Announcements

Conference: The 10th Wuhan International Symposium on Modern Virology
Date: 27–29 October 2023
Location: Wuhan, China

MDPI will be attending the 10th Wuhan International Symposium on Modern Virology as an exhibitor, and we welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest ideas with us.

The 10th Wuhan International Symposium on Modern Virology, organized by the State Key Laboratory of Virology (Wuhan University and Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), is scheduled to be held from 27 to 29 October 2023, in Wuhan, China. The aim of the meeting is to discuss the main scientific problems and research hotspots of virology, exchange the latest research results and research ideas, display new methods, technologies, and products for diagnosis and prevention of viral diseases, promote communication and cooperation among scholars in China as well as with international counterparts, and promote the development of virology research in China.

Since 2004, the Wuhan International Symposium on Modern Virology has been successfully held nine times every two years, and it has become a forward-looking, innovative, and influential academic activity in the field of virology in China and an important platform for academic exchange.

The conference will invite well-known experts and scholars in the field of virology to attend and provide reports. The setting of the conference includes communication forms such as congress reports, session reports, and poster presentations, and the working language of the conference is Chinese or English.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Viruses;
• Pathogens;
• Vaccines;
• Zoonotic Diseases.

If you are planning to attend this conference, please do not hesitate to start an online conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://mm.sciconf.cn/cn/web/index/18668.

MDPI is committed to supporting the academic community, nurturing talent and advancing science. Awards are an important part of the research landscape and play a vital role in helping academics gain recognition, especially young researchers as they embark on new research avenues.

In 2022, our journals presented a total number of 394 Awards, including Travel Awards, Young Investigator Awards, Best PhD Thesis Awards, Best Paper Awards, and Outstanding Reviewer Awards, with several winners announced for some of the awards. The total prize sum amounted to just under 580,000 Swiss francs (CHF), or approximately 650,000 US dollars. Overall, more than 720 scholars were awarded.

The majority of the awards were dedicated to young researchers in relatively early stages of their careers. This encompassed 66 of the afore-mentioned Travel Awards, 60 Young Investigator Awards, supporting research projects and conference attendance, as well as 51 Best PhD Thesis Awards. Additionally, 113 Best Paper Awards were given by our journals. The selection committees were entrusted with identifying the most impactful and novel research and review articles published in their journal within a given year.

MDPI will continue its support and recognition for the academic community moving forward, sponsoring new awards across disciplines. To learn more about all the awardees and their research projects in your field of study, please visit the following pages:

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the winners for the year 2022 in biology and life sciences. The winners were selected by the journals’ Award Evaluation Committee.

We warmly congratulate the awarded young investigators for their outstanding contributions. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Agriculture:

• Thomas Hartinger, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria

Agronomy:

• Leontina Lipan, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain

Animals:

• Daniel Stec, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

Brain Sciences:

• Dibyadeep Datta, Yale Medical School, USA
• Giacomo Valle, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• Morgan H. James, Rutgers University, USA

Foods:

• Xiaonan Lu, McGill University, Canada

Genes:

• Alfredo Iacoangeli, King's College London, UK
• Elisa De Franco, University of Exeter, UK
• Riccardo Pecori, German Cancer Research Center, Germany
• Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal

Horticulturae:

• Massimiliano Renna, University of Bari Aldo Moro at Bari, Italy

Insects:

• Adam G. Dolezal, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States

Microorganisms:

• Carla Rodrigues, Institut Pasteur, France
• Lorena Rodriguez-Rubio, University of Barcelona, Spain
• Kevin Solomon, University of Delaware, USA

Nutrients:

• Colleen Deane, University of Southampton, UK

Toxins:

• Paz Otero Fuertes, University of Vigo, Spain

Pathogens:

• Marta Giovanetti, National Reference Laboratory of Flavivirus in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
• Carrie M. Long, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), USA

Vaccines:

• Carina Joe, University of Oxford, UK

About MDPI Awards:

In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.

We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2022 Travel Awards in biology and life sciences for their outstanding presentations.

MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.

The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.

We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of the 2022 Travel Awards and wish them the greatest success in their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Brain Sciences:

• Liloia Donato, University of Turin, Italy
• Roberta Bettoni, University of Milano Bicocca, Italy

Diversity:

• Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal

IJMS:

• Carlo Matera, University of Milan, Italy
• Elisabetta Coppi, University of Florence, Italy
• Ilaria Tonazzini, Nanoscience Institute—National Research Council (CNR) @ NEST in Pisa, Italy

MPs:

• Pere Catala, University Eye Clinic Maastricht, Maastricht University Medical Center, the Netherlands

Sports:

• Angela Blasimann, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• Angelo Sabag, Western Sydney University, Australia

About MDPI Awards:

In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.

In order to acknowledge our reviewers, who demonstrate diligence, professionalism, and timeliness when generously dedicating their time to reviewing manuscripts, MDPI journals regularly offer outstanding reviewer awards to scholars who participate in the peer review process.

We are proud to recognize the winners for the year 2022 in biology and life sciences for their outstanding contributions, among extensive competition, by presenting them with an Outstanding Reviewer Award.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the winners on their achievements. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Agronomy:

• Ewa Ropelewska, The National Institute of Horticultural Research, Poland
• Marek Rašovský, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia
• Prakash Jha, Kansas State University, USA
• Vasileios Greveniotis, Institute of Industrial and Forage Crops, Greece

Biology:

• Alberto Collareta, University of Pisa, Italy
• Francisco Curate, University of Coimbra, Portugal
• Gianpiero Greco, University of Study of Bari, Italy
• Luca Poli, University of Study of Bari, Italy
• Shaohua Chen, South China Agricultural University, China

Brain Sciences:

• Chong Chen, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

Children:

• Marco Sapienza, University of Catania, Italy
• Sabina Barrios-Fernández, University of Extremadura, Spain

Diversity:

• Corrado Battisti, Torre Flavia LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Italy
• Daniel Stec, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
• Emilia Grzędzicka, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
• Igor Zelnik, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Endocrines:

• Eva S. Liu, ¹Harvard Medical School, USA ²Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA

Fermentation:

• Aleksandra Szydlowska, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS), Poland
• Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, Al-Azhar University, Egypt

Fishes:

• Andrew G. Jeffs, University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Mohamed Samy-Kamal, Universitat d'Alacant, Spain

Foods:

• Baskaran Stephen Inbaraj, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
• Marzena Włodarczyk-Stasiak, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland
• Minaxi Sharma, Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut-Condorcet, Belgium
• Viviani Ruffo de Oliveira, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil

Genes:

• Federico Manuel Giorgi, University of Bologna, Italy
• Jan Bocianowski, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland
• Magdalena Mroczek, Center for Cardiovascular Genetics and Gene Diagnostics, Switzerland

IJMS:

• Keigi Fujiwara, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
• Tomasz W. Kaminski, University of Pittsburgh, USA
• Takujiro Homma, Yamagata University, Japan
• William Bryan Terzaghi, Wilkes University, United States
• Zong-jie Cui, Beijing Normal University, China

Insects:

• Abraão Almeida Santos, University of Florida, USA
• Agata Kaczmarek, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
• Miguel A. García-Martínez, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico

Life:

• Andrei S. Rodin, Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute, USA
• Kazuhiko Kotani, Jichi Medical University, Japan

Metabolites:

• Jianing Mi, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia
• Nguyen Phuoc Long, Inje University College of Medicine, Republic of Korea
• Xian Luo, University of Alberta, Canada

Pathogens:

• Guillaume Fiches, Ohio State University, USA
• Jianxuan Wu, Gilead Sciences, USA
• Tomasz M. Karpiński, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poland

Plants:

• Alicia Ayerdi Gotor, Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle, France
• Andrea Mastinu, University of Brescia, Italy
• Edyta Paczos-Grzeda, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland
• Narayan Bhusal, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
• Mohsen Hesami, University of Guelph, Canada

Toxins:

• Christian Müller, University of Greifswald, Germany
• Margarita Fernández-Tejedor, IRTA, Spain

Vaccines:

• Christian Napoli, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy
• Federico Marchesi, University of Parma, Italy
• Roger E. Thomas, University of Calgary, Canada

Veterinary Sciences:

• Fun-In Wang, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
• Valeria Grieco, University of Milan, Italy

About MDPI Awards:

In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.

