Announcements

MDPI is honored to announce the recipients of the 2025 Best Paper Awards, celebrating exceptional research for its scientific merit and broad impact. After a rigorous evaluation process conducted by Academic Editors, this year’s awards showcase papers that stand out for their innovation, relevance, and high-quality presentation.

Out of a highly competitive pool, 396 winning papers have been recognized for their exceptional contributions. We congratulate these authors for pushing the boundaries of their respective disciplines.

At MDPI, we are dedicated to broadening the reach of innovative science. To learn more about the award-winning papers and explore research projects in your field of study, please visit the following links:

• Biology and Life Sciences;
• Business and Economics;
• Chemistry and Materials Sciences;
• Computer Sciences and Mathematics;
• Engineering;
• Environmental and Earth Sciences;
• Medicine and Pharmacology;
• Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities;
• Physical Sciences;
• Public Health and Healthcare.

About MDPI Awards:

To reward the global research community and enhance academic dialogue, MDPI journals regularly host award programs across diverse scientific disciplines. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and whose work drives the advancement of their fields.

Explore the Best Paper Awards open for participation, please click here.

MDPI is delighted to announce the establishment of the Michele Parrinello Award. Named in honor of Professor Michele Parrinello, the award celebrates his exceptional contributions and his profound impact on the field of computational physical science research.

The award will be presented biennially to distinguished scientists who have made outstanding achievements and contributions in the field of computational physical science—spanning physics, chemistry, and materials science.

About Professor Michele Parrinello

"Do not be afraid of new things. I see it many times when we discuss a new thing that young people are scared to go against the mainstream a little bit, thinking what is going to happen to me and so on. Be confident that what you do is meaningful, and do not be afraid, do not listen too much to what other people have to say.”

——Professor Michele Parrinello

Born in Messina in 1945, he received his degree from the University of Bologna and is currently affiliated with the Italian Institute of Technology. Professor Parrinello is known for his many technical innovations in the field of atomistic simulations and for a wealth of interdisciplinary applications ranging from materials science to chemistry and biology. Together with Roberto Car, he introduced ab initio molecular dynamics, also known as the Car–Parrinello method, marking the beginning of a new era both in the area of electronic structure calculations and in molecular dynamics simulations. He is also known for the Parrinello–Rahman method, which allows crystalline phase transitions to be studied by molecular dynamics. More recently, he has introduced metadynamics for the study of rare events and the calculation of free energies.

For his work, he has been awarded many prizes and honorary degrees. He is a member of numerous academies and learned societies, including the German Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, the British Royal Society, and the Italian Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, which is the major academy in his home country of Italy.

Award Committee

The award committee will be chaired by Professor Xin-Gao Gong, a computational condensed matter physicist, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and professor at the Department of Physics, Fudan University. Professor Xin-Gao Gong will lead a panel of several senior experts in the field to oversee the evaluation and selection process. The Institute for Computational Physical Sciences at Fudan University (Shanghai, China), led by Professor Xin-Gao Gong, will serve as the supporting institute for the award.

"We hope the Michele Parrinello Award will recognize scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of computational condensed matter physics and at the same time set a benchmark for the younger generation, providing clear direction for their pursuit—this is precisely the original intention behind establishing the award."

——Professor Xin-Gao Gong

The first edition of the award was officially launched on 1 November 2025. Nominations will be accepted before the end of March 2026. For further details, please visit mparrinelloaward.org.

About the MDPI Sustainability Foundation and MDPI Awards

The Michele Parrinello Award is part of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing sustainable development through scientific progress and global collaboration. The foundation also oversees the World Sustainability Award, the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award, and the Tu Youyou Award. The establishment of the Michele Parrinello Award will further enrich the existing award portfolio, providing continued and diversified financial support to outstanding professionals across various fields. 

In addition to these foundation-level awards, MDPI journals also recognize outstanding contributions through a range of honors, including Best Paper Awards, Outstanding Reviewer Awards, Young Investigator Awards, Travel Awards, Best PhD Thesis Awards, Editor of Distinction Awards, and others. These initiatives aim to recognize excellence across disciplines and career stages, contributing to the long-term vitality and sustainability of scientific research.

