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27 August 2024
Interview with Mustafa Can Gursesli—Winner of the Applied Sciences 2024 Travel Award

1. Congratulations on your award! Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little bit about your fields of interest?

Hi, my name is Can. I graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in clinical psychology. After that, I started my Ph.D. in Information Engineering, which is quite an unusual combination. My research now focuses on how video games affect emotions.

In my Ph.D. project, I mainly work on detecting emotions while people are playing video games. To do this, we improved and applied convolutional neural networks to analyze emotions during serious games. We also collect data from users ECG and PPG biosignals to understand the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Essentially, we're trying to understand how different reactions and facial expressions are linked to video games. Our goal is to create a complex model to determine the exact impact of video games on emotions.

2. Do you have any advice for aspiring young researchers looking to make a meaningful impact in their respective fields?

That is a great question. Honestly, if you had asked me three years ago where I would be today, I wouldn’t have expected to find myself in information engineering. Even six years ago, if you had asked me, I probably would have said I would be more focused on clinical psychology, given my master’s degree. But looking back, my best advice would be to embrace a multidisciplinary approach. Science today, especially with advancements in artificial intelligence and human–computer interaction, requires a broader perspective. It is crucial to consider how technologies and applications impact human life from various dimensions. We shouldn't confine ourselves to just one area. There are many fields within science, and it is important to explore and integrate different branches. This approach is especially valuable for younger people entering the field, and even for myself, as I continue to learn and grow. But the main perspective should be more focused on socialization, especially nowadays. Scientists are increasingly expected to communicate effectively, which is more important than ever before.

For example, last year, I spent three months in Japan and three months in Korea as a research assistant, while my Ph.D. is based at the University of Florence, Italy. I found that building connections through email and communication was crucial. It is essential for improving your networking and broadening your perspective. Meeting new people and experiencing different cultures can significantly impact your outlook and career. This kind of interaction is really valuable, in my opinion.

3. How supportive might this kind of award be for researchers? Do you have any suggestions on how our journal could further support the academic community?

First of all, thank you for organizing such award programs for early career researchers like me. When you come from countries where the research budget is limited—covering just travel, conference registration, even meals—you start to realize the significance of rewards and funding. When you attend a conference, you need to eat, after all.

That is why I always advise my colleagues and new Ph.D. students to keep track of these things because they will be crucial later on. Maybe not in the first year of your Ph.D., but definitely in the final year when your budget might be exhausted from summer schools, conferences, and publications. You will need that financial support, and it is frustrating if your professor doesn’t have the budget to cover it. For instance, if your paper gets accepted at a prestigious conference, what do you do? Conference registration and travel costs are quite high these days. Sadly, it is the reality we face. Ph.D. students often need to create their own budget for research. If you need a server for testing or other resources, you might have to seek out sponsorships or other solutions. While institutions are supposed to handle these needs, the current world isn’t always ideal, so finding your own solutions is sometimes necessary.

4. Do you have any suggestions for our journal, how we could further support young researchers and the academic community?

Awards are valuable and competitive, but often they are one-time opportunities. To be honest, this is a common issue with such awards. Currently, one idea will be to support small projects through specific calls. For instance, researchers can apply for funding for small projects, which may be supported for several months. This approach provides opportunities for both new and established researchers to engage in meaningful work. If we consider implementing a system similar to annual European projects, such as Horizon 2020, it could be beneficial. By opening calls for projects on a regular basis, we would provide ongoing opportunities rather than one-off rewards. This would encourage consistent engagement from the research community.

5. What is your experience with our service from the point of view of an author and reviewer?

In my opinion, my experience with MDPI journals, such as Bioengineering and Algorithms, has generally been good. Of course, there are times when some reviewers can be a bit persistent and make the process more challenging, but that is understandable and part of the process. On the whole, the editorial progress is faster than usual, which I am quite happy about. However, I have noticed that MDPI conferences are relatively rare compared to other publishers. For example, publishers host a lot of conferences, but MDPI has only started doing so in the past five years. This limited number of conferences can decrease opportunities for researchers to connect and network.

One suggestion I have is that MDPI could increase its involvement in conferences. When you publish in a journal and then have the chance to participate in a conference supported by that journal, it creates more opportunities for collaboration and networking. Creating a community involves more than just publishing papers; it is about setting goals and fostering interactions. This way, researchers can build connections and collaborate more effectively. For instance, one of my professors is on the editorial board of Bioengineering and we share a professional connection. If MDPI wants to build a stronger community, it needs to create more opportunities for interaction. Otherwise, it risks just being a platform where people publish their work without building an engaged audience. Networking is crucial, and conferences are a great way to facilitate these connections.

