Ntaikou Ioanna

2006: PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, Greece

2001: BSc in Biology, University of Patras, Greece

Design, development and optimization of biological processes for the treatment and valorization of liquid and solid organic wastes, with emphasis on the following:

• Biological treatment of liquid and solid organic wastes: Design and optimization of biological processes for the treatment of wastes and by-products within integrated environmental management systems.
• Design, operation and optimization of bioreactors: Study of laboratory- and pilot-scale bioreactors and integrated hybrid systems as critical subsystems of modern wastewater treatment plants.
• Microbial processes for resource and energy recovery: Production of biofuels (biohydrogen, methane, bioethanol) and recovery of high-value intermediate products (volatile fatty acids, nutrients).
• Biotechnological production of biopolymers and biomaterials: Development of processes for the production of biopolymers and functional biomaterials from waste streams, with applications in sustainable materials and environmental technologies.
• Supporting and cross-cutting environmental approaches: Study of microbial dynamics, physicochemical waste pretreatment, microbial electrochemical systems, environmental assessment and mathematical process modelling.

11/2023 – present    Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Patras

11/2023 – present    Research Associate, FORTH/ICEHT, Patras, Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory

11/2023 – 05/2026    Research Associate, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens

03/2007 – 10/2023    Contract Researcher, FORTH/ICEHT, Patras, Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory

06/2016 – 10/2023    Contract Researcher, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens

03/2023 – 05/2023    Assistant Professor (contract), Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Patras

11/2019 – 01/2020 & 03/2021 – 06/2021    Assistant Professor (contract), Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Patras

02/2016 – 09/2016 & 09/2009 – 09/2013    Assistant Professor (contract), Department of Food Technology, School of Agricultural Technology, University of the Peloponnese (formerly TEI of Kalamata)

10/2009 – 07/2010    Collaborating Teaching Staff (SEP), School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, MSc Programme “Waste Management”

• 2003–2006: PhD Research Fellowship, funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), Ministry of Development, under the PENED 2001 programme, University of Patras.
• 2001–2002: MSc Research Fellowship, funded by the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs under the EPEAEK programme, University of Patras.
• Ranked among the world’s top 2% of scientists according to the Stanford University study, based on scientific indicators (citations, h-index, etc.) using Scopus data, for 2023 and 2024.
• Best Poster Award at the 18th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, Athens, 30 August – 2 September 2023 (CEST2023).
• Best Poster Award at the 41st Panhellenic Conference of the Hellenic Society of Biological Sciences, Katerini, 9–11 May 2019.
• Nominated for the Eni Awards 2012, by invitation, in the field of “Environmental Protection”, primarily for research on the impacts of olive mill waste on the aquatic environment.
• Best Poster Award at the 4th Conference of the Mikrobiokosmos Society, Ioannina, 21–24 October 2011.

Participation as researcher, scientific coordinator and project manager in 14 European/International R&I projects and 13 National R&I projects.

63 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals (Scopus h-index 27).

>100 presentations in proceedings of international and national scientific conferences.

• International Symposium on Constructed Wetlands & Small Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Plants – ISCW2019, 29–31 August 2019, Patras, Greece
• Summer School on Wastewater Treatment Technologies and Environmental Impact, 8–20 July 2019, Olympia, Ilia, Greece

Guest Editor for Special Issues in Sustainability (2020–2021; 2022–2024) and Processes (2025–present).

Member of Editorial Boards: Sustainability (MDPI) (2020–present); Bioresources and Bioproducts (MDPI) (2024–present); International Journal of Biobased Plastics (Taylor & Francis) (2019–2022).

Evaluation of research proposals for national and international funding agencies: National Science Center of Poland (NCN), Foreign Reviewer Evaluator for the SONATA and OPUS calls (2023–2026, 33 proposals); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) (2025, 2 proposals); Foreign Member of the Expert Team for the PRELUDIUM call, NCN (2022).

Peer reviewer for international scientific journals, books and conferences.

