**About the Special Issue Editor**

**Frederik Tielens** graduated in Chemistry at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium (1996) and earned his PhD degree in Theoretical Chemistry with cum laude at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium (2000). His doctoral work on the study of adsorption and catalytic properties of zeolites was awarded the Solvay Prize and the second prize of the prestigious international DSM contest. After a post doc in collaboration with ExxonMobil Research he then moved to industry. In November 2003, he reintegrated university. During that period he obtained a Marie Curie Post Doc grant at the Universitat Jaume I (Spain), and was postdoctoral researcher at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie ´ (UPMC, Paris, France) in collaboration with Yara, where he worked on the reactivity of metal and metal oxide catalysts. In September 2006, he was made contractual Assistant Professor at the UPMC. From 2007–2013, he was Assistant Professor in charge of theoretical chemistry at Surface Reactivity Laboratory (UPMC). In January 2013, he joined the Laboratory of Condensed Matter of Paris (UPMC). Since September 2017, he has been appointed Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, led the group of materials modeling, and became Maˆıtre de Conferences "hors classe" of the Sorbonne University. He specializes in three families of materials: Silica, SAMs/noble metals, and biocalcifications. Frederik Tielens has authored over 130 peer reviewed scientific publications.