6. How have you heard about this award, and do you have any suggestions to improve the visibility of this award?

OK, this is quite important. For example, how I focus and become aware of opportunities like this is through my professor, Antonio Lanata. He's a fantastic, social man and engineer. We were talking about different opportunities, and he told me to look at these awards because they are quite nice and worth winning. We discussed them, and basically, when you share information with your editorial board, it's nice, but professors receive a lot of emails.

When they get something from a journal, they might read it and forget it. This is not unexpected. In my opinion, to reach people effectively, maybe target university branches. For example, there are university clubs. European universities have this kind of culture. In my case, we had a group for Information Engineering Ph.D. students. The university itself will publish information about these opportunities because they want to support their students. It makes things much easier.

Finally, I would like to thank my supervisors and teammates Andrea Guazzini, Antonio Lanata and Mirko Duradoni who supported me and were always with me as I approached the end of my Ph.D. journey.

27 August 2024
Interview with Dr. Chetanpal Singh—Winner of the Applied Sciences 2022 Best Paper Award

1. Congratulations on winning the 2022 Best Paper Award! Could you briefly introduce yourself and the main content of the winning paper to our readers?

Hello, my name is Dr. Chetana Singh. I am currently engaged in the research field of machine-learning and artificial intelligence at Central Queensland University, Australia. I collaborate with my professors, Santoso and Shariman Grandes, on various projects. Our work primarily focuses on advancing smart crop technologies and developing machine learning applications for diagnosing skin diseases. My background is in computer science, which has significantly contributed to our exploration of these emerging technologies. Looking ahead, my research interests lie in two main areas. Firstly, I am interested in developing AI applications designed to support and assist people, ensuring that these tools provide accurate solutions rather than causing confusion. Secondly, our publications have been instrumental in highlighting the potential of these technologies in medical sciences, particularly in diagnosing and treating skin diseases, as well as addressing agricultural challenges. In agriculture, we have teams at Central Queensland University who have made significant strides in understanding and combating crop diseases. But what we are trying to achieve is solutions for the future, for our generations and for our kids. Thank you for supporting us and helping us to highlight the importance of this research field and publish our research.

2. Do you have any advice for aspiring researchers looking to make a meaningful impact in their respective fields?

Research is driven by personal passion and dedication. My advice to aspiring researchers is to remain committed to their interests and seek mentorship and support. It is important to collaborate and connect with experienced academics. For instance, my professors were instrumental in guiding me toward the right vision and field. Researchers should not hesitate to reach out to established academics through university emails or contact details available in research papers. Collaboration often yields better results than working in isolation. MDPI’s open access platform facilitates such connections, enabling researchers to collaborate and share their work more effectively.

3. Do you have any suggestions for our journal as to how we could further support researchers and the academic community?

MDPI offers significant support to the academic community. They provide a platform for researchers to submit proposals and abstracts, which are reviewed by experts in the field. This process ensures that only high-quality research is published. Additionally, MDPI’s open access nature allows for greater visibility and collaboration opportunities.

From my experience, MDPI has been supportive not only in publishing my work but also in recognizing it through awards and monetary prizes. This recognition motivates researchers to continue their work and strive for excellence.

One area where MDPI could enhance support for researchers is by providing access to specialized software and applications. For example, during my research, I faced challenges with processing data on standard CPUs and required GPUs. Having access to such resources would greatly benefit researchers, especially during times like the COVID-19 pandemic when travel and access to facilities were limited.

Furthermore, creating a blog-like environment within the research community could foster more interaction and collaboration. Researchers could discuss their projects, share insights, and seek advice, creating a more dynamic and supportive research ecosystem.

4. What do you think, how can we improve the visibility of this award?

I always feel that our discussions, if we could have them live with everyone involved, would be incredibly valuable. When we bring people together to talk about new fields and ideas, it can lead to groundbreaking research. It's always a pleasure for me because people are genuinely interested in these new topics and conversations.

