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Coatings 2026

2026
COATINGS

We are pleased to announce the international conference Coatings 2026: Safe and Sustainable by Design Surface Treatment and Coatings”, which will be held in Athens, Greece from 20–22 April 2026. This event is co-organised by co-organized by MDPI and EXELISIS, and supported by several EU-funded projects.

Coatings 2026 will bring together global experts to present their results on the latest cutting-edge advancements in surface finishing, with an emphasis on safety and sustainability across the entire life cycle. We welcome presentations on the following themes:

  • Advances in metallic and metal matrix composite coatings
  • Advances in organic and hybrid coatings
  • Advances in methods and equipment
  • Surface finishing for Additive manufacturing
  • Application of the SSbD framework on the surface finishing industry
  • Advances in Thermal Spraying
  • Thin film technologies and applications
  • Anodizing of light alloys
  • AI Tools and Simulations
  • Phasing out Substances of Concern from the surface finishing industry
Instructions
for
Authors

Abstract Submission:

Coatings 2026 will accept abstracts only. The accepted abstracts will be available online on Sciforum.net during and after the conference. Moreover, participants will have the opportunity to contribute with a full manuscript to a Joint Special Issue related to the conference in the open-access journals Coatings and Nanomaterials with an 800 CHF discount on the publication fees.

The conference will be held fully in person; it is not possible to participate online.

Please note that abstract submission and conference registration are two separate processes. Please use your institutional email address for both processes.

Venue,
Travel and Accommodation

City

Athens

<a href="https://www.freepik.es/foto-gratis/ruinas-griegas-antiguas-acropolis-atenas-grecia_9990966.htm#query=athens&position=12&from_view=search&track=sph">Imagen de wirestock</a> en Freepik

Athens is the historic and vibrant capital of Greece, where ancient wonders meet modern delights. Steeped in rich history and mythology, Athens is a city that beckons visitors with its timeless allure.

Explore iconic landmarks such as the majestic Acropolis, where the Parthenon stands proudly, offering breathtaking views of the city. Immerse yourself in the city’s ancient past at the National Archaeological Museum, housing a vast collection of artifacts from Greece’s ancient civilizations. Stroll through the charming Plaka neighborhood, lined with picturesque streets, traditional tavernas, and quaint shops. Experience the lively atmosphere of Monastiraki Square, bustling with vibrant markets and enticing street food.

For art enthusiasts, the Benaki Museum and the Museum of Cycladic Art showcase magnificent Greek art spanning centuries. Athens also boasts a vibrant contemporary art scene, with numerous galleries and exhibitions.

Indulge in Greek cuisine at the city’s renowned restaurants, savoring traditional dishes like moussaka and souvlaki, accompanied by locally produced wines and spirits.

Athens’ warm Mediterranean climate offers the perfect backdrop for wandering through the city, from the ancient Agora to the beautifully landscaped National Gardens. As you explore this captivating city, you’ll find that Athens seamlessly blends its glorious past with its dynamic present.

Venue

Wyndham Grand Athens

We are excited to host the Coatings 2026 conference at the Wyndham Grand Athens, a welcoming and stylish venue situated in the heart of the city. Just a few steps away from some of Athens’ most iconic sights, it offers a warm, welcoming atmosphere with everything you need under one roof. From comfortable meeting spaces to beautiful views of the Acropolis, it is the perfect place to connect, share ideas, and be inspired. We can’t wait to welcome you there!

Address: Megalou Alexandrou 2, 104 37 Athens

ACCESS:
  1. 3-minute walk from ‘Metaxourgeio’ Metro Station (M2/Red Line).
  2. 16-minute walk from “Thiseio” Train Station (M1/Green Line); or 17-minute walk from “Monastiraki” Metro Station (M3/Blue Line & M1/Green Line).
  3. 23-minute walk from ‘Syntagma’ Metro Station (M3/Blue Line & M2/Red Line).
  4. The following bus lines have routes that pass near the venue: 057, 790, 031, 051, A15, and B15.

Travel

  1. By plane:

    Athens is easily accessible by air, with the Athens International Airport ‘Eleftherios Venizelos‘ (ATH) serving as the primary gateway to the city. Located just 35 kilometers east of the city center, it offers excellent connectivity to major destinations worldwide. Numerous international airlines operate direct flights to Athens from various cities across the globe, making it convenient for conference attendees to reach the vibrant capital.