MDPI’s Best PhD Thesis Awards are presented to recognize the young scholars who are judged to have completed the most outstanding PhD thesis in their field of research and to encourage them to continue their outstanding work and further contributions to their field.

We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of the 2022 Best PhD Thesis Awards and wish them success in their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Brain Sciences:

• “CYP2D in the Brain Alters Response to Drugs and Neurotoxins”
  by Marlaina R. Stocco, University of California, USA
• “Neural Encoding of Prior Experience in Sensorimotor Behavior”
  by Nicolas Meirhaeghe, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, France

• “Perinatal Stem Cell: Epigenetic, Biological and Differentiative Characteristics”
  by Giulia Gaggi, University "G.D'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Italy

Genes:

• “Uncovering the Genetic Variation Involved in Asthma Exacerbations through Multiple Genomic Approaches”
  by Esther Herrera Luis, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain

Veterinary Sciences:

• “Development of Novel Tools for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance in Complex Microbial Communities and Their Application to Improving Our Stewardship of Antimicrobials in Livestock”
  by Ashenafi Feyisa Beyi, Iowa State University, United States

About MDPI Awards:

In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.

The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation.

We are honored to present the winners for the year 2022 in biology and life sciences, who were selected amongst extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications. MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Agronomy:

• “From Smart Farming towards Agriculture 5.0: A Review on Crop Data Management”
  by Verónica Saiz-Rubio and Francisco Rovira-Más
  Agronomy 2020, 10(2), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10020207

• “Comparison of Biochemical, Anatomical, Morphological, and Physiological Responses to Salinity Stress in Wheat and Barley Genotypes Deferring in Salinity Tolerance”
  by Muhammad Zeeshan, Meiqin Lu, Shafaque Sehar, Paul Holford and Feibo Wu
  Agronomy 2020, 10(1), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10010127

• “The Use of a Plant-Based Biostimulant Improves Plant Performances and Fruit Quality in Tomato Plants Grown at Elevated Temperatures”
  by Silvana Francesca Carmen Arena, Bruno Hay Mele, Carlo Schettini, Patrizia Ambrosino, Amalia Barone and Maria Manuela Rigano
  Agronomy 2020, 10(3), https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10030363

• “The Management of Agricultural Waste Biomass in the Framework of Circular Economy and Bioeconomy: An Opportunity for Greenhouse Agriculture in Southeast Spain”
  by Mónica Duque-Acevedo, Luis J. Belmonte-Ureña, José A. Plaza-Úbeda and Francisco Camacho-Ferre
  Agronomy 2020, 10(4), 489; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10040489

Biology:

• “Apoptotic Bodies: Particular Extracellular Vesicles Involved in Intercellular Communication”
  by Michela Battistelli and Elisabetta Falcieri
  Biology 2020, 9(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9010021

• “Vegetation and Environmental Changes on Non-Reclaimed Spoil Heaps in Southern Poland”
  by Oimahmad Rahmonov, Robert Krzysztofik, Dorota Środek and Justyna Smolarek-Lach
  Biology 2020, 9(7), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9070164

• “Formyl Peptide Receptor 1 Signaling in Acute Inflammation and Neural Differentiation Induced by Traumatic Brain Injury”
  by Roberta Fusco, Enrico Gugliandolo, Rosalba Siracusa, Maria Scuto, Marika Cordaro, Ramona D’Amico, Maurizio Evangelista, Angelo Peli, Alessio Filippo Peritore, Daniela Impellizzeri et al.
  Biology 2020, 9(9), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9090238

Brain Sciences:

• “Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s Disease Risk: A Meta-Meta-Analysis”
  by Olalla Sáiz-Vazquez, Alicia Puente-Martínez, Silvia Ubillos-Landa, Joaquín Pacheco-Bonrostro and Javier Santabárbara
  Brain Sci. 2020, 10(6), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060386

• “Psychosocial and Behavioral Impact of COVID-19 in Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Online Parent Survey”
  by Marco Colizzi, Elena Sironi, Federico Antonini, Marco Luigi Ciceri, Chiara Bovo and Leonardo Zoccante
  Brain Sci. 2020, 10(6), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060341

Diversity:

• “More Than a Functional Group: Diversity within the Legume–Rhizobia Mutualism and Its Relationship with Ecosystem Function”
  by Benton N. Taylor, Ellen L. Simms and Kimberly J. Komatsu
  Diversity 2020, 12(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12020050

• “A Common Approach to the Conservation of Threatened Island Vascular Plants: First Results in the Mediterranean Basin”
  by Giuseppe Fenu, Gianluigi Bacchetta, Charalambos S. Christodoulou, Donatella Cogoni, Christini Fournaraki, Giusso del Galdo Gian Pietro, Panagiota Gotsiou, Angelos Kyratzis, Carole Piazza, Magdalena Vicens et al.
  Diversity 2020, 12(4), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12040157

• “Plant Diversity Patterns and Conservation Implications under Climate-Change Scenarios in the Mediterranean: The Case of Crete (Aegean, Greece)”
  by Konstantinos Kougioumoutzis, Ioannis P. Kokkoris, Maria Panitsa, Panayiotis Trigas, Arne Strid and Panayotis Dimopoulos
  Diversity 2020, 12(7), 270; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12070270

• “Conserving the Diversity of Ecological Interactions: The Role of Two Threatened Macaw Species as Legitimate Dispersers of ‘Megafaunal’ Fruits”
  by José L. Tella, Fernando Hiraldo, Erica Pacífico, José A. Díaz-Luque, Francisco V. Dénes, Fernanda M. Fontoura, Neiva Guedes and Guillermo Blanco
  Diversity 2020, 12(2), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12020045

Genes:    

• “Genomics in Bacterial Taxonomy: Impact on the Genus Pseudomonas”
  by Jorge Lalucat, Magdalena Mulet, Margarita Gomila and Elena García-Valdés
  Genes 2020, 11(2), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11020139

• “Histone Deacetylases (HDACs): Evolution, Specificity, Role in Transcriptional Complexes, and Pharmacological Actionability”
  by Giorgio Milazzo, Daniele Mercatelli, Giulia Di Muzio, Luca Triboli, Piergiuseppe De Rosa, Giovanni Perini and Federico M. Giorgi
  Genes 2020, 11(5), 556; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11050556

• “COVID-19 and Genetic Variants of Protein Involved in the SARS-CoV-2 Entry into the Host Cells”
  by Andrea Latini, Emanuele Agolini, Antonio Novelli, Paola Borgiani, Rosalinda Giannini, Paolo Gravina, Andrea Smarrazzo, Mario Dauri, Massimo Andreoni, Paola Rogliani et al.
  Genes 2020, 11(9), 1010; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11091010

• “Clustered DNA Double-Strand Breaks: Biological Effects and Relevance to Cancer Radiotherapy”
  by Jac A. Nickoloff, Neelam Sharma and Lynn Taylor
  Genes 2020, 11(1), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11010099

• “Inhibition of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Ameliorates Renal Fibrosis by Mitigating DPP-4 Level and Restoring Antifibrotic MicroRNAs”
  by Swayam Prakash Srivastava, Julie E. Goodwin, Keizo Kanasaki and Daisuke Koya
  Genes 2020, 11(2), 211; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11020211

• “Regulation of Ergosterol Biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae”
  by Tania Jordá and Sergi Puig
  Genes 2020, 11(7), 795; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11070795

IJMS:     

• “Laccase Properties, Physiological Functions, and Evolution”
  by Grzegorz Janusz, Anna Pawlik, Urszula Świderska-Burek, Jolanta Polak, Justyna Sulej, Anna Jarosz-Wilkołazka and Andrzej Paszczyński
  Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(3), 966; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21030966

• “Lysosomal Exocytosis, Exosome Release and Secretory Autophagy: The Autophagic- and Endo-Lysosomal Systems Go Extracellular”
  by Sandra Buratta, Brunella Tancini, Krizia Sagini, Federica Delo, Elisabetta Chiaradia, Lorena Urbanelli and Carla Emiliani
  Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(7), 2576; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21072576

• “Recent Advances in Lipopolysaccharide Recognition Systems”
  by Lalita Mazgaeen and Prajwal Gurung
  Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(2), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21020379