I’ve published in a lot of journals, but MDPI stands out. The way they recognize, and honor research is something special. When an award is given, it’s truly an honorable moment for us. It brings immense joy. Personally, I was overjoyed, but my professors were even happier than I was. They insisted that I share this achievement widely and encouraged me to publish it. I joked that it was my first time experiencing something like this, but my professors reminded me of the hard work I put in. We worked diligently on this project for about a year and a half. It required immense effort, persistence, and dedication, in addition to lots of hard work, tears, and even blood. It wasn't easy at all. It's not easy, and when you receive an award after all that effort, the happiness you feel is indescribable. It's a deep, profound joy that stays with you.

5. As the winner of this award, is there something you want to express or someone you wish to thank the most?

MDPI has been an invaluable partner in my research journey. Their support and recognition have greatly contributed to my work. I encourage young researchers to take advantage of the resources and opportunities provided by MDPI, to collaborate, and to remain dedicated to their research interests. Together, we can achieve remarkable advancements in our respective fields. Thank you.

6. Have you ever encountered any difficulties conducting research and how did you overcome them?

Conducting research in the field of sentiment analysis using deep learning presents several challenges, particularly due to the inherent complexity and variability of human language. One major difficulty is handling the nuances of sentiment such as sarcasm, idioms and contextual polarity, which can significantly skew the results. Deep learning models often struggle with these subtleties because they rely heavily on the data they are trained on, and if the training data is not diverse or comprehensive enough, the models may fail to generalize well to real-world scenarios. Additionally, the requirement for large, labeled datasets to train deep learning models is another significant hurdle. Obtaining and labeling sufficient data, especially for specific domains, can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, making it difficult to build robust models.

To overcome these challenges, I focused on enhancing the quality and diversity of the training data by leveraging data augmentation techniques and incorporating domain-specific knowledge into the models. By using techniques like transfer learning, I was able to adapt pre-trained models to specific sentiment analysis tasks, reducing the need for extensive labeled datasets. Additionally, I experimented with advanced neural architectures, such as the attention mechanism, which are better at capturing long-range dependencies and context, thus improving the model’s ability to understand nuanced sentiments. Combining these approaches allowed me to build more accurate and reliable sentiment analysis models, capable of handling the complexities of human language more effectively.

7. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to submit your paper? What benefits do you think authors can gain when publishing their articles in Applied Sciences?

What appealed to me about Applied Sciences as a journal was its broad interdisciplinary focus and its commitment to advancing research that bridges the gap between fundamental science and practical applications. The journal’s emphasis on cutting-edge developments across a wide range of scientific disciplines, including engineering, computer science, and applied physics, aligns perfectly with the innovative nature of my research. Additionally, the rigorous peer-review process and the journal's reputation for publishing high-quality, impactful research were significant factors that motivated me to submit my paper. The global visibility and accessibility provided by the open-access model of Applied Sciences also assured me that my work would reach a diverse and extensive audience, further contributing to the scientific community and beyond.

Authors who publish in Applied Sciences can gain several substantial benefits. The journal’s interdisciplinary scope allows researchers to reach a broader audience, facilitating cross-disciplinary collaborations and enhancing the impact of their work. Moreover, the open access nature of the journal ensures that their research is widely accessible, increasing citation potential and visibility within the scientific community. The journal’s commitment to a swift and thorough peer review process also means that authors can expect timely feedback and publication, which is crucial for maintaining the momentum of their research projects. Overall, Applied Sciences provides a platform that not only showcases research but also amplifies its reach and impact, making it an ideal choice for authors looking to contribute to both their specific field and the broader scientific discourse.

8. Which research topics do you think will be of particular interest to the research community in the coming years?

In the coming years, the research community in deep learning is likely to focus on several emerging and critical topics that push the boundaries of current capabilities and address key challenges. These topics include the development of more efficient and interpretable models, the integration of deep learning with other areas such as neuroscience and quantum computing, and the ethical implications of deploying AI systems. As deep learning continues to evolve, there will be a strong interest in models that require less computational power while maintaining or even improving accuracy, addressing the growing concern over the environmental impact and accessibility of AI technologies. Additionally, enhancing the interpretability and explainability of deep learning models will be crucial for increasing trust and adoption in critical sectors like healthcare and finance. The intersection of deep learning with other scientific domains also holds great promise, particularly in areas like personalized medicine and autonomous systems, where these techniques can lead to groundbreaking innovations.

