers analyze the characteristics of various actuators and pay attention to the connection with the system that utilizes them, I believe that they will produce excellent research results. I would also advise my colleagues to look at the paper published in Actuators.

Held by MDPI, this Author Training event empowers academic growth with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Graduate Chapter at the University of Toronto, Canada. This event will be led by MDPI Regional Journal Relations Specialist, Kailyn Wanhella, on the topic of “How to Write Your First Journal Article and the Peer Review Process”.

Participants will gain practical guidance on essential aspects of writing academic articles, including manuscript preparation, navigating peer review, and best practices for citation.

Date: 29 August 2025
Time: 4:30 p.m. –6:30 p.m. (EDT)
Location: University of Toronto, Sidney Smith Hall, Room 2111, 100 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3
Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/27PHHB7

Schedule:

Speaker:

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Actuators (ISSN: 2076-0825). 

Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley is the Minta Martin Professor and former chair (2012–2021) of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on smart materials and structures, as well as composite and additively manufactured cellular materials and structures, for actuation and occupant protection systems in aerospace and automotive applications. Dr. Wereley has published extensively on these topics, including over 275 journal articles and 22 patents. He was awarded the ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Prize and the SPIE Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Wereley is a Fellow of AIAA, ASME, IOP, RAeS, SPIE and VFS, and a Lifetime Member of SAMPE. He holds a BEng from McGill University, and MS and PhD degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Actuators and Editor-in-Chief of SAMPE Journal.

With these achievements, we are confident that Actuators will thrive under Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley’s leadership. 

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Editor-in-Chief?
I have served on the Editorial Board of Actuators almost from its launch. I am honored to work with Editor-in-Chief Prof. Kenji Uchino, a world authority in piezo-electric devices, and the Editorial Board composed of a great many excellent and accomplished researchers. I will work hard to ensure that Actuators continues to serve our scientific and engineering community with integrity and distinction.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
Actuators will continue its focus on publishing highly innovative and impactful articles in all aspects of actuator theory, design, fabrication, and applications. The goal of this editorial team is to ensure that Actuators is the publication venue of choice for scholars and researchers in the field. This will be achieved by continuing to encourage dissemination of research results through the open access model and by supporting authors with outstanding author services, which is a hallmark of MDPI.  

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
Actuators is the key technology that enables action and work achieved by all systems operating in the field. Navigating the trade-off in actuation systems between minimizing weight, cost, and power draw, while maximizing actuation force (i.e., block force) and free displacement, continues to be the key goal. Also, applying actuation systems to maximize performance via control, sensing, and intelligence will continue to be a key enabling focus. Finally, the development of new and novel actuation modes and materials must continue to be a focus to address these technological needs. 

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
MDPI has been the leading innovator in open access publishing. I published my first paper with MDPI in 2014, and I have continued to publish with MDPI since then. In my experience, author support at MDPI is outstanding at all stages of review, article publication, and dissemination. Also, open access publishing is the optimal way to disseminate and ensure equal access globally to research results and scholarly writings. 

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Norman M. Wereley as our second Editor-in-Chief, and wish him every success in his new position.

Dr. Roland Szabo is one of the authors of a notable paper published in our journal Actuators (ISSN: 2076-0825):

“Robotic Arm Position Computing Method in the 2D and 3D Spaces”
by Roland Szabo and Radu-Stefan Ricman
Actuators 2023, 12(3), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12030112
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/12/3/112

The following is a short interview with Dr. Roland Szabo:

1. Can you briefly introduce your latest research published in Actuators?

This paper introduces a methodology for determining the position of a robotic arm within two-dimensional and three-dimensional spaces. This approach diverges slightly from established techniques such as forward or inverse kinematics. The proposed methodology is optical and employs a stereo vision configuration using two video cameras to identify and calculate the subsequent movement of the robotic arm in space. The method involves detecting the coordinates of markers affixed to the joints of the robotic arm via the video cameras. These marker coordinates are connected by straight lines, with circles inscribed around certain points. From the tangents to these circles, a non-Cartesian (orthogonal) coordinate system is constructed, which is used to calculate the robotic arm's target position. All graphical overlays are projected onto the live video stream. Furthermore, this paper delineates an alternative method for determining the stereo distance through triangulation. Another method is also outlined, wherein a non-Cartesian (orthogonal) 3D coordinate system is established to ascertain the robotic arm's target position in three-dimensional space. The system operates in a loop, enabling the robotic arm to undergo micro-adjustments to precisely achieve the desired positioning. Consequently, there is no necessity for calibrations of the robotic arm. In an industrial context, this negates the requirement to halt the production line, resulting in significant cost savings.

2. What inspired you to focus on this topic?

The inspiration for focusing on this topic came from my endless interest in robotics, mainly in robot control algorithms. I felt there was a lack in robotic arm control methods, some of which need to be updated for today's standards and requirements. I observed that after multiple repeated movements of a robotic assembly, they tend to shift from their preprogrammed position, generating an increasing offset after each movement. To overcome this offset of the precisely programmed movement points, I have developed an optical robotic arm position computing method, which can help to adjust the offset of robotic arms during the execution of their movement, thus eliminating the need to stop them during their task execution to adjust the offset manually. In the case of a robotic arm on a production line, there is no need to stop the production line in order to make necessary manual calibrations of the shift of the robotic arm from its predefined movement points, achieving enormous production cost savings.

3. What are the most exciting findings or innovations in your study? How do you see your research impacting the field of actuator technology?

The most exciting finding or innovation in my study is computing the non-Cartesian coordinate system just from the tangents of the two circles drawn around the shoulder joint and the elbow joint of the robotic arm. As the coordinate system is able to actually compute the movement of all motors from the joints in order for the end effector to move into the target position, this is really one of the most exciting achievements in this study. The impact of actuator technology should be this different approach to computing a robotic arm's position, used as a complementary method to the well-known forward and inverse kinematics.

4. Why did you choose Actuators as the journal for your publication, and how your experience has been with the editorial process?

I have chosen Actuators due to the fact that my study on robotics is closely aligned with the main topics of the Actuators journal—having to control multiple motors is one of the main concerns for the journal. The experience with the editorial process was excellent. The communication with the editorial team was clear and easy, the editors were kind, and the publication process was really fast, simple, and straightforward.

5. What advice would you offer to early career researchers aiming to publish in Actuators, and would you recommend the journal to your peers?

My advice for early career researchers would be that if they have a research topic related to Actuators, should not hesitate to publish in this journal because it is a highly valued journal, with a high Impact Factor and CiteScore—to try to write a high-value research paper and to submit it to the journal. I will definitely recommend Actuators to my peers, as it is a highly valued journal that can help them advance in their scientific careers.