Announcements

26 January marks the International Day of Clean Energy, a global initiative that aims to drive equitable and sustainable energy transitions, leaving no one behind and protecting our planet. As emphasized by the UN, clean energy is essential for closing the energy access gap (an estimated 1.5 billion people in rural areas still use unsafe, unhealthy and inefficient cooking systems) and for combatting climate change (over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by fossil fuel energy production). Clean energy fuels socio-economic progress, empowering vulnerable communities in terms of education, healthcare and livelihoods, while also addressing the issue of polluting fuels, which are linked to 3.2 million premature deaths each year.

Join us in celebrating this International Day of Clean Energy by exploring research that turns global goals, such as Sustainable Development Goal 7, into actionable solutions. Together, these works amplify the UN’s call to action, uniting researchers, policymakers, and innovators to build a future in which clean energy benefits everyone and safeguards our planet.

“Solar, Wind, Hydrogen, and Bioenergy-Based Hybrid System for Off-Grid Remote Locations: Techno-Economic and Environmental Analysis”
by Roksana Yasmin, Md. Nurun Nabi, Fazlur Rashid and Md. Alamgir Hossain
Clean Technol. 2025, 7(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol7020036

“Quantifying Cybersecurity Impacts on Clean Energy Market Volatility: A Time-Frequency Approach”
by Catalin Gheorghe and Oana Panazan
Mathematics 2025, 13(8), 1320; https://doi.org/10.3390/math13081320

“Lifecycle Management of Hydrogen Pipelines: Design, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation Strategies for Canada’s Clean Energy Transition”
by Myo Myo Khaing and Shunde Yin
Energies 2025, 18(2), 240; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18020240

“A Comprehensive Review of Green Energy Technologies: Towards Sustainable Clean Energy Transition and Global Net-Zero Carbon Emissions”
by Vinod Kumar Sharma, Giulia Monteleone, Giacobbe Braccio, Cosmas N. Anyanwu and Nneoma N. Aneke.
Processes 2025, 13(1), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13010069

“Integration of Crops, Livestock, and Solar Panels: A Review of Agrivoltaic Systems”
by Diego Soto-Gómez
Agronomy 2024, 14(8), 1824; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081824

“Long-Term Energy System Modelling for a Clean Energy Transition and Improved Energy Security in Botswana’s Energy Sector Using the Open-Source Energy Modelling System”
by Ranea Saad, Fernando Plazas-Niño, Carla Cannone, Rudolf Yeganyan, Mark Howells and Hannah Luscombe
Climate 2024, 12(6), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12060088

“Long-Term Energy System Modelling for a Clean Energy Transition in Egypt’s Energy Sector”
by Anna Gibson, Zen Makuch, Rudolf Yeganyan, Naomi Tan, Carla Cannone and Mark Howells
Energies 2024, 17(10), 2397; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17102397

“Magnesium-Based Hydrogen Storage Alloys: Advances, Strategies, and Future Outlook for Clean Energy Applications”
by Yaohui Xu, Yang Zhou, Yuting Li, Yechen Hao, Pingkeng Wu and Zhao Ding
Molecules 2024, 29(11), 2525; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29112525

“Real-Time Monitoring of Wind Turbine Bearing Using Simple Neural Network on Raspberry Pi”
by Tianhao Wang, Hongying Meng, Rui Qin, Fan Zhang and Asoke Kumar Nandi.
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(7), 3129; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14073129

“A Sustainability Approach between the Water–Energy–Food Nexus and Clean Energy”
by Gricelda Herrera-Franco, Lady Bravo-Montero, Jhon Caicedo-Potosí and Paúl Carrión-Mero
Water 2024, 16(7), 1017; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16071017

“Energy Management Strategy for DC Micro-Grid System with the Important Penetration of Renewable Energy”
by Christian Bipongo Ndeke, Marco Adonis and Ali Almaktoof
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 2659; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062659

“Energy Transition in Vietnam: A Strategic Analysis and Forecast”
by Minh Phuong Nguyen, Tatiana Ponomarenko and Nga Nguyen
Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 1969; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051969

“Natural Gas Matters: LNG and India’s Quest for Clean Energy”
by Subhadip Ghosh, Rajarshi Majumder and Bidisha Chatterjee
Gases 2024, 4(1), 1-17; https://doi.org/10.3390/gases4010001

“Assessment of Bioenergy Potential from Biomass Waste to Improve Access to Clean Energy for Cooking in Mali”
by Iván Segura-Rodríguez and Ramchandra Bhandari
Sustainability 2024, 16(1), 455; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010455

Welcome to our webinar on “Non-Thermal Plasma and Its Environmental Applications”. We will explore how this innovative plasma technology is revolutionizing environmental remediation and sustainable agriculture. Non-thermal plasma, through its generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, offers powerful solutions to pressing challenges in water pollution treatment and food security.