Research Topics of Interest:

  • Interpretability and Explainability: Improving the transparency of deep learning models to enhance trust and usability in critical applications;
  • Quantum Machine Learning: Exploring the integration of quantum computing with deep learning for solving complex problems more efficiently;
  • Ethical AI and Bias Mitigation: Addressing the ethical implications and biases in AI systems to ensure fairness and accountability;
  • Personalized Medicine: Applying deep learning to healthcare for the development of personalized treatment plans and diagnostics;
  • AI for Climate Change: Utilizing deep learning to model, predict, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

26 August 2024
Meet Us at the 18th European Conference on Computer Vision, 29 September–4 October 2024, Milano, Italy


MDPI will be attending the 18th European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV 2024) in MiCo Milano, Italy, which will take place from 29 September to 4 October 2024. The European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) is a premier biennial research conference in Computer Vision and Machine Learning, managed by the European Computer Vision Association (ECVA). It is held on even years and gathers the scientific and industrial communities within these areas. The first ECCV was held in 1990 in Antibes, France, and the conference has subsequently been organized all over Europe.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

  • Applied Sciences;
  • Electronics;
  • AI;
  • Future Internet;
  • Inventions;
  • Journal of Imaging;
  • Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction;
  • Mathematics;
  • Remote Sensing;
  • Technologies.

If you are attending the conference, please visit our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following link: https://eccv.ecva.net/.

22 August 2024
Meet Us at the 29th Ibero-American Catalysis Congress (XXIX CICAT), 23–27 September 2024, Bilbao, Spain


Conference: The 29th Ibero-American Catalysis Congress (XXIX CICAT)
Date: 23–27 September 2024
Location: Bilbao, Spain

After the last two congresses in Mexico and Brazil being entirely virtual, the XXIX CICAT will be an opportunity to gather together in the city of Bilbao, to share experiences in person, and for closer contact and collaboration between researchers, professionals, and students. This year’s theme is “Catalysis: Innovating for a Changing World” and is aimed at attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. The emphasis will be on areas of importance for the Ibero-American community.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

If you are planning to attend the above conference, please feel free to stop by our booth (#4) and start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following link: https://www.cicat2024.com/.

20 August 2024
Applied Sciences | Top 10 Cited Papers in 2023 in the Section “Civil Engineering”

“Research Progress and Applications of Fe-Mn-Si-Based Shape Memory Alloys on Reinforcing Steel and Concrete Bridges”
by Xuhong Qiang, Yapeng Wu, Yuhan Wang and Xu Jiang
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3404; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063404
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3404

“Application of Bayesian Neural Network (BNN) for the Prediction of Blast-Induced Ground Vibration”
by Yewuhalashet Fissha, Hajime Ikeda, Hisatoshi Toriya, Tsuyoshi Adachi and Youhei Kawamura
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3128; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053128
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/5/3128

“A Review of Detection Technologies for Underwater Cracks on Concrete Dam Surfaces”
by Dong Chen, Ben Huang and Fei Kang
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3564; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063564
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3564

“A Review on the Implementation of the BIM Methodology in the Operation Maintenance and Transport Infrastructure”
by Jorge Jerez Cepa, Rubén M. Pavón, Marcos G. Alberti, Angelo Ciccone and Domenico Asprone
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3176; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053176
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/5/3176

“Current Trends in Fluid Viscous Dampers with Semi-Active and Adaptive Behavior”
by Luca Zoccolini, Eleonora Bruschi, Sara Cattaneo and Virginio Quaglini
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(18), 10358; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131810358
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/18/10358

“Hybrid Random Forest-Based Models for Earth Pressure Balance Tunneling-Induced Ground Settlement Prediction”
by Peixi Yang, Weixun Yong, Chuanqi Li, Kang Peng, Wei Wei, Yingui Qiu and Jian Zhou
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2574; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042574
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/4/2574

“Recycling of Macro-Synthetic Fiber-Reinforced Concrete and Properties of New Concretes with Recycled Aggregate and Recovered Fibers”
by Guanzhi Liu, Nikola Tošić and Albert de la Fuente
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2029; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042029
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/4/2029

“A Comparative Study of Damage-Sensitive Features for Rapid Data-Driven Seismic Structural Health Monitoring”
by Yves Reuland, Panagiotis Martakis and Eleni Chatzi
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2708; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042708
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/4/2708

“Development of Geospatial Data Acquisition, Modeling, and Service Technology for Digital Twin Implementation of Underground Utility Tunnel”
by Jaewook Lee, Yonghwan Lee and Changhee Hong
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 4343; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13074343
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/7/4343

“Effectiveness of Tuned Mass Damper in Reducing Damage Caused by Strong Earthquake in a Medium-Rise Building”
by Lucas Mazzon, Giada Frappa and Margherita Pauletta
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(11), 6815; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13116815
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/11/6815

19 August 2024
MDPI’s 2023 Young Investigator Awards—Winners Announced


MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising early career scientists, acknowledge their contributions, and foster collaboration within the scientific community. We are proud to announce the recipients for 2023, who were carefully selected by the journals’ esteemed Award Evaluation Committee.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 79 winners of MDPI’s 2023 Young Investigator Awards for their excellent contributions in their research field. We look forward to seeing these rising stars continue to contribute to the advancement of science.