    Upon arrival at Athens International Airport, attendees can easily access the city center through the following transportation options:

    To the city center:
    • By metro: The airport provides a direct metro connection, with the M3 (Blue Line), departing towards Nikaia twice an hour, offering a quick and efficient journey to central Athens. Depending on the location of your hotel, after a 40-minute ride, you can get off at the stop ‘Syntagma‘ or the stop ‘Monastiraki‘. For the conference venue, get off at the ‘Evangelismos‘ stop. A one-way ticket costs EUR 9 and can be purchased at the airport metro station. The last metro from the airport leaves around 11:30 pm.
    • By taxi: Taxis are readily available outside the airport terminals, providing a comfortable and convenient way to reach your accommodation. The ride will take 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the traffic. Taxis heading to the city center operate on a standard fare: EUR 35 during the daytime (from 5:00 am to midnight) and EUR 49 at night. Additional charges may apply. You will find the taxis directly opposite the arrivals hall at Exit 3, but you can also book this transfer in advance. Some VTC apps that work in Athens are Uber, FREE NOW, Bolt, and Beat, and might offer cheaper rates.

Visa Information

Please note that you must apply for your own visa. MDPI is not responsible for any part of the visa application process for attendees. However, MDPI can provide a Visa Support Letter. To be eligible for such a document, the criteria below must be fulfilled.

Visa Support Letter
  • Applicant must have paid for registration and submitted an abstract in order to receive a letter of support.
  • Applicant must provide us with a scan of their valid, in-date passport that contains a photo of them.
  • Applicant must provide us with a letter of support from their institution to confirm that it supports the delegate attending the meeting.
  • This must be carried out in good time before the meeting; “last-minute” requests will not be processed.
More useful information on visa application

Accommodation

We want your stay in Athens during the conference to be as comfortable as possible. With that in mind, we have suggestions for some hotels to offer you accommodation choices in the heart of Athens. There are no discounts or pre-bookings associated with these hotels. Please contact the hotels directly with any issues or requests related to your booking.

 

Hotel
Description
Booking Page
  • Megalou Alexandrou 2, 104 37
  • The conference takes place here!

Royal Olympic Hotel

  • Athanasiou Diakou 28, 4-minute walk from Acropolis line (Red Line)

Amazon Hotel Athens

  • 19 Mitropoleos & Pentelis Street, 7-minute walk from Syntagma Station (Red Line)

The Modernist Athens

  • 4 I.Gennadiou, 106 76, 2-minute walk from ‘Evangelismos’ metro (M3/Blue Line) — change for Red Line, 3.1 km away from the conference venue

President Hotel

  • 43 Kifisias Ave. 115 23. 6-minute walk to Ampelokipi station (Blue Line) — change for Red Line

Acron Athens Hotel

  • 11 Prytaneiou, 7-minute walk from Acropolis line (Red Line)

 

To ensure availability, we encourage you to book your accommodation as soon as possible.

Beware of Unauthorized Registration and Hotel Solicitations

Note that Sciforum is the only official registration platform to register for Coatings 2026, and that we are not associated with any hotel agencies. While other hotel resellers and travel agencies may contact you with offers for your trip, they are not endorsed by or affiliated with Coatings 2026 or Sciforum. Beware that entering into financial agreements with non-endorsed companies can have costly consequences.

Event Awards

To recognize the outstanding works presented during our conference, we are excited to announce five awards for our participants. Sponsored by the journal Coatings, we will offer a Best Oral Presentation Award, two Best Poster Awards, and two Early Career Researcher Awards.

The award winners will be selected by the Selection Committee after evaluation of all selected talks and posters presented at the conference.

The Awards

Best Oral Presentation Award

Number of Awards Available: 1

Prize: EUR 500

Best Poster Award

Number of Awards Available: 2

Prize: EUR 200

Early Career Researcher Award

Number of Awards Available: 2

Prize: EUR 300

REGISTER HERE!
INVITED
Speakers

Prof. Dr. Nick Birbilis

Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University, Australia

Bio
Professor Nick Birbilis is an internationally recognized leader in materials science and engineering. He is renowned for advancing the understanding of materials’ durability and corrosion, including the development of corrosion-resistant materials. His work integrates advanced characterization, electrochemistry, and metallurgy, also having had significant impact across industry and defense (internationally).

Nick is presently the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment (SEBE) at Deakin University. Prior to joining Deakin, he held roles at the Australian National University as Dean of the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics; and at Monash University, where he was Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Professor Birbilis’s research has been recognized by the UR Evans Award and the HH Uhlig Award. He is a Fellow of ASM International, NACE/AMPP, The Electrochemical Society, and International Society of Electrochemistry and Engineers Australia. He has published over 500 papers, holds more than 20 patents, and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of npj Materials Degradation.

Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Bikiaris

Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Technology, Chemistry Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Bio
Dr. Dimitrios N. Bikiaris is a Professor at the Chemistry Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research interests include the synthesis and characterization of polyesters, the development of polymers using biobased monomers, the synthesis and characterization of copolymers, composites and nanocomposites, polymers recycling via various processes, modification of natural polymers, the use of polymers to remove contaminants (heavy metals, drugs, pigments, etc.) from urban and industrial sites, determination of microplastics in environment and its effect on living micro-organisms, etc.

