Maria Kafesaki is a Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the University of Crete and an Adjunct Researcher at the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) , specifically at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) . Education: BSc, MSc, and PhD in Physics (1990, 1992, 1997) from the University of Crete, advised by E. N. Economou . Postdoctoral work at CSIC , Madrid, and IESL-FORTH (1997–2002). Her research focuses on electromagnetic wave propagation in periodic and random media, with expertise in photonic crystals , metamaterials , and THz technology . She has over 140 publications with 9300+ citations (h-index=48) and 80+ invited talks at international conferences. Recent work includes reconfigurable metasurfaces for wavefront control, 3D-printed photonic devices , and graphene-based THz modulators . She has organized major events like the European School on Experimental Characterization of Electromagnetic Metamaterials (2010) and co-organized the Women in Photonics School (2008). Scientific recognition includes Fellow of Optica . She has served as Associate Editor for EPJ: Applied Metamaterials and Section Editor for JEOS:RP , and participated in EU projects like Visorsurf and Metamorphose .