MDPI will continue to support and recognize the academic community. To explore details about the awardees by field, please visit the individual pages listed below:

Congratulations to all the winners for their exceptional contributions and dedication to advancing scientific research.

About MDPI Awards:
To support the academic community, particularly young researchers, and to enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help to elevate the profiles of talented individuals who have made outstanding achievements and are making significant contributions to advancements in their respective fields.

To find out more about MDPI awards, please click here.

13 August 2024
Meet Us at the Physical Society of Japan 2024 Annual Meeting, 16–19 September 2024, Hokkaido, Japan


MDPI will be attending the Physical Society of Japan 2024 annual meeting, which will be held from 16 to 19 September 2024 in Hokkaido, Japan.

The Physical Society of Japan (JPS) holds nationwide scientific meetings in the spring and autumn of each year and categorizes all the fields of physics into 19 divisions. During the annual meeting, recent research from all these divisions is discussed at one venue. The autumn meetings are held at different venues, covering the 13 divisions of condensed matter physics and other fields. As many as 5,000 researchers take part in both the spring and autumn meetings, where more than 3,000 presentations and active discussions take place.

The following topics will be covered:

  • Theoretical Particle Physics;
  • Experimental Particle Physics;
  • Theoretical Nuclear Physics;
  • Experimental Nuclear Physics;
  • Cosmic Rays/Astrophysics;
  • Beam Physics.

Division 1: Atomic and Molecular Physics, Quantum Electronics, Radiation;

Division 2: Plasma;

Division 3: Magnetism;

Division 4: Semiconductors, Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Transport;

Division 5: Optical Properties of Condensed Matter;

Division 6: Metal Physics [Liquid Metals, Quasicrystals], Low Temperature Physics [Ultralow Temperatures, Superconductivity, Density Waves;

Division 7: Molecular Solids;

Division 8: Strongly Correlated Electron Systems;

Division 9: Surfaces & Interfaces, Crystal Growth;

Division 10: Structural Property(Dielectrics, Ferroelectricity, Lattice Defects and Nanostructures, Phononic Properties, and X-ray and Particle Beams);

Division 11: Fundamental Theory of Condensed Matter Physics, Statistical Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics, Applied Mathematics, Socio- and Econophysics;

Division 12: Soft Matter Physics, Chemical Physics, Biophysics;

Division 13: Physics Education, History of Physics, Environmental Physics.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the symposium:

If you are planning to attend the above conference, we encourage you to visit our booth and speak to our representatives. We are eager to meet you in person and assist you with any queries that you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit the official website at https://gakkai-web.net/jps/jps_e_program/2024au/index.html.

13 August 2024
Join Us at the 2024 BMES Annual Meeting, 23–26 October 2024, Baltimore, USA


Conference: 2024 BMES Annual Meeting
Date: 23–26 October 2024
Location: Baltimore, USA

MDPI will be attending the 2024 BMES Annual Meeting as an exhibitor. We welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

Established in 1968, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) is a professional society for students, faculty, researchers, and industry professionals in the field of biomedical engineering. The conference aspect covers cancer treatment, heart disease, women’s health, global health disparities, and more. The meeting allows members to advocate for their innovative solutions, demonstrating their commitment to our society’s core value of health equity for all individuals. The Biomedical Engineering Society is governed by the BMES Board of Directors, and this board is elected from members of the society.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

If you are planning to attend the above conference, please do not hesitate to start an online conversation with us before visiting. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://www.bmes.org/bmes2024.

7 August 2024
MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter #14 - New Headquarters, Marketing, Poland

Welcome to the MDPI Insights: The CEO's Letter.

In these monthly letters, I will showcase two key aspects of our work at MDPI: our commitment to empowering researchers and our determination to facilitating open scientific exchange.


Opening Thoughts

MDPI Moves to New Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland

I am excited to share that MDPI has moved to a new state-of-the-art office space in Basel, Switzerland. This move consolidates our operations by bringing together our two previously separated Basel offices into one central location.