• “Redox Interactions of Vitamin C and Iron: Inhibition of the Pro-Oxidant Activity by Deferiprone”
  by Viktor A. Timoshnikov, Tatyana V. Kobzeva, Nikolay E. Polyakov and George J. Kontoghiorghes
  Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(11), 3967; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21113967

• “Modulation of Pro-Oxidant and Pro-Inflammatory Activities of M1 Macrophages by the Natural Dipeptide Carnosine”
  by Claudia G. Fresta, Annamaria Fidilio, Giacomo Lazzarino, Nicolò Musso, Margherita Grasso, Sara Merlo, Angela M. Amorini, Claudio Bucolo, Barbara Tavazzi, Giuseppe Lazzarino et al.
  Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(3), 776; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21030776

• “SAAMBE-3D: Predicting Effect of Mutations on Protein–Protein Interactions”
  by Swagata Pahari, Gen Li, Adithya Krishna Murthy, Siqi Liang, Robert Fragoza, Haiyuan Yu and Emil Alexov
  Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(7), 2563; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21072563

Insects:  

• “Diversity and Global Distribution of Viruses of the Western Honey Bee, Apis mellifera”
  by Alexis Beaurepaire, Niels Piot, Vincent Doublet, Karina Antunez, Ewan Campbell, Panuwan Chantawannakul, Nor Chejanovsky, Anna Gajda, Matthew Heerman and Delphine Panziera
  Insects 2020, 11(4), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11040239

• “Soil Health and Arthropods: From Complex System to Worthwhile Investigation”
  by Cristina Menta and Sara Remelli
  Insects 2020, 11(1), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11010054

• “Influence of Temperature on Age-Stage, Two-Sex Life Tables for a Minnesota-Acclimated Population of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys)”
  by Byju N. Govindan and William D. Hutchison
  Insects 2020, 11(2), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11020108

Life:

• “Characterization of Resistance in Gram-Negative Urinary Isolates Using Existing and Novel Indicators of Clinical Relevance: A 10-Year Data Analysis”
  by Márió Gajdács, Zoltán Bátori, Marianna Ábrók, Andrea Lázár and Katalin Burián
  Life 2020, 10(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/life10020016

• “Neuroprotection or Neurotoxicity of Illicit Drugs on Parkinson’s Disease”
  by Carla Ferreira, Catarina Almeida, Sandra Tenreiro and Alexandre Quintas
  Life 2020, 10(6), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/life10060086

Metabolites:          

• “Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors Targeting Metabolism and Tumor Microenvironment”
  by Andrea Angeli, Fabrizio Carta, Alessio Nocentini, Jean-Yves Winum, Raivis Zalubovskis, Atilla Akdemir, Valentina Onnis, Wagdy M. Eldehna, Clemente Capasso, Giuseppina De Simone et al.
  Metabolites 2020, 10(10), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10100412

• “MetaboAnalystR 3.0: Toward an Optimized Workflow for Global Metabolomics”
  by Zhiqiang Pang, Jasmine Chong, Shuzhao Li and Jianguo Xia
  Metabolites 2020, 10(5), 186; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10050186

• “Tryptophan Metabolism, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress in Patients with Neurovascular Disease”
  by Martin Hajsl, Alzbeta Hlavackova, Karolina Broulikova, Martin Sramek, Martin Maly, Jan E. Dyr and Jiri Suttnar
  Metabolites 2020, 10(5), 208; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo10050208

MPs:

• “Production and Purification of Artificial Circular RNA Sponges for Application in Molecular Biology and Medicine”
  by Janina Breuer and Oliver Rossbach
  Methods Protoc. 2020, 3(2), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/mps3020042

Pathogens:

• “Effectiveness of Chemical Compounds Used against African Swine Fever Virus in Commercial Available Disinfectants”
  by Małgorzata Juszkiewicz, Marek Walczak, Natalia Mazur-Panasiuk and Grzegorz Woźniakowski
  Pathogens 2020, 9(11), 878; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9110878

• “Betanodavirus and VER Disease: A 30-year Research Review”
  by Isabel Bandín and Sandra Souto
  Pathogens 2020, 9(2), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9020106

• “The Bradyzoite: A Key Developmental Stage for the Persistence and Pathogenesis of Toxoplasmosis”
  by Aude Cerutti, Nicolas Blanchard and Sébastien Besteiro
  Pathogens 2020, 9(3), 234; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9030234

• “Understanding Flavivirus Capsid Protein Functions: The Tip of the Iceberg”
  by Stephanea Sotcheff and Andrew Routh
  Pathogens 2020, 9(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9010042

Plants:

• “Photosynthetic Metabolism under Stressful Growth Conditions as a Bases for Crop Breeding and Yield Improvement”
  by Fermín Morales, María Ancín, Dorra Fakhet, Jon González-Torralba, Angie L. Gámez, Amaia Seminario, David Soba, Sinda Ben Mariem, Miguel Garriga and Iker Aranjuelo
  Plants 2020, 9(1), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9010088

• “Plant Roots Release Small Extracellular Vesicles with Antifungal Activity”
  by Monica De Palma, Alfredo Ambrosone, Antonietta Leone, Pasquale Del Gaudio, Michelina Ruocco, Lilla Turiák, Ramesh Bokka, Immacolata Fiume, Marina Tucci and Gabriella Pocsfalvi
  Plants 2020, 9(12), 1777; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9121777

• “Feeding Behavior and Virus-transmission Ability of Insect Vectors Exposed to Systemic Insecticides”
  by Elisa Garzo, Aránzazu Moreno, María Plaza and Alberto Fereres
  Plants 2020, 9(7), 895; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9070895

• “Transcriptome Analyses and Antioxidant Activity Profiling Reveal the Role of a Lignin-Derived Biostimulant Seed Treatment in Enhancing Heat Stress Tolerance in Soybean”
  by Cristina Campobenedetto, Giuseppe Mannino, Chiara Agliassa, Alberto Acquadro, Valeria Contartese, Christian Garabello and Cinzia Margherita Bertea
  Plants 2020, 9(10), 1308; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9101308

Toxins:

• “Aflatoxin Biosynthesis and Genetic Regulation: A Review”
  by Isaura Caceres, Anthony Al Khoury, Rhoda El Khoury, Sophie Lorber, Isabelle P. Oswald, André El Khoury, Ali Atoui, Olivier Puel and Jean-Denis Bailly
  Toxins 2020, 12(3), 150; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12030150

• “Diet Breadth Mediates the Prey Specificity of Venom Potency in Snakes”
  by Keith Lyons, Michel M. Dugon and Kevin Healy
  Toxins 2020, 12(2), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12020074

Vaccines:               

• “Rapid Quantification of SARS-CoV-2-Neutralizing Antibodies Using Propagation-Defective Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Pseudotypes”
  by Ferdinand Zettl, Toni Luise Meister, Tanja Vollmer, Bastian Fischer, Jörg Steinmann, Adalbert Krawczyk, Philip V’kovski, Daniel Todt, Eike Steinmann, Stephanie Pfaender et al.
  Vaccines 2020, 8(3), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030386

• “Influences on Attitudes Regarding Potential COVID-19 Vaccination in the United States”
  by Kendall Pogue, Jamie L. Jensen, Carter K. Stancil, Daniel G. Ferguson, Savannah J. Hughes, Emily J. Mello, Ryan Burgess, Bradford K. Berges, Abraham Quaye and Brian D. Poole
  Vaccines 2020, 8(4), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8040582

• “Recent Progress on the Versatility of Virus-Like Particles”
  by Ciying Qian, Xinlin Liu, Qin Xu, Zhiping Wang, Jie Chen, Tingting Li, Qingbing Zheng, Hai Yu, Ying Gu, Shaowei Li et al.
  Vaccines 2020, 8(1), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8010139

• “COVID-19: Mechanisms of Vaccination and Immunity”
  by Daniel E. Speiser and Martin F. Bachmann
  Vaccines 2020, 8(3), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030404

Veterinary Sciences:

• “Manure as a Potential Hotspot for Antibiotic Resistance Dissemination by Horizontal Gene Transfer Events”
  by Tiago Lima, Sara Domingues and Gabriela Jorge Da Silva
  Vet. Sci. 2020, 7(3), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7030110

• “Seasonality of Nosema ceranae Infections and Their Relationship with Honey Bee Populations, Food Stores, and Survivorship in a North American Region”
  by Berna Emsen, Alvaro De la Mora, Brian Lacey, Les Eccles, Paul G. Kelly, Carlos A. Medina-Flores, Tatiana Petukhova, Nuria Morfin and Ernesto Guzman-Novoa
  Vet. Sci. 2020, 7(3), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7030131

About MDPI Awards:

In order to reward the academic community, especially young researchers and enhance communication among scientists, MDPI journals regularly offer various awards to researchers in specific fields. These awards, serving as a source of inspiration and recognition, help raise the influence of talented individuals who have been credited with outstanding achievements and are making a significant contribution to the advancement of their fields.

