Curriculum vitae

I. Personal data:

Name: László Fodorpataki
Born: 1969, Cluj, Romania
Address: RO-400383 Cluj-Napoca, 36 Plopilor St., Romania
Employment: associate professor, Group of Plant Physiology, Dept. Experimental Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca
Office address: RO-400084 Cluj-Napoca, 1 Kogălniceanu St., Romania
E-mail: [email protected]
Research domains: metabolism of green microalgae; stress physiology of the light phase of photosynthesis; ecophysiological consequences of water pollution; comparative anatomy of leaves.
Language skills: Hungarian – mother tongue, Romanian – fluent, English – fluent, French – fluent

II. Studies:

• 1986: High-school of Natural Sciences, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• 1991: B.Sc., Biology profile, Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Biology, Geography and Geology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• 1992-1993: postgraduate training, ‘International training course in topics of modern biology’, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (specialization in the light reactions of photosynthesis), Szeged, Hungary
• 1993: postgraduate training, École Normale Supérieure, Laboratoire de Physiologie Végétale (method of induced chlorophyll fluorescence), Paris, France
• 1998: Ph.D., in plant physiology, Dept. of Plant Biology, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The title of the thesis: Studies concerning the influence of abiotic environmental factors on the photosynthetic function of photoassimilatory plant structures. Scientific supervisor: prof. dr. Mihai Trifu, Babeş-Bolyai University, Dept. of Plant Biology; external advisor: dr. Gábor Horváth, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology, Szeged, Hungary.

III. Scientific career:

• 1991–1994: preparator at the Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
• 1994–1997: assistant lecturer at the Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
• 1998–2004: lecturer at the Department of Plant Biology later on Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
• 2000–2002: vice-dean of the Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
• 2004–…: associate professor at the Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
• 2004–…: vice-dean of the Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Scientific visits abroad:

• July 2001: Eszterházy Károly College, Department of Plant Physiology, Eger, Hungary.
• December 2001: Queensland University, Department of Plant Physiology, Brisbane, Australia.
• January 2002: Kenyatta University, Department of Botany, Nairobi, Kenya.
• August 2003: Aristotle University, Department of Plant Physiology, Thessaloniki, Greece

IV. Scientific activity (research projects, grants):

• 2001-2002: Project manager of the ‘Studies concerning the influence of environmental stresses on the biomass production and on ontogenetic processes in in vitro cultures of algal cells and of tissues of some rare plants’, Grant T 138, financed by World Bank at the Dept. of Plant Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 1999-2000: member of the ‘Investigation of the natural resources of the Mures river for sustainable development’ research project, Group Research Support Scheme Grant 1978/768/1999, financed by the Foundation for an Open Society (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2001-2003: member of the ‘Risk assessment of cyanide-leaking during gold extraction procedures on the environmental conditions of Central Asia and Central Europe (subtopic: The risk assessment of river ecosystems, the pathways of harmful solutions in food webs and in the life cycle of water organisms)’ research project (IRCYL), INCO Copernicus Project ICA 2-1999-10065 at the Dept. of Plant Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2001-2003: member of the ‘Studies concerning hyperaccumulation of heavy metals in plants and its application in phytoremediation of polluted soils’ research project, Grant AT, CNCSIS at the Dept. of Plant Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2001: Project manager of the ‘Studies concerning effects of chemical water pollution on physiological processes and bioproductivity of green microalgal cultures’, at the Sapientia Fund’s Research Institute (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2001-2002: member of the ‘A complex investigation of the state and the sustainability of freshwater communities of organisma exposed to pollution with cyanide and heavy metals along the rivers Lapus, Szamos and Tisa’ research project financed by the Arany János Foundation at the Dept. of Plant Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2002: member of the ‘Investigation of the relationship between the pollution of Transylvanian river sectors and the ecological tolerance of aquatic organisms, and appreciation of rehabilitation possibilities’ research project financed by the Sapientia Fund’s Research Institute (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2003-2004: Project manager of the ‘A comparative study of the ecophysiological bases of halotolerance and acclimation to light conditions in different plant species’ research project financed by the Sapientia Fund’s Research Institute (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2003-2005: member of the ‘Study of the mechanisms of photoinhibition and photoprotection of the photosynthetic apparatus in pea leaves’ research project financed by the National Research Project Program CERES 3-46 at the Dept. of Experimental Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University, joint project with the Biological Research Institute (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2004-2005: project manager of the ‘Comparative anatomy of structural analogies and homologies between vegetative organs of plants adapted to environments with different water content’ financed by the Sapientia Fund’s Research Institute (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2005-2006: memeber of the ‘Investigation of water quality through growth inhibition tests with the green algal species Scenedesmus subspicatus and Selenastrum capricornutum’ research project (ISO 8692:1989) at the Dept. of Experimental Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, RO).
• 2005-2008: member of the ‘Development of complex ecological and biomonitoring assessment methods of the qualitative changes of the Someş Basin’s ecosystems’ research project, MENER P-CD, PC-D06-PT25-293, at the Dept. of Experimental Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, RO)
• 2006-2007: member of the ‘Evaluation of ecophysiological and cytogenotoxic effects of xenobiotic substances from polluted aquatic ecosystems’ research project, CEEX P-CD, at the Dept. of Experimental Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, RO).

V. Teaching activity at the Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Faculty of Biology and Geology, Department of Experimental Biology:

• Plant anatomy (B.Sc. level, compulsory, 1. semester)
• Developmental biology of plants (B.Sc. level, compulsory, 3. semester)
• Plant physiology (B.Sc. level, compulsory, 5. and 6. semesters)
• Ecophysiology of plants (B.Sc. level, compulsory, 5. semester)
• Environmental stress physiology (M.Sc. level, compulsory, 2. semester)

VI. Scientific honours:

• 2001: ‘The best poster of the conference’ prize at the Second International Meeting of the Romanian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, September 2001, (Fodorpataki L., Butiuc-Keul A., Márton A.: Effects of photoinhibition on photochemical reactions in the thylakoids.)
• 2001: prize of the scientific magazine ‘Természet Világa’ for the article ‘Az U-vitamin és az algák’ (Vitamin U and the algae)
• 2002: Babeş-Bolyai University’s prize for institutional innovation, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
• 2004: Babeş-Bolyai University’s prize for institutional innovation, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

VII. Important scientific results:

• Discovery of a new type of protonophores for the investigation of relations between electron transport and proton translocation through biomembranes
• Evidence of the antistress effects of methylmethionine (vitamin U) in algae

VIII. Membership (Professional Societies / Editorial Board of Scientific Journals):

Societies:

• International Society of Applied Phycology
• International Society for Photosynthesis Research
• Hungarian Algological Society (Budapest, HU)
• Romanian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Bucharest, RO)
• Vice-president of the Apáthy István Society (Cluj-Napoca, RO)
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Hungarian University Institute – Federation from Cluj/Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca, RO)

Journals:

• Editor-in-chief of the Acta Scientiarium Transylvanica - Múzeumi Füzetek scientific journal, edited by the Transylvanian Museum Association (Cluj-Napoca, RO)