Wajih Al-Soufi

Wajih Al-Soufi is a Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain. Born in Hamburg, Germany, he earned his PhD in 1991 from the Georg-August University of Göttingen, focusing on tunneling effects in triplet hydrogen transfer. He joined USC in 1996 as an Assistant Professor, advancing to Full Professor in 2002. His research centers on fluorescence spectroscopy, supramolecular dynamics, and single-molecule detection, with applications in biomedicine and technology. He leads the Single Molecule Fluorescence research group and co-founded the XuvenCiencia Teaching Innovation Group, promoting science education through workshops and summer camps. Al-Soufi has supervised numerous PhD students and published extensively on topics like amyloid aggregation, molecular probes, and surfactant systems. His work bridges fundamental research with practical innovations, including optical sensors for anesthetic gases and educational kits for secondary schools.

Education:

• Bachelor's in Physics (1987), Carolo-Wilhelmina University of Braunschweig and Georg-August University of Göttingen
• PhD (1991), Georg-August University of Göttingen (thesis: tunneling effects in triplet-state hydrogen transfer)

Research Focus: Fluorescence spectroscopy, supramolecular systems, single-molecule analysis, amyloid dynamics, and biophysical chemistry. His lab develops techniques to study molecular interactions in real-time, with applications in Alzheimer’s research and biomaterials.

Grants & Projects:

• Principal Investigator on projects like “Fluorescent Probes for Supramolecular Systems” (2007–2010) and “Amyloid Aggregation Studies” (2015–2017)
• Collaborations with institutions in Germany, Brazil, and Latin America

Awards: National accreditation as Full Professor (2015), sustained recognition for research and teaching innovation.

Labs/Teams: Director of the Fluorescence of Single Molecules research unit at USC’s Department of Physical Chemistry.