- 22 May 2026 - PhD students Daria Stoia and Vlad Cucuiet, and Master's student Madalina Tudor held oral presentations at the 2nd edition of Student Scientific Communications Session, Faculty of Physics Students, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. At the same event, PhD student Andrei Dinca, Master's student Catalina Rusu, and Bachelor's students Daria Ursa and Carmen Maxim attended with poster presentations.
- Mar 2026 - The article "Tunable gelatin-coated biosynthesized gold nanotriangles: Thermoplasmonic performance and in vitro therapeutic potential via on-demand visible-NIR LED activation", by O. Raducu, R. Borlan, A. Holca , A. M. Craciun, S. Tripon, O. Soritau, G. Chereches, D. Maniu, S. Astilean, M. Lamy de la Chapelle, M. Focsan, published in Colloids Surf. B Biointerfaces. 262 (2026) 115476, has been featured on the cover of the article's issue.
- 15 Dec 2025 - During the "Școala Altfel" week, 8th grade students from the
"Horea, Closca și Crișan" Junior High School, structure of the "Liviu Rebreanu" Theoretical High School in Turda, Cluj, visited the Nanobiophotonics
group accompanied by Physics professor Mureșan Ilinca and headmistress Morari
Bianca.
- 12 Oct 2025 - We are pleased to share the interview "The pluridisciplinarity of a profession" given by Prof. Dr. Simion Aştilean, corresponding member of the Romanian Academy –Physical Sciences, for Radio Romania Actualitati website - details
- Oct 2025 – The article “LED-Activated NIR-II Gold Nanorods for Photothermal Therapy of 3D Melanoma Spheroids”, by A. Holca, R. Borlan, A. Campu, S.Dragan, M. Muntean, A. M. Craciun, A. Sesarman, M. Banciu, S. Astilean, M. Lamy de la Chapelle and M. Focsan, published in ACS Appl. Nano Mater., 8 (2025) 19796–19809 has been featured on the cover of the article's issue.
- Oct 2025 – The article “From
Fundamentals to Applications: Magnetic Nanoparticles for MRI Imaging and
NIR-Induced Thermal Activation in Tissue-Mimicking Environments”,
by R. Lăpușan, A. Balmus, R. Fechete, B. V. Neamtu, J. Ponti, R. Borlan and M.
Focsan, published in J. Mater. Chem. B, 13 (2025) 12056-12072, has been
featured on the cover of the article's issue..
- Aug 2025 - The article "Advancing thermoplasmonic sensing: gold nanobipyramids for enhanced light-to-heat conversion", by A. Campu, I. A. Brezestean, S.C. Tripon, S. Astilean and M. Focsan, published in J. Mater. Chem. C, 13 (2025) 16378-16386, has been featured on the cover of the article's issue.
- Jun 2025 - The article "Unveiling DNA Hybridization Dynamics via High-Sensitive SERS Detection: Insights into Conformational Changes and Oligonucleotides Length Effects", by D. Stoia, D. Maniu, M. Potara, A. M. Craciun, M. Edely, S. Grecu, A. Timar-Gabor, S. Astilean, M. Focsan, M. Lamy de la Chapelle, published in J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 16 (2025) 5610-5618 has been featured on the cover of the article's issue.
- Apr 2025 - We
are pleased to share that Assoc. Prof. Monica Focsan was recently featured in
an excellence interview, where she discussed her academic path, research
achievements, and her dedication to mentoring young scientists. You can read the full interview here: https://news.ubbcluj.ro/category/oameni/excelenta-ubb/.
- 28 Mar 2025 - PhD student Daria Stoia and PhD Alexandru Hada have proudly presented, to undergraduate students, the particularities and the scientific opportunities of the Master's program Biophysics and Medical Physics, from the Faculty of Physics, during the UBB Master of Science Day held at Babeș-Bolyai University.
- 13 - 14 Mar 2025 - M. Sc. student Mădălina Tudor, was awarded 2nd place in the Games of Science communication competition, Cluj-Napoca edition, and will advance to the national final in Bucharest in June. She presented her research on artificial photosynthesis enhanced by plasmonic nanoparticles.
- Jan 2025 - Assoc. Prof. Monica Focsan was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
- Jan 2025 - The article
" Probing the Local Field Enhancement Using SERS Detection of DNA
Strands with Different Lengths and Grafting Strategies on Graphene Oxide
Plasmonic Nanoplatforms ", by V. Cucuiet, D. Maniu, A. M. Craciun, S.