We are always growing our talent pool and encourage you to view our Careers Page for the positions available in Basel and across our offices.

New Address: Grosspeteranlage 5, CH-4052 Basel, Switzerland

Effective Date: 1 July 2024

This new chapter in our company’s journey is designed to continue our mission of positioning MDPI as a leader in Open Access (OA) publishing, highlighting our commitment to making scholarly research accessible to everyone.

Boasting modern amenities, improved meeting and event spaces designed to support our growing needs, the new location provides a more collaborative and efficient working environment for our employees. The location offers convenient accessibility to public transportation and is situated near the Basel SBB railway station, with a variety of nearby services and amenities.

In fact, I can see the trains right outside of my window as I write these lines!

This move marks an exciting milestone in MDPI’s development, and I am confident that the new headquarters will serve as an inspiring and productive space for everyone. We also very much look forward to welcoming visitors here. You can read more about MDPI's history here.

“This new chapter continues our mission of positioning MDPI as a leader in OA publishing”

For Those New to MDPI

A pioneer in scholarly, Open Access publishing, MDPI has supported academic communities since 1996. MDPI is leading the transition to Open Science by making a greater proportion of the research conducted worldwide free and accessible to everyone. To date, over 3.5 million researchers have entrusted MDPI with publishing their scientific discoveries. MDPI’s editorial process is bolstered by a network of dedicated reviewers, a team of 6,000 professional, well-trained staff members, and an in-house article submission platform designed to ensure efficient processes within its 440 fully Open Access titles. MDPI supports more than 800 academic institutions worldwide, helping them adhere to national mandates while facilitating authors’ publication in fully compliant (CC BY) Open Access journals.

Impactful Research

New and Emerging MDPI Journals Making an Immediate Impact

Unpacking some of the Impact Factor updates from the June CEO Letter, I wanted to dive a little deeper into the 137 MDPI journals which received Impact Factor for the first time.

Academic authors highly value efficient publishing processes, robust editorial support, and the opportunity to publish in high-impact journals. We are proud that our newly launched journals typically achieve coverage in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) of the Web of Science within just a few years, with a median time of only three years from release to inclusion.

As part of our commitment to advancing academic research and providing high-quality OA publishing, we actively seek new research areas to expand our portfolio of journals. We have a proven track record of successfully establishing new journals.

Our dedicated teams excel in fostering dynamic editorial boards and working closely with Editors-in-Chief (EiC) to define the precise scope and focus of each new journal. Our expertise extends to collaborating with indexing services, ensuring that our journals comply with best practices and are indexed promptly in all relevant databases.

Emerging Titles Ranked for the First Time

Our commitment to excellence is reflected in the annual impact metrics released this past June. The latest edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) showcases the integration of journals from the ESCI in the new unified category rankings, providing a simplified and more complete view of all journals within each subject category, including newly established titles.

Out of 137 new and developing MDPI journals ranked in the 2024 release, 79 are in the top half (Q1 or Q2) of their categories. Here is a breakdown of the number of MDPI’s ESCI-indexed journals by quartile in the JCR:

Quartile No. of journals
Q1 17 (12.4%)
Q2 62 (45.3%)
Q3 43 (31.4%)
Q4 15 (10.9%)
Not ranked (humanities-related journals) 2

These rankings highlight our success in rapidly establishing high-impact new journals. Among those that made it directly into the top 25% of their category are the International Journal of Neonatal Screening, Journal of Xenobiotics, Polysaccharides, Smart Cities, and thirteen other journals.

You can browse MDPI journals by Indexing. Simply visit our Journals page and select from the list of Indexing bodies in the top left-hand corner.

For quick reference, as at 31 July 2024:

Inside MDPI

MDPI Corporate Marketing Strategy and Team Meeting 2024

In July, I hosted the annual Corporate Marketing strategy and team-building activity with 15 of our team members.

The aim was to align the Corporate Marketing strategy with MDPI's goal of becoming the world's most trusted OA publisher. While we provide a high-level publishing experience for our authors, as seen from our surveys, we need to keep building on our transparent and open communication to foster trust within the scholarly community and continue enhancing our reputation.

The Corporate Marketing team plays an important role as the mouthpiece for all our major activities within MDPI, especially those that model what it means to be a trusted partner. The purpose of the strategy meeting was to develop a feeling of trust in one another and an understanding of how to inspire trust in the stakeholders with whom we interact.