Find more information on awards here.

Following from our two previous successful editions, we invite you to submit your abstracts and participate in the 3rd International Conference on AI Sensors and Transducers, taking place from 2 to 7 August 2026 in Jeju, South Korea.

Organized by MDPI and the open access journals Sensors, Micromachines, AI Sensors, Micro and Remote Sensing, this in-person conference will once again bring together experts and participating researchers who will share insights and innovations in sensors, sensing technology, transducers and artificial intelligence.

Start preparing your abstracts:
Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your work to peers and leading experts in AI-enhanced sensing systems and transducers. We will be announcing the session topics at AIS 2026 soon.

Find out more about the instructions for authors: https://sciforum.net/event/AIS2026?section=#instructions.

Find out more about the publication opportunities available for authors: https://sciforum.net/event/AIS2026?section=#Publicationopportunities.
Please feel free to share the information about this conference to your colleagues and students.

We look forward to welcoming you in Jeju!

The organizing committee of the 3rd International Conference on AI Sensors and Transducers (AIS 2026).

As a pioneer in open access publishing, MDPI maintains rigorous publication standards. This mission relies on the dedication and expertise of our reviewers, who invest their time and knowledge to ensure the quality and integrity of the research we publish.

In 2025, over 209,000 reviewers contributed to the peer-review process at MDPI, providing more than 1.3 million review reports for our journals. To express our gratitude, MDPI’s Reviewer Recognition Program highlights reviewers across over 400 journals, featuring those who have assessed at least one manuscript and agreed to be acknowledged.

In addition, MDPI has identified its Top 1000 Reviewers of 2024 to recognize those whose expertise, dedication, and thoughtful evaluations were particularly outstanding.

Many journals have also established Outstanding Reviewer Awards to honor our reviewers’ commitment to publication excellence. Together with the Exceptional Reviewer List, we showcase the importance of reviewers’ work and their time and dedication.

These initiatives serve to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude towards the whole reviewer community. In recognition of their contributions, we also welcome new researchers to join this community. If you would like to contribute to open access publishing, learn more about the reviewers’ benefits and sign up to join us.

The message from the webinar’s chair:

It is my great pleasure to invite you to this webinar, “The Convergence of Foundation Models and Autonomous Systems”. We have an exciting lineup of talks exploring the frontiers of reinforcement learning, foundation models, and intelligent infrastructure.

Our first speaker is me, Prof. Dr. Shiho Kim, Professor in the School of Integrated Technology at Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea. In my session, I will present a talk on “Reinforcement Learning for Fail-Operational Systems with Disentangled Dual-Skill Variables”, focusing on how reinforcement learning can be made more resilient and adaptive to failures, enabling continuous and safe operation in critical systems.

Our second speaker is Prof. Dr. De Curtò, a tenured recognized Researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Professor at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid. His talk, “Foundation Models and UAV-IoT Integration for Smart City Applications: From AI-Driven Traffic Optimization to Cooperative Perception and Beyond”, will highlight cutting-edge research at the intersection of AI, IoT, and smart city technologies. With extensive contributions to vehicular technologies, AI, and IoT, and having produced over 40 publications, Prof. De Curtò brings substantial expertise to this domain.

We look forward to welcoming you to this conference and the insightful presentations and engaging discussions that will follow.

Date: 2 April 2026 at 9:00 a.m. CEST | 4:00 p.m. KST
Webinar ID: 830 2178 0410
Landing page: https://sciforum.net/event/Cluster-6

Register now for free!

Program

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

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

Webinar Chairs and Keynote Speaker:

• Prof. Dr. Shiho Kim, Yonsei University, South Korea;
• Prof. Dr. Joaquim de Curtò i Díaz, BARCELONA Supercomputing Center, Spain.