Tripon, S. Astilean, M. Lamy de la Chapelle and M. Focsan, published
in J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 16 (2025) 435–442 has been featured on
the cover of the article's issue.
- Nov 2024 - PhD student Ismael
Mahboub and his supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Monica Focsan, attended the international
finals of "My Thesis in 180 Seconds, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. After
winning the national finals in Romania and the Eastern European regional
finals, Ismael proudly represented Romania at the international level.
- Sept 2024 - Master student Andreea Balmus was awarded with Best Poster Presentation Award at the 7th edition of International Conference on Analytical and Nanoanalytical Methods for Biomedical and Environmental Sciences ( IC-ANMBES 2024), Brasov, Romania, 17 - 20 September 2024 for the contribution entitled "Magnetic nanoparticles coated with bovine serum albumin and grafted with curcumin as innovative theranostic agents".
- Jul 2024 - PhD student Daria Stoia was awarded with Doctoral Advanced Fellowship from Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology- STAR-UBB Institute.
- Jun 2024 - PhD student Daria Stoia won a scholarship within the program "Bourses France Excellence Roumanie" (French Government Scholarships) 2024, provided by the French government for Romanian students in order to promote educational exchanges and strengthen the academic ties between France and Romania. Daria won with her project entitled: "Novel plasmon-assisted biosensor for detection of cardiac Troponin I biomarker"
- 2024 - PhD student Ismaël Mahboub, from the Doctoral School of Physics of our university, won the 1st place at the 7th edition of the International French-speaking competition "My Thesis in 180 Seconds", in both national (18 Jun 2024) and Eastern-Europe (Sept 2024) competitions organized by the University Agency of Francophonie in Central and Eastern Europe (AUF-BECO) and the French Institute in Romania at Bucharest (IFR). Ismaël won with his thesis « La nano-detection, le futur de la mécine » ("Nanodetection, the future of medicine"). From the speech: “The subject of my thesis involves the development of nanobiosensors, combining the prowess of nanotechnology and medicine in order to detect the smallest anomalies of the organism.”
- 2024 - PhD student Daria Stoia was awarded the Excellentia Student prize at The XIth edition of the Excellentia Awards, Babes-Bolyai University
- 2024 - The article " Advancing MRI with magnetic nanoparticles: a comprehensive review of translational research and clinical trials", by R. Lapusan, R. Borlan M. Focsan, published in Nanoscale Adv., 2024, 6, 2234-2259 has been featured on the back cover of the article's issue - details
- 2024 - CS I Monica Focsan was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
- 2024 - The article "Portable microfluidic plasmonic chip for fast real-time cardiac troponin I biomarker thermoplasmonic detection", by A. Campu, I. Muresan, M. Potara, D. R. Lazar, F. L. Lazar, S. Cainap, D. M. Olinic, D. Maniu, S. Astilean, M. Focsan, published in J. Mater. Chem. B, 12 (2024) 962-972 has been featured on the front cover of the article's issue - details
- 2024 - PhD Alexandru-Milentie Hada was awarded with Postdoctoral Advanced Fellowship from Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology- STAR-UBB Institute.
- 2023 - CS I Ana-Maria Craciun was awarded with “Dragomir Hurmuzescu” prize of the Romanian Academy, in the Physical Sciences category, for year 2021 - details
- 2023 - The project entitled " Plasmon
mediated biology: Exploitation of plasmonics to investigate and enhance
biological processes and application to biomedical issues", Project Code: CF
199/28.11.2022, led by Marc Lamy de la Chapelle, has been accepted for funding in the PNRR - Pillar III, Component C9, Investment I8. Development of a program to
attract highly specialised human resources from abroad in
research, development and innovation activities competition and will be implemented in our group in the Jul 2023 - Jun 2026 period - details
- 2023 - CS I Monica Focsan and master student Daria Stoia were awarded the Excellentia Teacher and Excellentia Student prizes at The Xth edition of the Excellentia Awards, Babes-Bolyai University
- Feb 2023 - PhD student Alexandru Holca won a World Federation of Scientists (WFS) scholarship within the WFS 2022-2023 competition with his research project “New NIR light activable hybrid theranostic agents for combined multimodal therapy of cancer”.