“We need to keep building on our transparent and open communication to foster trust within the scholarly community”

We conducted a set of activities to facilitate that sense of mutual trust and trustworthiness. Examples of some activities we worked on during this strategy-building event include:

  • Exploring what trust means
    • ‘Letter to self’
    • ‘The brand I most trust’
  • Most Trusted Academic Publisher
    • ‘The brand I would like MDPI to become’
    • ‘The 2029 MDPI Annual Report’
    • Voice of Customer and Share of Voice – survey/data update on MDPI Brand Experience and Brand Perception
  • Integrate Trust-Based Objective into Marketing Plan
    • ‘Becoming the MDPI experience’
    • ‘Trusting the next steps’

While two days is not enough to finalize a marketing strategy, it is sufficient to get everyone who attended into the mindset of the direction in which we are working. From here, we will develop a program with next steps on main projects, update communications, and collaborate with team leads to incorporate this approach into our work going forward.

As a marketing team, we can communicate our messages, but trust has to be built at every touchpoint in the stakeholder journey. Just talking about it isn’t enough. We need to be about it. That’s a role each of us plays, from editorial to IT, from marketing to HR. We must build trust from the inside out. It starts with each manager and resonates out via every team member.

As a company, our goal is to give all stakeholders with whom we interact – whether internal or external – the experience of working with an organization it can trust.

Coming Together for Science

MDPI in Poland: Krakow Office

In July, I had the pleasure of visiting our Krakow office, following my recent trip to Warsaw to meet with the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

During these visits, I prioritized meeting with our Office Manager, Editorial Director, Group Leads, and members from various teams, including editorial, production, marketing, and journal relationship specialists, to understand their roles and current challenges. Instead of a formal presentation, I opted for an open discussion, sharing updates from headquarters to engage with colleagues in a more personal way.

Our Krakow office has many things to be proud of, including a large number of PhD colleagues (over a third of its staff holds a PhD degree). Krakow provides an opportunity for expanding beyond the 100 colleagues we currently have, by adding new hires in departments including editorial, production and marketing, among others.

About our Krakow office

  • Opened in 2020
  • 99 staff members as at 1 August 2024
  • Main Departments include Editorial, Production, English Department, JRS, PR

Our Krakow office participates in international conferences, conducts author trainings and scholar visits, and engages in local market outreach. The office is also a member of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for High Technology (IZTECH) and is working on expanding its local engagement.

Krakow is the second-largest city in Poland, with a population of about 800,000. It also has a large student population of around 128,000, with seven universities. This means that roughly one in every eight residents is a student.

Poland and MDPI

Poland is a crucial market for MDPI. From 2020 to June 2024, Poland ranked 7th in submissions and 5th in publications for MDPI research articles. As at 31 July 2024, Poland ranks 7th in total MDPI publications, with approximately 70,000 research papers.

Between 2020 and June 2024, 61,500 authors from Poland published with MDPI. As at 30 June 2024, there are 1,205 active Editorial Board Members (EBMs) from Poland, with 661 EBMs (55% of the total) having an H-index over 25.

We also have four Editors-in-Chief (EiC) from Poland leading our journals: Coatings, Venereology, Advances in Respiratory Medicine, and Limnological Review, along with six Section EiC.

In 2023, we received approximately 21,000 submissions from Polish-affiliated authors, of which 12,032 were published.

“Poland is a crucial market for MDPI”

Meeting with Ministry of Education

On 22 July, we visited Warsaw to meet with the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

We were pleased to learn that they are strong supporters of the OA publishing model and value MDPI’s approach to the peer-review process, including our high ethical standards for quality control.

In 2023 Polish authors predominantly published their papers in OA, with MDPI holding the largest market share in OA publications within the country.

Our commitment to collaborating with Polish institutions is evident through our 33 Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) agreements with prestigious institutions such as the University of Warsaw, the University of Wroclaw, the Jagiellonian University, and Gdańsk University of Technology. Through IOAP discounts, a healthy waiver rate, and our peer-review voucher system, we provide the Polish scholarly community with significant savings in OA publishing. The Minister greatly appreciated these efforts and our commitment to offsetting some of the APC costs.

We discussed industry concerns about the threat of papermills and presented the preventive measures MDPI has in place to mitigate this risk and uphold high ethical standards. We informed them of our commitment to combating papermills, including our involvement with United2Act and the STM Research Integrity Hub, as well as our efforts to expand our research integrity team and explore proactive measures.