To explore more MDPI awards, please click here.

We are pleased to announce that four new scholars have recently been appointed Editorial Board Members (EBMs) for the journal Zoonotic Diseases (ISSN: 2813-0227). 

 We wish them every success both in their research and in the development of the journal. 

Further details about the Editorial Board can be found at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/zoonoticdis/editors.

Dr. Samiullah Khan, the Guest Editor of the Special Issue “Food-Borne Pathogens in Livestock” in the journal Zoonotic Diseases (ISSN: 2813-0227), attended the Australian Society for Microbiology Annual National Meeting from 1 to 4 July 2023. We would like to acknowledge Dr. Samiullah Khan, who introduced our journal at the meeting.

Name: Dr. Samiullah Khan
Affiliation: School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA 5371, Australia
Research interests: foodborne pathogens; host–pathogen interactions; host microbiota and pathogen interactions; host immune response to zoonotic pathogens

The Special Issue “Food-Borne Pathogens in Livestock” is open for submissions. You can access the Special Issue’s website at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/zoonoticdis/special_issues/foodborne_pathogens_livestock.

With the first issue released in June 2023, five new MDPI journals disseminating multi-disciplinary science are due to launch, which will cover the subjects of medicine & pharmacology, biology and physical sciences.

The newly launched journals will be overseen by professional Editorial Board Members and Editors to ensure an accurate and rapid publication, rigorous peer review and broad visibility.

Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below.

Journal	Founding Editor-in-Chief	Journal topics (selected)
	Prof. Dr. Jun Ma, Peking University, China| Editorial | view inaugural issue	growth and development; diet and nutrients; school health promotion policies and practices; child health and care; adolescent health and wellbeing | view journal scope | submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Bernd Rehm, Griffith University, Australia | Editorial | view inaugural issue	DNA and gene synthesis; synthetic transcription factors; protein engineering; viral engineering; metabolic engineering | view journal scope | submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Varsha Gandhi, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue	lymphatics; cancers associated with lymphocytes and lymphoblasts; lymphatic tissues; lymphoma; lymphoid leukemia | view journal scope | submit an article
	Dr. Bradley Turner, University of Melbourne, Australia | Editorial | view inaugural issue	multiple sclerosis; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; primary lateral sclerosis; atherosclerosis; systemic sclerosis | view journal scope | submit an article
	Prof. Dr. Clemens Burda, Case Western Reserve University, USA | Editorial | view inaugural issue	Gamma ray, X-ray, and UV–Vis spectroscopies; NIR/mid-infrared/Raman spectroscopy; microwave and THz spectroscopy; high-resolution gas-phase atomic, molecular, and cluster spectroscopy; MS, NMR, and EPR spectroscopy | view journal scope | submit an article

We wish to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. You are welcome to submit an application to the New Journal Committee (newjournal-committee@mdpi.com) if you would like to create more new journals.

The 2022 citation metrics have been released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we’re pleased to announce the following results for MDPI journals:

We are thrilled to announce that 90% of our ranked MDPI journals, specifically 86 out of 96 (captured in the table below), are performing above average in Q1 or Q2. This year, Clarivate has expanded its Impact Factor (IF) awards to include journals in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), providing greater transparency for the full set of journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. As a result, 111 of MDPI journals have received their first IF in 2023, with 37 journals surpassing an IF of 3.0. In total, 208 MDPI journals have been honored with an IF.

Clarivate explains that by "expanding the coverage but holding to highly selective standards, the [Impact Factor] is now a reliable indicator of trustworthiness, as well as a measure of scholarly impact, at the journal level."

Please visit our blog post where we discuss the release of the latest citation metrics with our Indexing Manager, Dr. Constanze Schelhorn, to find out what's different this time around and how to make use of different metrics available.

Note: The Journal of Personalized Medicine's Impact Factor was omitted in the original release and will be assigned separately. Please find the data on the journal webpage in due course.

Source: 2022 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ^TM (Clarivate, 2023)

MDPI journals will be attending the 42nd annual meeting of the American Society for Virology as an exhibitor. This meeting will be held in Athens, Georgia, USA from 24 to 28 June 2023.

The American Society for Virology (ASV) is a wonderful community that brings together virologists from all areas of the field. As a result, the annual meetings are rich in diverse scientific offerings and they can be quite large (sometimes over 1600 attendees). This conference is hosted by the University of Georgia and held at the Classic Center; the scientific program will include symposia, concurrent workshops, poster sessions, exhibits, and special events. Professional development activities and social events will be interspersed throughout the meeting.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Biomedicines;
• Life;
• Viruses;
• Cells;
• Vaccines;
• Veterinary Sciences;
• Microorganisms;
• CIMB;
• Pathogens;
• TropicalMed;
• Zoonotic Diseases;
• COVID.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions you may have. For more information about the conference and our booth, please visit: https://asv.org/asv2023/.

As a leading open access publisher, MDPI provides scholars with a high-quality and rich academic exchange platform by continuously expanding into new and exciting research areas.

In December 2022, MDPI launched five new journals, covering multiple subjects such as life sciences, biology, medicine and pharmacology, social sciences and humanities. These new journals are being edited by established scholars across the world.

If you are interested in creating more open access journals with us to publish cutting-edge research, please send your journal proposal application to newjournal-committee@mdpi.com.

MDPI is pleased to announce that we now display the co-authors’ email addresses in addition to the corresponding author’s email address on the webpage of published papers, protected by Captcha. For more information about this change, please visit the journal’s instructions for authors page. 

We believe this change will facilitate academic discussions and advance our cause of open science and research. The corresponding authors are responsible for communicating with their co-authors and indicating in our system (https://susy.mdpi.com/) if co-authors would prefer for their email addresses not to be displayed.

On 9 February 2023, Clarivate, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics, added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science platform, streamlining the research process by allowing researchers to locate and link to preprints alongside other trusted content in the database.

The Preprint Citation Index will act as a bridge to connect cutting-edge preprints with peer-reviewed journal articles published within the Web of Science Core Collection. Alerts can be easily set to monitor new research across several repositories and authors will also be able to include preprints on their Web of Science Research Profile to more accurately display their various research outputs.

As of its launch, the Preprint Citation Index will provide nearly two million preprints from various repositories, including MDPI’s own Preprints.org.

MDPI's Preprints Platform – Preprints.org

To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform. Preprints.org accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level Metrics and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints.

During submission to any MDPI journal, authors have the option to share their research as a preprint. After an initial screening, the manuscript is available online in 48 hours or less. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited, providing authors maximum visibility.

We invite you to join the ranks of the over 100k researchers using Preprints.org and share your research.

For more information, please visit Preprints.org.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the MDPI Special Issue Mentor Program.

This program will enable early career researchers (who must hold a Ph.D. in a related field) to experience editing a Special Issue in MDPI journals, under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience, and to cultivate their ability to edit scientific research.

The mentee’s responsibilities include:

• Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Issue;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of Guest Editors;
• Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue together with the mentor.

The mentor’s responsibilities include:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Performing editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications, both of which must be carried out in a timely manner;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
• Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions with the assistance of mentees.

Certificates and awards:
After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Editorial Office of a journal you choose, and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. The full list of MDPI journals is as follows: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, we will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.

MDPI has just become the first open access (OA) publisher to reach the milestone of one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon! We are proud to share this special moment with the global scientific community.

This landmark has been reached thanks to the immeasurable support of more than 600,000 expert reviewers, 66,000 editorial board members and 6700 hard-working colleagues across MDPI’s global offices.