• Hellenic Water Association (Greek Governing Member of International Water Association), Founding Member
• International Association for Hydrogen Energy
• Society for Applied Microbiology
• Hellenic Scientific Society “MIKROVIOKOSMOS”
• Panhellenic Association of Bioscientists

Undergraduate Programme, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras

1. Water Treatment (5th semester, Compulsory)
2. Environmental Impact Studies of Technical Projects (8th and 10th semester, Compulsory in 3rd Specialization; Elective in 4th Specialization)
3. Solid Waste Management (8th and 10th semester, Elective in 3rd Specialization)

MSc Programme, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras

1. Resource Recovery from Wastewater (Elective, Specialization B – Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering for Sustainable Infrastructure)

7 book chapters in edited volumes

Undergraduate Programme, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras

1. Water Treatment (5th semester, Compulsory)

1. Hashem, I. Ntaikou^* (2026) Integrating enzyme production and bioenergy recovery through circular bioprocessing of carbohydrate-rich food wastes into α-amylase, biohydrogen and methane. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining 20 (1), 110-124. https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.70055
2. Kora, K. Mpatsouli, I. Ntaikou^*, A. Tekerlekopoulou (2025) Yields and microbial response in polyhydroxyalkanoate and glycogen biosynthesis by mixed cultures during one-step aerobic conversion of sugary wastewater under nutrient stress, Journal of Water Process Engineering. 78, 108660, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.108660
3. Kora E., Tsaousis P., Andrikopoulos K.S., Chasapis C., Voyiatzis G., Ntaikou I.^*, Lyberatos G. (2023). Assessment of production process and characterization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) from acidified discarded fruit juices, via a robust microbial consortium dominated by Zoogloea. Journal of Biological Macromolecules 226, 1500-1514 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.11.262
4. Hashem, M.S. Al-Qahtani, S.A. Alamri, Y.S. Moustafa, G. Lyberatos, I. Ntaikou^* (2022) Valorizing food wastes: Assessment of novel yeast strains for enhanced production of single-cell protein from wasted-date molasses. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 12, 4491–4502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02415-2
5. Dailianis S., Charalampous N., Giokas S., Vlastos D., Efthimiou I., Dormousoglou M., Cocilovo C., Faggio C., Shehu A., Shehu J., Lyberatos G., Ntaikou I.^* (2021) The usefulness of chemical and biological tracking tools for the optimization and management of decentralized sanitation systems, like artificial constructed wetlands. Journal of Environmental Management, 300, 113799 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113799
6. Ntaikou I., Antonopoulou G.^*, Vagenas D., Lyberatos G. (2020) Assessment of electrocoagulation as a pretreatment method of olive mill wastewater for biofuels production in a biorefinery concept.  Renewable Energy 154, 1252-1262 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.03.108
7. Ntaikou I.^*, Koumelis I., Tsitsilianis C., Parthenios J. and Lyberatos G. (2018) Comparison of yields and properties of microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates generated from waste glycerol based substrates. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 112:273-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.01.175
8. Harbi, K., Makridis, P., Koukoumis, C., Papadionysiou M., Vgenis T., Kornaros M., Ntaikou I., Giokas, S., Dailianis, S.^* (2017) Evaluation of a battery of marine species-based bioassays against raw and treated municipal wastewaters Journal of Hazardous Materials 321, 537-546 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.09.036
9. Dounavis S.A, Ntaikou I.^*, and Lyberatos G. (2015) Production of biohydrogen from crude glycerol in an up-flow column bioreactor. Bioresource Technology 198, 701-708 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.072
10. Ntaikou I., Gavala H.N.^* and Lyberatos G. (2010) Application of a modified Anaerobic Digestion Model 1 version for fermentative hydrogen production from sweet sorghum extract by Ruminococcus albus. J. Hydrogen Energy. 35(8), 3423-3432 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.01.118

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=23470387000

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5039-6432