Natalia Sobczak is a Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences,
and at the same time Professor and Head of the Department
of Metallurgical Processes at the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow.
She obtained her degrees in Materials Science: PhD degree at the Sankt Petersburg Technical University, Russia, in 1994, and Habilitation
at the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2005, and was nominated
as Titular Professor by the President of the Republic of Poland in 2010. She was also research fellow at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, USA (1984-1985) and visiting professor at Osaka University,
Japan (2000-2001).
Professor Natalia Sobczak has a world-renowned reputation in high-temperature liquid state materials science with special attention
to investigation of high-temperature phenomena in liquid-assisted processes (metal casting, joining, additive manufacturing, synthesis
of metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites). Among others she has established the Centre for High Temperature Studies at the Foundry Research Institute in Krakow, Poland. Her research contributions include over 400 publications, 80 national and international projects (e.g. financed by European Space Agency, European Commission, United Nations Organization, Japan Society for Promotion Science, U.S.-Poland Maria Sklodowska-Curie Joint Fund), and 18 patents.
Professor Natalia Sobczak has been for many years associated editor of Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance (at the moment, Editorial Committee member), she is a Chairperson of Cast Metal Matrix Composites Working Group at the World Foundry Organization (since 2001),
the Member of Executive Committee of the Federation of European Materials Societies (2020-2021, 2022-2023) and International Scientific Committees on High Temperature Capillarity (since 1994) and Subsecond Thermophysics (since 2013), the Advisory & Board of Review of International Journal
of Metalcasting.
She is a holder of several prestigious national and international awards: Knight’s Cross of Polonia Restituta Order for all the scientific achievements
in 2023 and Gold Cross of Merit both given by the President of Poland, Gold Medals BRUSSELS EUREKA at the Belgian and Int. Trade
Fair for Technological Innovations; Silver Medal at Int. Exhibition of Inventions, Geneva-Palexpo; 1st Prize Award by the Ministry of Industry of Poland
in the category “The Polish Product of the Future”; by American Vacuum Society and ASM International for “The Unique, Unusual and New Techniques
in Microscopy”, 1st Prize Award at Kaohsiung Int. Invention and Design EXPO, Taiwan; FOSECO Golden Cup Award for the best paper; the Best Paper Award from American Ceramic Society, three JMEP Editor's Choice Articles.