Within more than 25 years of publishing, our journals received 2.1 million manuscripts and generated 4.6 million peer review reports to get to one million papers published.

Reaching the milestone of one million articles published reinforces our mission to remove any existing barriers and to make scientific research accessible to all. Since its inception, MDPI’s goal has been to create reliable processes to make science open. This is a path towards facilitating the dissemination of novel insights in scientific communities.

Regular feedback from authors and reviewers shows that our service is greatly appreciated and needed. At the same time, the feedback helps us identify areas for further improvement.

As it stands, a significant share of published research findings remain closed access. More than half of the content published with the most well-known legacy publishers stays behind a paywall, and that is not including articles published in hybrid OA journals, or made available months or years after publication.

A new policy announced by the US administration in August 2022 requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication. While the new policy does not mandate articles be published under an open access license, it is aligned with the open access movement in removing all barriers to research. Similarly, some of the most advanced research institutions in the world intend to have all funded research articles published in open access by 2025.

MDPI is proud to be the leading agent of the transition to open access.

"Thanks a Million" to all the contributors!

We are pleased to announce that the website of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation has been revamped! For the past couple of months, our UX UI team and front-end developers have been working hard to launch the website in time for the opening of the Sustainability Awards nominations.

The website is not the only thing that has had a remodeling. Indeed, the format of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award (ESLA) has been updated. ESLA is now a competition open to individual researchers or start-ups founded by researchers under the age of 35. Nominee applications will go through 2 rounds of selection until the final 3 are decided. The finalists will then be invited to give pitch presentations during the Award Ceremony to win either first place (10,000 USD) or runner-up (2 x 5000 USD).

The World Sustainability Award, on the other hand, remains the same: a total prize money of 100,000 USD is up for grabs by senior individual researchers or groups of researchers from the international research community.

Nominations for both the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader award are now open! Check out our new website for more information on how to nominate.

Peer Review Week began 19 September 2022 under the theme of “Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research”. Through various blog articles, podcast, and webinar, we discussed this crucial subject throughout the week, celebrating the essential role peer review plays in maintaining research quality.

To begin, we held a Webinar on the topic. Professor Peter W. Choate and Dr. Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi joined Dr. Ioana Craciun, one of MDPI’s scientific officers, for an in-depth discussion.

We invite you to view the event recording:

During the week, the MDPI Blog in a series articles highlighted how good Peer Review safeguards research integrity. The following topics were covered:

• Peer Review Week 2022
• Research Integrity
• What We’ve Learned About Peer Review Reports
• 4 Steps to the Perfect Peer Review Report
• How to Write the Perfect Peer Review Report: An Interview
• Inviting Great Peer Reviewers

In a new edition of Insight Faster, an MDPI podcast, we were delighted to talk to the co-chairs of the Peer Review Week committee, Jayashree Rajagopalan (Senior Manager of Global Community Engagement for CACTUS) and Danielle Padula (Head of Marketing and Community Development at Scholastica) to get their take on this year’s event and its related topics.

You can find the Podcast here.

We hope you enjoy the contents!

The 2021 citation metrics have been officially released in Scopus!

We are pleased to announce that 182 MDPI journals are included, of which:

● 21 journals received their first CiteScore.
● 85% of journals increased their CiteScore from 2020.
● 155 journals (85%) ranked above average, in at least one category.

The following 65 MDPI journals (36%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category:

Source: 2021 CiteScores™ (Elsevier)

In order to acknowledge our reviewers, who so generously dedicate their time to reviewing papers and demonstrate diligence, professionalism, and timeliness when reviewing manuscripts, MDPI journals regularly offer outstanding reviewer awards to scholars who participate in the peer-review process.

We are proud to recognize winners for the year 2021 in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category for their outstanding contributions among extensive competition by presenting them with an Outstanding Reviewer Award.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners on their achievement.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Biology:

• Enrico Vito Perrino, CIHEAM, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy
• Dhirendra Kumar, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, USA
• Carlos A. Viegas, Univesity of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
• Yuri Shavrukov, Flinders University, Australia
• Bipin Gaihre, Mayo Clinic, USA

Brain Sciences:

• Craig D. Workman, University of Iowa, USA
• Vivian Ciaramitaro, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
• Yang Zhang, University of Minnesota, USA

Cells:

• Bonam Srinivasa Reddy, Université de Paris, France
• Homma Takujiro, Yamagata University, Japan
• Hwang, In Koo, Seoul National University, South Korea
• Kobeissy Firas, University of Florida, USA
• Rebelo, Sandra, University of Aveiro, Portugal

Diversity:

• Günter Gollmann, University of Vienna, Austria
• Stephan Koblmüller, University of Graz, Austria
• Emiliano Mori, Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Italy

Horticulturae:

• Joshua D. Klein, Agricultural Research Organization—The Volcani Center, Israel
• Ana Cristina S Figueiredo, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

Insects:

• Carmelo Peter Bonsignore, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italy
• Klaus H. Hoffmann, University of Bayreuth, Germany
• Ivan Milosavljević, University of California, USA

Metabolites:

• Remigiusz Bachor, University of Wrocław, Poland
• Nguyen Phuoc Long, Inje University College of Medicine, South Korea
• Chi Chen, University of Minnesota, USA

Nutrients:

• Jadwiga Hamułka, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
• Grace Campbell, University of Sydney, Australia
• Nicholas Norwitz, Harvard Medical School, USA
• Stefan Kabisch, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Germany
• Luis Rodrigo, University of Oviedo, Spain

Veterinary Sciences:

• Carlos Viegas, Univesity of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
• Arvind Sharma, The University of Queensland, Australia

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the 2021 winners in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category. The winners were selected by the journals’ editors.

We warmly congratulate the awarded young investigators for their outstanding contributions.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Agriculture:

• Carlos Guzmán, University of Cordoba, Spain

Animals:

• Katharina Hohlbaum, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Cells:

• Uri Ben-David, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Diversity:

• Enrico Lunghi, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China

Foods:

• Guodong Zhang, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Horticulturae:

• Luke Bell, Temperate Horticulture, University of Reading, UK

International Journal of Molecular Sciences:

• Alessandro D’Urso, University of Catania, Italy.
• Apostolos Zaravinos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
• Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez, University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Maria Teresa Caccamo, Messina University, Italy
• Tiziana Bonifacino, University of Genoa, Italy

Journal of Fungi:

• Federico Baltar, University of Vienna, Austria
• Rebecca Drummond, University of Birmingham, UK
• Miriam Oses-Ruiz, Public University of Navarre, Spain

Life:

• João Pedro da Silva Machado Lobo, University of Porto, Portugal
• Vincenzo Russo, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy

Metabolites:

• Gabriele Rocchetti, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Italy

Nutrients:

• Fiona Lavelle, Queen's University Belfast, UK
• Matthew Snelson, Monash University, Australia

Pathogens:

• Si Ming Man, Australian National University, Australia
• Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, University of Hong Kong, China

Plants:

• Stefania Sut, University of Padova, Italy
• Mohamed Ahmed El-Esawi, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

Vaccines:

• Nicholas M. Provine, University of Oxford, UK

Viruses:

• Nicholas S. Heaton, Duke University, USA

We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2021 Travel Awards in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category for their outstanding presentations and to present them with the prize.

MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage talented junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.

The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.

We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of 2021 Travel Awards and wish them the greatest success with their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Agriculture:

• Zahra Bitarafan, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Norway
• Nikolaos Tsoulias, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Germany

Fermentation:

• Michela Verni, University of Bari, Italy
• Philipp Demling, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Horticulturae:

• Jagveer Singh, Punjab Agricultural University, India
• Ibrar Hussain, State University of Londrina, Brazil

Microorganisms:

• Francis Muchaamba, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Methods and Protocols:

• Tanja Eisemann, SBP Medical Discovery Institute, USA

Nutrients:

• Mrinalini Dey, National Institute for Health Research, UK
• Ben Kirk, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Kirrilly Pursey, University of Newcastle, Australia
• Dieuwertje Kok, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
• Hanna Huber, University of Bonn, Germany
• Marlene Lages, University of Porto, Portugal
• Zohra S. Lassi, University of Adelaide, Australia
• Rik Olde Engberink, Amsterdam University Medicial Center, the Netherlands
• Sarah Warkentin, University of Porto (ISPUP), Portugal
• Álvaro Hernáez, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
• Leila Abdelhamid, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, USA
• Maria Michela Cesare, University of Siena, Italy
• Kaisa Hiippala, University of Helsinki, Finland

Pathogens:

• Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
• Hejun Liu, Scripps Research Institute, USA
• Tomokazu Tamura, Princeton University, USA

Toxins:

• Cecilie Knudsen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
• Laura Biessy, Cawthron Institute, New Zealand
• Marcelo Mendes Rabelo, University of Florida, USA

Vaccines:

• Hee Chun Chung, Seoul National University, South Korea
• Alejandro Marin Lopez, Yale University, USA

The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as the scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation of the papers published in the journal last year.