Relevant Special Issues:

“Emerging Paradigms in AI, Autonomous Systems, and Intelligent Technologies”
Guest Editors: Dr. Florian Ion Tiberiu Petrescu, Dr. Liviu Marian Ungureanu, Dr. Iulian Sorin Munteanu and Prof. Dr. Péter Galambos
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 April 2026

“Advances in Autonomous Underwater Drones: 2nd Edition”
Guest Editors: Dr. Daxiong Ji, Dr. Asiya Khan, Dr. Dena Bazazian and Dr. Mohd Hisham Bin Nordin
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 May 2026

“Advances in Networks for Transport Infrastructure Management and Safety”
Guest Editors: Dr. Apostolos Anagnostopoulos, Dr. Nawaf Alnawmasi and Dr. Athanasios (Akis) Theofilatos
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026

“Emerging Trends in Air Traffic Flow and Airport Operations Control”
Guest Editors: Dr. Lei Yang, Prof. Dr. Yan Xu and Dr. Yutong Chen
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026

“Emerging Approaches to Intelligent and Autonomous Systems”
Guest Editors: Dr. Emmanouil Tsardoulias and Prof. Dr. Andreas L. Symeonidis
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026

Relevant feature papers:

“Reinforcement Learning for Fail-Operational Systems with Disentangled Dual-Skill Variables”
by Taewoo Kim and Shiho Kim
Technologies 2025, 13(4), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13040156

“AI-Driven UAV and IoT Traffic Optimization: Large Language Models for Congestion and Emission Reduction in Smart Cities”
by Álvaro Moraga, J. de Curtò, I. de Zarzà and Carlos T. Calafate
Drones 2025, 9(4), 248; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones9040248

MDPI will attend the IEEE World Conference on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI) as an exhibitor. This meeting will be held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from 21 to 26 June 2026.

WCCI 2026 will take place in the beautiful and historic city of Maastricht and will offer a unique opportunity to connect, learn, and shape the future of our field. This congress brings together the three flagship conferences of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society:

• The International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN);
• The IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE);
• The IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (IEEE CEC).

The following open access journals will be represented:

• Mathematical and Computational Applications;
• Computation;
• Algorithms;
• AI;
• Computers;
• Logistics;
• Information;
• Cryptography;
• Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy;
• Technologies;
• Modelling;
• Applied Sciences;
• Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction;
• Biomimetics;
• AppliedMath;
• Digital;
• Data;
• Future Internet;
• Big Data and Cognitive Computing;
• Robotics;
• Games;
• Mathematics.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start an online conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person at our booth and answering any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://attend.ieee.org/wcci-2026/.

Conference: The 15th National Youth Academic Conference on Surface Engineering
Date: 26–28 April 2026
Location: Lanzhou, China

To foster the growth of young scholars in surface engineering and advance the development of the surface engineering discipline, technology, and industry, the 1st Youth Academic Forum on Surface Engineering was successfully held in Lanzhou on 11 August 2006. To date, the National Youth Academic Conference on Surface Engineering has been successfully convened 14 times in Lanzhou, Yinchuan, Chongqing, Suzhou, Beijing, Yangzhou, Ningbo and other cities, with the conference attendance exceeding 1000 participants.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Lubricants;
• Surfaces;
• Coatings
• Biomimetics;
• Nanomanufacturing;
• Micro;
• Corrosion and Materials Degradation;
• Metals;
• Aerospace;
• Technologies;
• Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing;
• Journal of Marine Science and Engineering;
• Physchem.

Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person at our booth and answering any questions you may have. For more information regarding this conference, please visit the following link: http://2026.bmgc.cn/

Conference: The 10th National Young Scientists Forum on Additive Manufacturing
Date: 17–19 April 2026
Location: Beijing, China

The National Young Scientists Forum on Additive Manufacturing was first hosted by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2015. Since then, it has enjoyed nine successful iterations. Over the past decade, this forum has become one of the most influential academic platforms for young researchers in China’s additive manufacturing community.

The upcoming forum will focus on the theme “Frontier Interdisciplinary Integration and Innovation in Additive Manufacturing”. Experts and scholars in the field are invited to gather in Beijing to exchange ideas on the latest scientific advances and explore opportunities for future innovation and collaboration.