- 2023 - The Nanobiophotonics and Laser Microspectroscopy Center, led by Prof. Dr. Simion Aștilean, was awarded the "Experienced Researchers - Teams" trophy at the 1st Romanian Research Gala organized by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest on 31th of January 2023 - details (starting from 1:30:00)
- 2022 - The results obtained in the project PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0142, entitled "New Targeted Optical Imaging NanoProbes for Near-Infrared (NIR) Real-Time (RT) Image-Guided Surgery of Ovarian Cancer" were disseminated in media on reportermedical.ro - details
- 26 Oct 2022 - Prof. Dr. Simion Aștilean has been elected as a correspondent member of the Romanian Academy (Physical Science section), being included within the world's top 2% of the most cited researchers in the applied physics domain - in particular nanoscience and nanotechnology - details
- 2022 - The special issue entitled "Bridging molecules and nanoparticles - the way from optical spectroscopy to cancer therapy", edited by Vasile Chiș, Monica Focșan, Marc Lamy de la Chapelle and Rui Fausto, published in Journal of Molecular Structure (Elsevier), was dedicated to Prof. Simion Aștilean on the occasion of his 65th birthday and retirement from the Faculty of
Physics, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania - details
- 2021 - The national patent "Microfluidic Plasmonic Device based on Gold Bipiyamidal Nanoparticles" by Monica Focsan, Andreea Campu, Simion Astilean, Teodora Murariu, Ioan Turcu, was awarded with Gold Medal at EuroInvent 13th edition, Iasi, Romania.
- 2020 - Prof. Dr. Simion Astilean was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research for high-level International visibility, from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
- 2020 - CS I Monica Focsan was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
- 2020 - CS I Sanda Boca-Farcău was awarded with L’Oreal -UNESCO Fellowship “Women in Science”, section Physical Sciences - details
- 2020 - We are happy to announce that 4 project proposals have been accepted for funding in the National 2019 UEFISCDI Human Resources competitions: Young Research Teams projects (CS I Monica Focsan and CSIII Ana-Maria Craciun) and Postdoctoral Research projects (PhD Sorina Suarasan and PhD Andra-Sorina Tatar).
- 2020 - CS I Monica Focsan and CS II Monica Potara were awarded with Intern Advanced Fellowships from Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology- STAR-UBB Institute.
- 2020 - CS III Ana-Maria Craciun received Special Mention award and an Excellence Diploma in the national contest “The Rada Mihalcea Awards for Young Researchers in Science and Engineering”, 6th edition, Cluj-Napoca - details
- 2019 - CS I Cosmin Farcau was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
- 2018 - CS I Monica Focsan was awarded with “Constantin Miculescu prize” of the Romanian Academy, in the Physical Sciences category, for year 2016 - details
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2018 - CS I Monica Focsan was awarded with an Advanced Fellowship from Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology- STAR-UBB Institute.
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2017 - CS I Cosmin Farcau was awarded 1st place and received an Excellence Diploma in the national contest “The Rada Mihalcea Awards for Young Researchers in Science and Engineering”, 3rd edition, Cluj-Napoca - details
Source of photo: abcnewstransilvania.ro
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2017 - CS I Sanda Boca-Farcau received Special Mention award and an Excellence Diploma in the national contest “The Rada Mihalcea Awards for Young Researchers in Science and Engineering”, 3rd edition, Cluj-Napoca - details
- 2017 - CS I Cosmin Farcau was awarded with an Advanced Fellowship from Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology- STAR-UBB Institute.
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2017 - CS III Ana-Maria Craciun was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
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2016 - CS I Monica Focsan was awarded 2nd place and received an Excellence Diploma in the national contest “The Rada Mihalcea Awards for Young Researchers in Science and Engineering”, 2nd edition, Cluj-Napoca - details
Source of photo: primariaclujnapoca.ro
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2016 - CS I Monica Focsan was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
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2016 - CS I Monica Focsan was awarded with L’Oreal -UNESCO Fellowship “Women in Science”, section Physical Sciences - details
Source of photos: revistabiz.ro
2015 - CS II Monica Potara was awarded with an Excellence Diploma in Scientific Research from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
ISI journal covers featuring scientific articles published in our group
2013 - The project “Biofunctional nanoparticles for development of new methods of imaging, sensing, diagnostic and therapy in biological environment (CNCSIS ID_PCCE 129/2008, Prof. Dr. Simion Astilean as principal investigator) is featured in UEFISCDI brochure entitled: "Stories about Complex IDEA projects and successful people" – http://uefiscdi.gov.ro/articole/3465/Povesti-despre-IDEI-complexe-si-oameni-de-succes.html.