Our distinguished speakers will share their groundbreaking research on the plasma-based degradation of persistent pollutants in wastewater and the enhancement of seed germination and crop productivity through plasma-activated water. Together, we will examine how these chemical-free, eco-friendly technologies are paving the way for cleaner water resources and more sustainable agricultural practices.

Thank you for joining us in this important exploration of plasma science for environmental sustainability. Let us embark on this journey towards a cleaner, healthier planet.

Date: 16 February 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. CET | 5:00 p.m. CST Asia
Webinar ID: 898 2924 4066
Website: https://sciforum.net/event/Processes-18

Register now for free!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email outlining how to join this webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Register anyway, and we will let you know when the recording is available to watch.

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. Prajwal Lamichhane, Laboratory of Adsorption and Catalysis (LADCA), Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Belgium;
• Dr. Vikas Rathore, Futuristic Science Research Center, School of Science, Walailak University, Thailand;
• Dr. Roshan Chalise, St. Xavier’s College; and Amrit Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Relevant Special Issue:
“Emerging Plasma-Based Technologies for Sustainable Processes and Resource Recovery”
Guest Editors: Dr. Tirtha Raj Acharya, Dr. Pradeep Lamichhane and Dr. Prajwal Lamichhane
Submission deadline: 30 June 2026

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Processes 2025 Travel Award. The award has been granted to Dr. Guillermo Diaz Sainz, a Postdoc at the University of Cantabria, Spain, and Dr. Arianna Parisi, a Postdoc at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy.

Each winner will receive an honorarium of CHF 800 and an electronic certificate.

With so many high-quality applicants, the evaluation process and final decision were challenging. We would like to thank all the applicants for submitting their diverse and fascinating range of research topics. On behalf of the assessment committee, we congratulate the winners on their accomplishments.

Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Cravotto
Editor-in-Chief of Processes

We have expanded our open access portfolio with eight new journals publishing their inaugural issues in December 2025, as well as three journal transfers. These additions span physical sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, environmental and Earth sciences, medicine and pharmacology, and public health and healthcare. We extend our sincere thanks to the Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, and Editorial Board Members who are shaping these journals’ direction. All journals uphold strong editorial standards through a thorough peer review process, ensuring impactful open access scholarship.

Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. If you would like to create more new journals, you are welcome to send an application here, or contact the New Journal Committee (newjournal-committee@mdpi.com).

MDPI Singapore is pleased to announce our upcoming Academic Publishing Workshop, hosted in collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak. This workshop aims to support postgraduate students, early career researchers, and academic staff in strengthening their knowledge of scholarly publishing, research visibility, and best practices for successful manuscript submission.

What participants can expect:

Across two interactive sessions, the workshop will cover the following:

• Understanding the scholarly publishing landscape;
• Choosing the right journal for your research;
• Preparing a high-quality manuscript;
• Navigating ethical considerations in academic publishing;
• Enhancing research visibility and impact;
• Insights into MDPI’s editorial and peer-review processes. 

Participants will gain practical guidance, real-world examples, and actionable strategies to support successful publication in reputable journals. 

Event Details:
Session 1
Date: 15 January 2026
Time: 2:00–4:00 p.m. 

Session 2
Date: 16 January 2026
Time: 9:30–11:30 a.m. 

MDPI Speakers:

The journal Processes (ISSN: 2227-9717) is inviting applications for the Best PhD Thesis Award. This award aims to recognize young scholars for producing outstanding PhD theses in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, materials, or related process/systems engineering research. The applications will be assessed by an evaluation committee led by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Cravotto.

Eligibility and requirements:

• The candidate must be a PhD student or recently qualified PhD who has produced an outstanding PhD thesis;
• The PhD thesis must be their original work;
• The PhD thesis must be defended in 2025.

Required application documents:

• An executive summary of the PhD thesis in English of around 3000 words;
• A letter from the PhD supervisor recommending the candidate for consideration for this award;
• The candidate’s CV, including a list of publications connected with the thesis;
• An electronic copy of the PhD thesis;
• A scanned copy of the PhD diploma (or certificate of studying at a school or research institute as a PhD student going to graduate or participate in graduation thesis defenses).

The prize:

• CHF 500;
• A certificate;
• A voucher to waive the Article Processing Charges (APCs) for one submission in Processes (subject to peer review)—valid for one year.

Please apply by clicking the link https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/awards/3729 by 31 July 2026. The prize will be awarded at the end of September 2026.