MDPI will be attending this event as an exhibitor, welcoming researchers from diverse backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at this conference:

• JMMP;
• Metals;
• Inventions;
• Materials;
• Metrology;
• Alloys;
• Construction Materials;
• Technologies.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please feel free to 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 this event, please visit https://meeting.cmes.org/?sid=1669&mid=417&v=100.

Conference: The 2026 ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces
Date: 23–26 March 2026
Location: Paphos, Cyprus

MDPI will be attending the 2026 ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces as an exhibitor. We welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

The 2026 ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (ACM IUI) is the annual premier venue, where researchers and practitioners meet and discuss state-of-the-art advances at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Ideal IUI submissions should address practical HCI challenges using machine intelligence and discuss both computational and human-centric aspects of such methodologies, techniques, and systems.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Multimodal Technologies and Interaction;
• Computation;
• AI;
• Logistics;
• Computers;
• J. Imaging;
• Big Data and Cognitive Computing;
• Electronics;
• IoT;
• Digital;
• Technologies.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to start an online 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 website: https://iui.acm.org/2026/.

1. “Control Methods and AI Application for Grid-Connected PV Inverter: A Review”
by Feng Wang, Ayiguzhali Tuluhong, Bao Luo and Ailitabaier Abudureyimu
Technologies 2025, 13(11), 535; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13110535
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/11/535

2. “A Review of Mamdani, Takagi–Sugeno, and Type-2 Fuzzy Controllers for MPPT and Power Management in Photovoltaic Systems”
by Rodrigo Vidal-Martínez, José R. García-Martínez, Rafael Rojas-Galván, José M. Álvarez-Alvarado, Mario Gozález-Lee and Juvenal Rodríguez-Reséndiz
Technologies 2025, 13(9), 422; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13090422
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/9/422

3. “Smart Energy Systems Based on Next-Generation Power Electronic Devices”
by Nikolay Hinov
Technologies 2024, 12(6), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies12060078
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/12/6/78

4. “Sustainable Swarm Intelligence: Assessing Carbon-Aware Optimization in High-Performance AI Systems”
by Vasileios Alevizos, Nikitas Gerolimos, Eleni Aikaterini Leligkou, Giorgos Hompis, Georgios Priniotakis and George A. Papakostas
Technologies 2025, 13(10), 477; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13100477
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/10/477

5. “A Study on Interpretable Electric Load Forecasting Model with Spatiotemporal Feature Fusion Based on Attention Mechanism”
by Shuaishuai Li and Weizhen Chen
Technologies 2025, 13(6), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13060219
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/6/219

6. “A New LCL Filter Design Method for Single-Phase Photovoltaic Systems Connected to the Grid via Micro-Inverters”
by Heriberto Adamas-Pérez, Mario Ponce-Silva, Jesús Darío Mina-Antonio, Abraham Claudio-Sánchez, Omar Rodríguez-Benítez and Oscar Miguel Rodríguez-Benítez
Technologies 2024, 12(6), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies12060089
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/12/6/89

7. “Open-Source Hardware Design of Modular Solar DC Nanogrid”
by Md Motakabbir Rahman, Sara Khan and Joshua M. Pearce
Technologies 2024, 12(9), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies12090167
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/12/9/167

8. “SWOT-AHP Analysis of the Importance and Adoption of Pumped-Storage Hydropower”
by Mladen Bošnjaković, Nataša Veljić, Jelena Topić Božič and Simon Muhič
Technologies 2025, 13(7), 305; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13070305
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/7/305

9. “Data-Driven Probabilistic Analysis of Power System Faults Using Monte Carlo Simulation”
by Franjo Pranjić and Peter Virtič
Technologies 2026, 14(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies14010014
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/14/1/14

10. “Energy Storage Systems in Micro-Grid of Hybrid Renewable Energy Solutions”
by Helena M. Ramos, Oscar E. Coronado-Hernández, Mohsen Besharat, Armando Carravetta, Oreste Fecarotta and Modesto Pérez-Sánchez
Technologies 2025, 13(11), 527; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13110527
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/13/11/527