His scientific work includes more than 530 published papers, with over 23.600 citations, and an h-index of 81 (Scopus). He is also the author of four chapters in international scientific books and holds 15 international and 2 Greek patents. He has participated in more than 64 research projects (national and international). He has developed strong collaborations with researchers from International Universities and Research Centers, as well as with more than 10 Greek companies. Moreover, he has been a reviewer in more than 150 international journals and is a member of editorial committees in 6 scientific journals. In 2023, Prof. Bikiaris was ranked 1st in Materials Science in the National ranking and 1128th in the World ranking.

Dr. Dirk Drees

Falex Tribology N.V., Belgium

Bio
Dr. Dirk Drees is the CEO and Tribology creativity specialist at Falex Tribology, working with a market leader in tribology test equipment, Falex Corporation, and MTM KULeuven to address many industrial issues related to friction, wear, and corrosion.

After obtaining his PhD in tribology and corrosion in the Department of Materials Engineering at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, he focused on applying tribocorrosion knowledge to materials, material surfaces, friction, wear, and corrosion processes to develop industrial solutions.

His main interests include industrial challenges requiring innovative test approaches and material solutions; projects of European consortia dealing with new materials for friction, wear, and corrosion challenges; materials and solutions for a better quality of life in relation to energy efficiency, wear resistance, friction control, biomaterials, and the recycling of lubricants or materials. He specialises in friction, wear, and corrosion phenomena, specifically how they occur, how to test them for industrial applications, and how to solve related customer problems.

Dr. Magda Blosi

Institute of Science, Technology and Sustainability for Ceramics, National Research Council of Italy (ISSMC CNR) Faenza (Ra), Italy

Bio
Magda Blosi, PhD in Industrial Chemistry, is a researcher at the Institute of Science, Technology, and Sustainability for Ceramics within the National Research Council (ISSMC-CNR). Her research focuses on developing eco-friendly synthesis methods for inorganic and hybrid nanomaterials, which are applied as functional coatings, (photo)catalysts, sorbents for water treatment, and antimicrobial materials. She has contributed to research projects at both national and EU levels, collaborating with industrial partners. Her project portfolio includes roles as Principal Investigator for national and international projects, alongside key contributions to over seven EU projects focused on Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approaches to nanomaterials. She is a co-author of seven international patents and 90 scientific papers.

Dr. Emerson Coy

NanoBiomedical Centre – Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland

Talk
Polydopamine thin films/coatings growth and applications
Bio
Dr. Emerson Coy is an Associate Professor at the NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. He earned his Ph.D. in Nanosciences from the University of Barcelona and his D.Sc. in Materials Science from the AGH University of Science and Technology. Dr. Coy’s research explores the frontiers of nanomaterials and solid-state physics, focusing on topics such as hydrogen production using carbide-based nanomaterials, multiferroic thin films, and advanced nanomechanical characterization. His work bridges fundamental science and real-world innovation in clean energy and next-generation materials.

Prof. Dr. Andreas G. Boudouvis

Former Rector, National Technical University of Athens, Greece

Talk
Multiscale and data-driven analysis of chemical vapor deposition processes
Bio
Andreas G. Boudouvis is a Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering (SChE) and former Rector, 2019-2023, of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). He has been SChE Dean (2013-2016), Head of the SChE Department of Process Analysis and Plant Design (2005-2007), Director of the SChE Computer Center (2009-2019) and Director of the Inter-Departmental Graduate Studies Program “Computational Mechanics” of NTUA (2011-2018, 2024-now). He holds a Diploma from NTUA (1982) and a PhD from the University of Minnesota (1987), both in chemical engineering. He has been a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (1989-90), Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Army High Performance Computing Research Center, USA (1991), Visiting Professor at the Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France (2012), Visiting Researcher at the Fondation de Cooperation Scientifique Sciences et Technologies pour l’Aéronautique et l’Espace, Toulouse, France (2014) and Visiting Professor at the Johns Hopkins University, USA (2018-2019). He is among the founding members, as NTUA Rector, of the European University Alliance EULiST “European Universities Linking Society and Technology”, established in 2023 as a European University; EULiST co-Chair 2021-2023, Advisory Council member 2024- . Professor A. Boudouvis teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Transport Phenomena and Computational Methods. His research interests are in: computational transport phenomena; interfacial phenomena and especially electromagnetic effects at fluid interfaces; nonlinear phenomena including instabilities and pattern formation; multiscale analysis, model reduction and machine learning; large-scale scientific computing. A. Boudouvis is the recipient of the 2024 Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching. It is awarded by the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas in memory of V. Xanthopoulos and S. Pnevmatikos.

Dr. Sergi Dosta

University of Barcelona, Spain