Maria Losurdo svolge le sue attività di ricerca dal 1996 nel Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. La sua attività scientifica si sviluppa nel settore delle metodologie di crescita e caratterizzazione dei Materiali con riferimento particolare alla preparazione di film sottili e di nanostrutture, e allo studio delle correlazioni tra composizione, struttura e proprietà funzionali. Tale attività, svolta attraverso collaborazioni nazionali ed internazionali ha prodotto più di 350 lavori su rivista, diversi libri e oltre 400 contributi quali presentazioni a congressi nazionali ed internazionali, conferenze e seminari su invito. Ha ricoperto e ricopre ruoli di responsabilità di strutture scientifiche e di coordinazione di progetti europei ed internazionali. È stata ed è componente di consigli scientifici e di commissioni scientifiche, di commissioni di esame e di valutazione, di comitati organizzatori di convegni nazionali ed internazionali. E’ stata Adjunct Professor presso la Duke University, NC, USA e Visiting Scientist presso università e laboratori stranieri quali, Dept. Chemistry at North Carolina University – US, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosi-Mexico, Dept. of Materials Engineering - Shandong University – China e presso il Department of Chemistry at Seoul National Univ. Korea. Svolge attività di docenza specialistica in corsi di alta formazione (Master, Scuole di Dottorato). Svolge anche attività di divulgazione scientifica a livello internazionale. E’ editore del libro Springer Verlag “ellipsometry at the Nanoscale”. E’ Membro della Commissione IUPAP C10-Structure and Dynamics of Condensed Matter. Inoltre, fa parte del HE-EIC- Women Leadership Programme.

Before joining ICMATE as Director, Maria Losurdo served CNR since 1996. She brings more than 25 years of experience in research and higher education to the role. Losurdo received her Chemistry degree from University of Bari in 1990 and her doctorate in Chemistry and Material Science in 1994. She was Adjunct Professor at ECE Department -Duke University, NC, USA and Visiting Scientist at several International Universities, including the Dept of Chemistry at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -US, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosi-Mexico, the Dept. of Materials Engineering - Shandong University – China and the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National Univ. Korea. She teaches Master and PhD courses on materials processing, engineering and characterization.

Losurdo’s work focuses on nanomaterials growth and characterization, optics, plasmonics, semiconductors growth, and low temperature plasma processing of materials with over 300 publications in various journals. Her research work covers alternative materials for plasmonics, creating the concept of “broadband active tunable phase change plasmonics”. She is active in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of 2D materials. Nowadays, she is one of the pioneers of the phase-change 2D and transdimensional materials, including novel optically activated phase-change chalcogenides and oxide materials.

Her current research also looks at how to integrate plasmonic systems with chemical, catalytic, sensing, energy and photonic systems.

Losurdo is Elected Member of the IUPAP Committee C10- Structure and Dynamics of Condensed Matter

She is part of the Horizon Europe EIC-Women Leadership Programme and as of 2008 she has been coordinating several European projects (FP7, H2020, HE) on nanomaterials, 2D materials and optronics . Her work Her most downloaded book, “Ellipsometry at the Nanoscale” was published in 2010 by Springer-Verlag.