Closing Thoughts

MDPI Thought Leadership Op-ed on Open Access is Now Live on Politico

I am pleased to share that our thought leadership Op-ed piece on Open Access (OA) is now live on Politico. This is a nice push for continued influence and support of OA among policymakers and industry leaders.

Why Politico?

Politico's reputation as a highly credible and influential news platform makes it an important venue to reach key opinion leaders (KOL) from academia, policymakers, and thought leaders from many industries. This visibility helps promote the OA philosophy.

Open Access: A Moral Imperative for Progress

In this piece, I discuss the necessity of making scientific research freely available to all. I argue that publicly funded research should be publicly accessible, highlighting how OA democratizes scientific knowledge, accelerates research availability, and fosters collaboration.

“Open Access is a fundamental right for all citizens”

Democratizing scientific communication
The impulse to democratize scientific communication is nothing new. OA may seem like a recent innovation, but its principles have historical roots traceable to Europe in the 15th century. Just as the printing revolution accelerated the dissemination of new ideas, OA publishing unlocks new scientific insights that would otherwise only be accessible to a few.

Benefits for scholars: amplifying impact through Open Access
Authors publishing in an OA journal can expect more citations of their work, increasing its potential impact. Research findings that are freely available are more likely to be cited than those hidden behind a paywall. Freedom of access greatly increases the potential audience for each paper, fostering a sense of community among researchers worldwide. Heightened visibility can attract prospective collaborators and employers for young scientists. At MDPI, we believe that all these factors can only accelerate the advance of science. Additionally, authors retain copyright in their work instead of signing it away, permitting broader dissemination under Creative Commons licenses and increasing its capacity for impact.

The moral imperative
OA is not just a matter of scientific policy; it is a fundamental right for all citizens and a prerequisite for a brighter, more informed future. Publicly funded research should be a top priority, and I am pleased to see policy moving in this direction. Our capacity to generate transformative scientific insights has to be democratized. The question today is no longer whether we can afford to embrace OA; rather, it is whether we can afford not to.

Stefan Tochev
Chief Executive Officer
MDPI AG

6 August 2024
Applied Sciences | Top 10 Cited Papers in 2023 in the Section “Mechanical Engineering”

“An Overview of Industrial Robots Control and Programming Approaches”
by Pietro Bilancia, Juliana Schmidt, Roberto Raffaeli, Margherita Peruzzini and Marcello Pellicciari
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(4), 2582; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042582
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/4/2582

“Additive Manufacturing for Lightweighting Satellite Platform”
by Alberto Boschetto, Luana Bottini, Luciano Macera and Somayeh Vatanparast
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(5), 2809; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13052809
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/5/2809

“A Bearing Fault Diagnosis Method Based on Wavelet Denoising and Machine Learning”
by Shaokun Fu, Yize Wu, Rundong Wang and Mingzhi Mao
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(10), 5936; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13105936
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/10/5936

“Vibration Attenuation in a High-Rise Hybrid-Timber Building: A Comparative Study”
by Suvash Chapain and Aly Mousaad Aly
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(4), 2230; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042230
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/4/2230

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by Michal Adamczak, Adam Kolinski, Justyna Trojanowska and Jozef Husár
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(3), 1393; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031393
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/3/1393

“Equivalent Stress Intensity Factor: The Consequences of the Lack of a Unique Definition”
by Sérgio M. O. Tavares and Paulo M. S. T. de Castro
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(8), 4820; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13084820
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/8/4820

“Topology Optimization for Minimum Compliance with Material Volume and Buckling Constraints under Design-Dependent Loads”
by Yuanteng Jiang, Ke Zhan, Jie Xia and Min Zhao
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(1), 646; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010646
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/1/646

“Dynamical Effects of the Increase of the Axle Load on European Freight Railway Vehicles”
by Nicola Bosso, Matteo Magelli and Nicolò Zampieri
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(3), 1318; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031318
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/3/1318

“Development of a Collaborative Robotic Platform for Autonomous Auscultation”
by Daniel Lopes, Luís Coelho and Manuel F. Silva
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(3), 1604; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031604
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/3/1604

“Proactive Mission Planning of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Fleets Used in Offshore Wind Farm Maintenance”
by Zbigniew Banaszak, Grzegorz Radzki, Izabela Nielsen, Rasmus Frederiksen and Grzegorz Bocewicz
Applied Sciences 2023, 13(14), 8449; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148449
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/14/8449

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