We are honored to present the winners in the subject areas of “Biology & Life Sciences”, who were selected amongst extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Animals:

• “Effects of Dietary Betaine on Growth Performance, Digestive Function, Carcass Traitsand Meat Quality in Indigenous Yellow-Feathered Broilers under Long-Term Heat Stress”

by Wenchao Liu, Yilin Yuan, Chenyu Sun, Balamuralikrishnan Balasubramanian, Zhihui Zhao and Lilong An

Animals 2019, 9(8), 506, doi 10.3390/ani9080506

• “The Ethics of Human–Animal Relationships and Public Discourse: A Case Study of Lions Bred for Their Bones”

by Peter Coals, Dawn Burnham, Andrew Loveridge, David W. Macdonald, Michael ’t Sas-Rolfes, Vivienne L. Williams and John A. Vucetich

Animals 2019, 9(2), 52; doi 10.3390/ani9020052

• “The Potential Role of Insects as Feed: A Multi-Perspective Review”

by Giovanni Sogari, Mario Amato, Ilaria Biasato, Silvana Chiesa and Laura Gasco

Animals 2019, 9(4), 119; doi 10.3390/ani9040119

Antibodies:

• “Antibody Structure and Function: The Basis for Engineering Therapeutics”

by Mark L. Chiu; Dennis R. Goulet; Alexey Teplyakov and Gary L. Gilliland

Antibodies 2019, 8(4), 55; doi 10.3390/antib8040055

Antioxidants:

• “Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Flavanones from Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (licorice) Leaf Phytocomplexes: Identification of Licoflavanone as a Modulator of NF-kB/MAPK Pathway”

by Luca Frattaruolo, Gabriele Carullo, Matteo Brindisi, Sarah Mazzotta, Luca Bellissimo, Vittoria Rago, Rosita Curcio, Vincenza Dolce, Francesca Aiello and Anna Rita Cappello

Antioxidants 2019, 8(6), 186; doi 10.3390/antiox8060186

• “LC-ESI-QTOF/MS Characterisation of Phenolic Acids and Flavonoids in Polyphenol-Rich Fruits and Vegetables and Their Potential Antioxidant Activities”

by Chunhe Gu, Kate Howell, Frank R. Dunshea and Hafiz A. R. Suleria

Antioxidants 2019, 8(9), 405; doi 10.3390/antiox8090405

• “Nutritional Value, Chemical Composition and Cytotoxic Properties of Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) in Relation to Harvesting Stage and Plant Part”

by Spyridon A. Petropoulos, Ângela Fernandes, Maria Inês Dias, Ioannis B. Vasilakoglou, Konstantinos Petrotos, Lillian Barros and Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira

Antioxidants 2019, 8(8), 293; doi 10.3390/antiox8080293

• “A Comprehensive Review on Lipid Oxidation in Meat and Meat Products”

by Rubén Domínguez, Mirian Pateiro, Mohammed Gagaoua, Francisco J. Barba, Wangang Zhang and José M. Lorenzo

Antioxidants 2019, 8(10), 429; doi 10.3390/antiox8100429

Biology:

• “The Mammalian Circadian Timing System and the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus as Its Pacemaker”

by Michael H. Hastings, Elizabeth S. Maywood and Marco Brancaccio

Biology 2019, 8(1), 13; doi 10.3390/biology8010013

• “Combined Effects of Acute Temperature Change and Elevated pCO₂ on the Metabolic Rates and Hypoxia Tolerances of Clearnose Skate (Rostaraja eglanteria), Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), and Thorny Skate (Amblyraja radiata)”

by Gail D. Schwieterman, Daniel P. Crear, Brooke N. Anderson, Danielle R. Lavoie, James A. Sulikowski, Peter G. Bushnell and Richard W. Brill

Biology 2019, 8(3), 56; doi 10.3390/biology8030056

Biomolecules:

• “Flagella-Driven Motility of Bacteria”

by Shuichi Nakamura and Tohru Minamino

Biomolecules 2019, 9(7), 279; doi 10.3390/biom9070279

• “Systematic FTIR Spectroscopy Study of the Secondary Structure Changes in Human Serum Albumin under Various Denaturation Conditions”

by Dmitrii Usoltsev, Vera Sitnikovaandrey Kajava and Mayya Uspenskaya

Biomolecules 2019, 9(8), 359; doi 10.3390/biom9080359

• “Quantification of Fecal Short Chain Fatty Acids by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry—Investigation of Pre-Analytic Stability”

by Gerhard Liebisch, Josef Ecker, Sebastian Roth, Sabine Schweizer, Veronika Öttl, Hans-Frieder Schött, Hongsup Yoon, Dirk Haller, Ernst Holler, Ralph Burkhardt and Silke Matysik

Biomolecules 2019, 9(4), 121; doi 10.3390/biom9040121

• “Cytotoxicity of Dendrimers”

by Anna Janaszewska, Joanna Lazniewska, Przemysław Trzepiński, Monika Marcinkowska and Barbara Klajnert-Maculewicz

Biomolecules 2019, 9(8), 330; doi 10.3390/biom9080330

Cells:

• “Combined Inhibition of TGF-β Signaling and the PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Is Differentially Effective in Tumor Models”

by Heng Sheng Sow, Jiang Ren, Marcel Camps, Ferry Ossendorp and Peter ten Dijke

Cells 2019, 8(4), 320; doi 10.3390/cells8040320

• “Exosome Treatment Enhances Anti-Inflammatory M2 Macrophages and Reduces Inflammation-Induced Pyroptosis in Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy”

by Dinender K. Singla, Taylor A. Johnson and Zahra Tavakoli Dargani

Cells 2019, 8(10), 1224; doi 10.3390/cells8101224

• “Overview of Extracellular Vesicles, Their Origin, Composition, Purpose, and Methods for Exosome Isolation and Analysis”

by Laura M. Doyle and Michael Zhuo Wang

Cells 2019, 8(7), 727; doi 10.3390/cells8070727

• “Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine”

by Yu Han, Xuezhou Li, Yanbo Zhang, Yuping Han, Fei Chang and Jianxun Ding

Cells 2019, 8(8), 886; doi 10.3390/cells8080886

Genes:

• “A High-Quality De novo Genome Assembly from a Single Mosquito Using PacBio Sequencing”

by Sarah B. Kingan, Haynes Heaton, Juliana Cudini, Christine C. Lambert, Primo Baybayan, Brendan D. Galvin, Richard Durbin, Jonas Korlach and Mara K. N. Lawniczak

Genes 2019, 10(1), 62; doi 10.3390/genes10010062

• “Eukaryotic 5-methylcytosine (m⁵C) RNA Methyltransferases: Mechanisms, Cellular Functions, and Links to Disease”

by Katherine E Bohnsack, Claudia Höbartner and Markus T Bohnsack

Genes 2019, 10(2), 102; doi 10.3390/genes10020102

• “Tree Lab: Portable Genomics for Early Detection of Plant Viruses and Pests in Sub-Saharan Africa”

by Laura M. Boykin, Peter Sseruwagi, Titus Alicai, Elijah Ateka, Ibrahim Umar Mohammed, Jo-Ann L. Stanton, Charles Kayuki, Deogratius Mark, Tarcisius Fute, Joel Erasto, Hilda Bachwenkizi, Brenda Muga, Naomi Mumo, Jenniffer Mwangi, Phillip Abidrabo, Geoffrey Okao-Okuja, Geresemu Omuut, Jacinta Akol, Hellen B. Apio, Francis Osingada, Monica A. Kehoe, David Eccles, Anders Savill, Stephen Lamb, Tonny Kinene, Christopher B. Rawle, Abishek Muralidhar, Kirsty Mayall, Fred Tairo and Joseph Ndunguru