Processes Editorial Office

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Dr. Zhiwei Gao as the new Section Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Automation Control Systems” in Processes (ISSN: 2227-9717).

Prof. Dr. Zhiwei Gao is a Reader at the School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics at Northumbria University, UK. His research interests include model-based control, data-driven modelling, estimation and filtering, fault diagnosis and health management, resilient control, intelligent optimisation, power electronics, wind energy systems, wave energy systems, and electric vehicles.

Prof. Dr. Zhiwei Gao has authored over 260 papers published in scientific journals and conference proceedings. He has editorial experience as an academic editor for over 10 refereed journals such as IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, ISA Transactions (Elsevier), Renewable Energy (Elsevier), Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing (Springer), and so forth. Prof. Dr. Gao was appointed as IEEE Fellow in 2023. He is also a Fellow of AAIA and Fellow of AIIA. He is the recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship and the RAEng/Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Zhiwei Gao, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views on the current state of the field:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take on the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
The journal Processes is an internationally excellent journal in chemical engineering, industrial processes, energy, automation, control systems, and so forth, which has published many influential books, special issues and papers, stimulating the research and applications in the field. It is a challenging and demanding task to take the Section Editor-in-Chief role in a research field with dynamic changes and considerable competition. Following the mission of the journal, my main aim is to promote the journal to become an internationally leading journal especially in the field of automation and control systems and their applications in industries.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
My vision is to further enhance the influence of the journal in the field, especially in process control, automation, and control systems and their applications, by attracting contributions from the leading researchers in the area. The automation control system section will become more important in the era of the information age and energy revolution.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
With the development of artificial intelligence, automation and control systems are ushering in many breakthroughs which have brought opportunities to our journal to publish timely high-quality papers owing to the rapid publication property. The updated data of our journal will provide sources to further promote the research and application in the field.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
The journal Processes supports open access science, which allows authors to hold the copyright of their research. Moreover, open access schemes enable a rapid publication which is particularly important for the authors to share the research outcomes with the scientific community promptly.

We wish Prof. Dr. Zhiwei Gao every success in his new position, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.

We are pleased to announce updates to our article template, aimed at improving the readability and visual appeal of our publications. The following updates will be applied to articles published in volumes in 2026, starting from 19 December 2025.

Left information bar:

• Updated the logo and URL for “Check for updates”;
• Removed the “Citation” section (Note: Citation details remain accessible via “Cite” in the online article version);
• Changed the link in “Copyright” to a hyperlink format.

Footer:

• Added a DOI link at the bottom-right corner of each page.

The updated template is now available for download from the Instructions for Authors page of each journal.

We hope that the new version of the template will provide users with better experience and make the process more convenient.

For any questions or suggestions, please contact our production team at production@mdpi.com.

Name: Dr. Seyed Kourosh Mahjour
Affiliations: ¹ Everglades University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA; ² Railroad Commission of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
Research interests: petroleum engineering; carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS); environmental sustainability

The following is a short interview with Dr. Seyed Kourosh Mahjour:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your field of research?
I am an Adjunct Professor at Everglades University and an Engineering Specialist at the Railroad Commission of Texas. My research bridges petroleum engineering and data science, focusing on computational workflows that improve decision-making under uncertainty in subsurface energy systems. I specialize in carbon capture and storage (CCS), reservoir characterization, and the use of AI and machine learning for energy and environmental applications.

2. What key aspects do you typically focus on during the review process?  
I mainly focus on novelty, methodological rigor, and clarity. The study must provide a meaningful scientific contribution, apply sound and reproducible methods, and present results that are logically supported by data. Clear structure, accurate analysis, and adherence to ethical standards are essential for a high-quality manuscript.

3. In your opinion, what qualities are essential for a reviewer to possess?
A reviewer should combine expertise, objectivity, and diligence. Deep knowledge of the field ensures meaningful evaluation, while fairness and constructive feedback help authors improve their work. Timeliness and professionalism are equally vital to maintaining an efficient and credible review process.

4. As the recipient of the 2025 outstanding reward for MDPI, do you have any tips or experiences to share that could help other reviewers improve the quality of their reviews?
A good review is both systematic and constructive. Read the manuscript more than once—first for overall understanding, then for details—and provide specific, actionable feedback rather than general remarks. Finally, stay updated with current research and always consider the journal’s scope when assessing suitability.

5. Based on your experience reviewing manuscripts, what advice would you give to authors?
Ensure your work aligns with the journal’s scope and is clearly written and well-structured. Describe your methodology transparently, present results effectively with clear visuals, and carefully proofread your manuscript. A concise, compelling abstract and proper formatting also make a strong first impression.