Genes 2019, 10(9), 632; doi 10.3390/genes10090632

• “Transcription Factors Associated with Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance and Their Potential for Crops Improvement”

by Elamin Hafiz Baillo, Roy Njoroge Kimotho, Zhengbin Zhang and Ping Xu

Genes 2019, 10(10), 771; doi 10.3390/genes10100771

Horticulturae:

• “Recent Advances in Hormonal Regulation and Cross-Talk during Non-Climacteric Fruit Development and Ripening”

by Lida Fuentes, Carlos R. Figueroa and Monika Valdenegro

Horticulturae 2019, 5(2), 45; doi 10.3390/horticulturae5020045

• “Evaluation of Two Wild Populations of Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.) as a Potential Leafy Vegetable”

by Marta Guarise, Gigliola Borgonovo, Angela Bassoli and Antonio Ferrante

Horticulturae 2019, 5(1), 13; doi 10.3390/horticulturae5010013

Insects:

• “Olfactory Preference of Drosophila suzukii Shifts between Fruit and Fermentation Cues over the Season: Effects of Physiological Status”

by Rik Clymans, Vincent Van Kerckvoorde, Eva Bangels, Wannes Akkermans, Ammar Alhmedi, Patrick De Clercq, Tim Beliën and Dany bylemans

Insects 2019, 10(7), 200; doi 10.3390/insects10070200

• “Telenomus remus, a Candidate Parasitoid for the Biological Control of Spodoptera frugiperda in Africa, is already Present on the Continent”

by Marc Kenis, Hannalene du Plessis, Johnnie Van den Berg, Malick Niango Ba, Georg Goergen, Koffi Eric Kwadjo, Ibrahim Baoua, Tadele Tefera, Alan Buddie, Giovanni Cafà, Lisa Offord, Ivan Rwomushana and Andrew Polaszek

Insects 2019, 10(4), 92; doi 10.3390/insects10040092

• “Symbiotic Plant Biomass Decomposition in Fungus-Growing Termites”

by Rafael R. da Costa, Haofu Hu, Hongjie Li and Michael Poulsen

Insects 2019, 10(4), 87; doi 10.3390/insects10040087

International Journal of Molecular Sciences:

• “Aging, Melatonin, and the Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Networks”

by Rüdiger Hardeland

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(5), 1223; doi 10.3390/ijms20051223

• “Causative Links between Protein Aggregation and Oxidative Stress: A Review”

by Elise Lévy, Nadine El Banna, Dorothée Baïlle, Amélie Heneman-Masurel, Sandrine Truchet, Human Rezaei, Meng-Er Huang, Vincent Béringue, Davy Martin and Laurence Vernis

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(16), 3896; doi 10.3390/ijms20163896

• “Immunobiology of Atherosclerosis: A Complex Net of Interactions”

by Beatriz Herrero-Fernandez, Raquel Gomez-Bris, Beatriz Somovilla-Crespo and Jose Maria Gonzalez-Granado

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(21), 5293; doi 10.3390/ijms20215293

• “Development of a Gut-on-a-Chip Model for High Throughput Disease Modeling and Drug Discovery”

by Claudia Beaurivage, Elena Naumovska, Yee Xiang Chang, Edo D. Elstak, Arnaud Nicolas, Heidi Wouters, Guido van Moolenbroek, Henriëtte L. Lanz, Sebastiaan J. Trietsch, Jos Joore, Paul Vulto, Richard A.J. Janssen, Kai S. Erdmann, Jan Stallen and Dorota Kurek

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(22), 5661; doi 10.3390/ijms20225661

• “Triple-Negative Breast Cancer with High Levels of Annexin A1 Expression Is Associated with Mast Cell Infiltration, Inflammationand Angiogenesis”

by Maiko Okano, Masanori Oshi, Ali Linsk Butash, Eriko Katsuta, Kazunoshin Tachibana, Katsuharu Saito, Hirokazu Okayama, Xuan Peng, Li Yan, Koji Kono, Toru Ohtake and Kazuaki Takabe

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(17), 4197; doi 10.3390/ijms20174197

• “CGRP Induces Differential Regulation of Cytokines from Satellite Glial Cells in Trigeminal Ganglia and Orofacial Nociception”

by Shaista Afroz, Rieko Arakaki, Takuma Iwasa, Masamitsu Oshima, Maki Hosoki, Miho Inoue, Otto Baba, Yoshihiro Okayama and Yoshizo Matsuka

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(3), 711; doi 10.3390/ijms20030711

Life:

• “Characterization of Resistance in Gram-Negative Urinary Isolates Using Existing and Novel Indicators of Clinical Relevance: A 10-Year Data Analysis”

by Márió Gajdács, Zoltán Bátori, Marianna Ábrók, Andrea Lázár and Katalin Burián

Life 2020, 10(2), 16; doi 10.3390/life10020016

• “Neuroprotection or Neurotoxicity of Illicit Drugs on Parkinson’s Disease”

by Carla Ferreira, Catarina Almeida, Sandra Tenreiro and Alexandre Quintas

Life 2020, 10(6), 86; doi 10.3390/life10060086

Nutrients:

• “Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease”

by Ronald D. Hills, Benjamin A. Pontefract, Hillary R. Mishcon, Cody A. Black, Steven C. Sutton and Cory R. Theberge

Nutrients 2019, 11(7), 1613; doi 10.3390/nu11071613

• “Vitamin C Can Shorten the Length of Stay in the ICU: A Meta-Analysis”

by Harri Hemilä and Elizabeth Chalker

Nutrients 2019, 11(4), 708; doi 10.3390/nu11040708

• “Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves 24-Hour Glucose Levels and Affects Markers of the Circadian Clock, Aging, and Autophagy in Humans”

by Humaira Jamshed, Robbie A. Beyl, Deborah L. Della Manna, Eddy S. Yang, Eric Ravussin and Courtney M. Peterson

Nutrients 2019, 11(6), 1234; doi 10.3390/nu11061234

Pathogens:

• “Alteration of Gut Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Cause or Consequence? IBD Treatment Targeting the Gut Microbiome”

by Israr Kha, Naeem Ullah, Lajia Zha, Yanrui Bai, Ashiq Khan, Tang Zhao, Tuanjie Che and Chunjiang Zhang

Pathogens 2019, 8(3), 126; doi 10.3390/pathogens8030126

• “Candida albicans Interactions with Mucosal Surfaces during Health and Disease”

by Spyridoula-Angeliki Nikou,Nessim Kichik, Rhys Brown, Nicole O. Ponde, Jemima Ho, Julian R. Naglik and Jonathan P. Richardson

Pathogens 2019, 8(2), 53; doi 10.3390/pathogens8020053

• “Bacteriophages in Natural and Artificial Environments”

by Steven Batinovic, Flavia Wassef, Sarah A. Knowler, Daniel T.F. Rice, Cassandra R. Stanton, Jayson Rose, Joseph Tucci, Tadashi Nittami, Antony Vinh, Grant R. Drummond, Christopher G. Sobey, Hiu Tat Chan, Robert J. Seviour, Steve Petrovski and Ashley E. Franks

Pathogens 2019, 8(3), 100; doi 10.3390/pathogens8030100

Plants:

• “Plant Disease Detection and Classification by Deep Learning”

by Muhammad Hammad Saleem, Johan Potgieter and Khalid Mahmood Arif 

Plants 2019, 8(11), 468; doi 10.3390/plants8110468

• “Involvement of Phenolic Acids in Short-Term Adaptation to Salinity Stress is Species-Specific among Brassicaceae”

by Ida Linić, Dunja Šamec, Jiří Grúz, Valerija Vujčić Bok, Miroslav Strnad and Branka Salopek-Sondi

Plants 2019, 8(6), 155; doi 10.3390/plants8060155

• “Isoform-Specific NO Synthesis by Arabidopsis thaliana Nitrate Reductase”

by Marie Agatha Mohn, Besarta Thaqi and Katrin Fischer-Schrader

Plants 2019, 8(3), 67; doi 10.3390/plants8030067

• “GWAS for Starch-Related Parameters in Japonica Rice (Oryza sativa L.)”

by Chiara Biselliandrea Volante, Francesca Desiderio, Alessandro Tondelli, Alberto Gianinetti, Franca Finocchiaro, Federica Taddei, Laura Gazza, Daniela Sgrulletta, Luigi Cattivelli and Giampiero Valè

Plants 2019, 8(8), 292; doi 10.3390/plants8080292

It is our great honor to congratulate the Editorial Board Members and Editors in MDPI's journals who have been distinguished as 2021 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate, according to Web of Science data. We herewith express our gratitude for the immense impact the named researchers continue to make on scientific progress and on our journals' development.

Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited Researchers^TM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 22 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.

The full list of 2021 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed at the following webpage in the Web of Science^TM https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/.

--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.

Academic editors play a crucial role in leading our journals and ensuring that each article undergoes a robust and timely peer-review. With the launch of Topics this year and addition of Topic Editors to our family of academic editors, we decided it would be a good time to restructure our academic boards, thus providing more clarity and support for each role. MDPI is pleased to announce the launch of a new position—Topical Advisory Panel Member, that will replace the previous position of Topics Board Member. The Topical Advisory Panel will be comprised of early career researchers eager to gain experience in editorial work.

The main responsibility of the new members of the Topical Advisory Panel is to regularly provide support to Guest Editors, Topic Editors, and Section Board Members. The responsibilities of the Topical Advisory Panel are available here: https://www.mdpi.com/editors.

Each year, the members’ performances are evaluated, and outstanding members are promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:

• Have expertise and experience in the field related to the journal;
• Have received a Ph.D. in the last 10 years, approximately;
• Have at least 6-8 published papers in the last 5 years as first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute.

If you are interested in this role, please contact the editorial office by email.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Founded in 1996, MDPI was one of the first fully Open Access publisher. Over 25 years MDPI has grown to become the largest Open Access publisher globally, publishing over 160,000 articles across more than 350 journals in 2020. At the core, MDPI was founded in response to a pressing need of fast publication and inclusion. The scholar was set at the centre of the publication process for the first time. Acting as a service provider, rather than a product provider, MDPI exists to help scientists achive their objective to disseminate research results. At MDPI, we believe scientists deserve a better service from the publishing world.

The International Open Access Week (Open Access Week), founded by the SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) Alliance and student partners in 2008, has been successfully running for 13 years. As an advocate and pioneer of open access publishing, MDPI actively responds to the call of International Open Access Week. This year’s theme of “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity” highlights the Recommendation’s call for equitable participation from all authors and readers.

For the last 25 years, MDPI has been committed to disseminating open research. Here is a video showing MDPI’s Commitment to Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for More than 25 Years.

International Open Access Week is an important opportunity to catalyze new conversations, create connections across and between communities that can facilitate this co-design, and advance progress in the building of more equitable foundations for opening knowledge—discussions and actions that need to be continued, year in and year out. MDPI has always aimed to provide professional and efficient publishing services to scholars around the world.

Our mission is to make scientific research accessible to everyone; this year, we interview and hold discussions with open science ambassadors on how to build an equal and inclusive environment for open science. Academic editors help us collaborate with more institutions to advocate for open access ideas.

Read our anniversary blog post: "Sharing 'Collective Human Knowledge': The Benefits of Open Access Publication"

Besides this, our scientific community is a key driver of our success and MDPI’s remarkable growth. Despite the pandemic, we have prepared online conferences and workshops to gather scholars from different communities.

The Basel Sustainable Publishing online forum provides an equal opportunity for stakeholders and researchers from multi-cultural environments to exchange ideas and eliminate barriers to participation.

Conference date: 25 October 2021, online
Conference website: https://bspf2021.sciforum.net/
Main topics: MDPI discusses the current dilemma of open access science from various perspectives such as governments, libraries, and publishers, and related measures on how to change the status quo of discrimination from a global perspective.

We aim to support equality, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications. We collaborate with universities and key laboratories and have scholarly communications with researchers, teachers, and students on open access workshops.

• 25 October 2021
  Energies journal and Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

• 28 October 2021
  Machines journal and State Key Laboratory of Traction Power, Southwest Jiaotong University

• 29 October 2021
  Processes journal and Beijing Institute of Technology

• 29 October 2021
  Coatings journal and Wuhan University of Technology

MDPI is committed to providing open access and high-quality publishing services for scholars and promoting rapid dissemination of academic achievements. We hope to promote the practices and policies of open access publishing and diversify the dissemination of academic achievements.

Rigorous peer-review is the cornerstone of high-quality academic publishing. Over 369,916 scholars served as reviewers for MDPI journals in 2020. We are extremely appreciative of all those who made a contribution to the editorial process in this capacity. At the beginning of every year, journal editorial offices publish a list of all reviewers’ names to express our gratitude. In addition, this year, the MDPI Top Reviewer Award was announced, to recognize the very best reviewers for their expertise and dedication, and their high-quality, and timely review reports. We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2020 MDPI Top Reviewer Award:

• Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu;
• Alban Kuriqi;
• Álvaro González-Vila;
• Alessandro Alaimo;
• Alexey Beskopylny;
• Alexander Yu Churyumov;
• Alberto Fernández-Isabel;
• Andrea Mastinu;
• Antonios N. Papadopoulos;
• Anton Rassõlkin;
• Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino;
• Arkadiusz Matwijczuk;
• Artur Słomka;
• Baojie He;
• Bartłomiej Potaniec;
• Bojan Đurin;
• Camilo Arturo Rodriguez Diaz;
• Carmelo Maria Musarella;
• Chiachung Chen;
• Chiman Kwan;
• Cristian Busu;
• Danil Pimenov;
• Dan-Cristian Dabija;
• Delfín Ortega-Sánchez;
• Demetrio Antonio Zema;
• Denis Butusov;
• Elena Lucchi;
• Gaurab Dutta;
• Livia Anastasiu;
• M. R. Safaei.

For more information about how to become a reviewer of MDPI journals, please see: www.mdpi.com/reviewers.

UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. In 2020 the SDG Publishers Compact was launched, aimed to inspire publishers and accelerate progress to achieve the 17 goals by 2030. Members of the programme are committed to support the publication of materials that will promote and inspire actions towards SDGs.

MDPI is an eager advocate of SDGs and has already been supporting the programme by creating Special Issues and publishing a series of books on SDGs prior to joining the Compact in 2021. MDPI's Sustainability Foundation initiated the World Sustainability Awards in 2016. We fully support UN's goals to promote sustainable actions that make the world a better place for all and, as part of its commitment, we will focus our actions on SDG10: Reduced Inequalities whilst promoting all 17 SDGs. For more details, please visit the programme’s website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/.

Joining this initiative was a unanimous decision. MDPI has in its core values the dissemination of science for all, breaking the wall between research access and under-represented members of the scientific community and the general population. To support this initiative further and continue to support under-represented scientists, MDPI will take a series of actions that will be announced once ready.

The first action MDPI takes is to nominate Dr. Liliane Auwerter as the coordinator of the programme. Dr. Auwerter studied Environmental Process Technology (UTFPR, Brazil), obtained her MSc degree in Water and Environmental Engineering (University of Surrey, UK) and in 2020 completed her PhD in self-healing low-friction materials for water transport (Imperial College London, UK), always focusing on diverse scientific projects that would potentially bring sustainability to industrial processes. As a student in Brazil, she engaged in volunteering activities focused on environmental education and took part in the Millennial Development Goals meetings held at the university.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Liliane Auwerter
Scientific Officer
liliane.auwerter@mdpi.com

This serves to announce to our valued authors based in Japan that value-added tax, or consumption tax will now be imposed on article processing fees and other service fees for all papers submitted, or resubmitted (assigned new paper IDs), effective from 15 August 2021. The change is in accordance with the Japanese "Act for Partial Revision of the Income Tax Act and Other Acts" (Act No. 9 of 2015), which includes a revision of consumption taxation on cross-border supplies of services such as digital content distribution.

For additional information from the National Tax Agency please see here ("Cross-border supplies of electronic services").

Contact: Setsuko Nishihara, MDPI Tokyo