Ukrainian national semiconductor physics institute specializing in nanostructure quantum phenomena and humidity-based energy harvesting materials.
ISP NASU is a Ukrainian national research institute dedicated to semiconductor physics, with deep expertise in the quantum and collective behavior of electrons and excitons in nanoscale materials. Their work covers both fundamental condensed matter phenomena — including collective excitations in advanced nanostructures — and applied research in semiconductor-based energy conversion, as demonstrated by their contribution to a humidity-to-electricity harvesting system. In H2020, they joined international consortia as a specialist physics partner, bringing theoretical and experimental knowledge of semiconductor materials to projects spanning basic nanostructure science and practical energy harvesting. Their participation in MSCA-RISE projects indicates they exchange researchers internationally, functioning as a knowledge node within European physics networks.
Both CoExAN (collective excitations in advanced nanostructures) and SSHARE (adsorption-based energy conversion) rely on semiconductor materials physics as the underlying scientific discipline.
CoExAN (2015–2019) focused specifically on collective excitations in advanced nanostructures, a core area of condensed matter and semiconductor physics.
SSHARE (2019–2023) developed a self-sufficient radiant adsorption system converting atmospheric humidity to electricity, where ISP NASU contributed as a funded participant.
SSHARE's core technology — radiant adsorption toward net zero energy — draws on materials science overlapping with semiconductor surface and interface physics.
In their first H2020 project (CoExAN, 2015–2019), ISP NASU was engaged in foundational physics: understanding collective excitations — plasmons, excitons, phonons — in engineered nanostructures, with no applied energy dimension. By 2019, their second project (SSHARE) had shifted decisively toward applied energy technology, specifically harvesting electricity from ambient humidity using adsorption principles. This is a meaningful pivot: from studying quantum phenomena in materials to deploying those material properties for practical energy generation — a trajectory consistent with the broader trend of semiconductor physics labs moving toward energy and sustainability applications.
ISP NASU appears to be transitioning from pure semiconductor physics research toward applied energy conversion technologies, making them a candidate partner for materials-science-intensive clean energy projects.
ISP NASU has never led a project as coordinator — they join as partner or participant, contributing specialist physics expertise within larger international teams. Their two MSCA-RISE engagements suggest they prefer researcher-exchange formats over technology-leadership roles, acting as a knowledge source rather than a project driver. With 20 unique partners across 15 countries from just two projects, they operate in genuinely broad international networks despite modest overall project volume.
Despite only two projects, ISP NASU has connected with 20 unique consortium partners spanning 15 countries, suggesting they consistently join large, geographically diverse MSCA-RISE networks. No strong regional concentration is apparent from the data.
ISP NASU is one of Ukraine's most established semiconductor physics institutions, carrying decades of Soviet-era and post-independence research tradition in condensed matter and nanomaterial physics — expertise that is relatively rare among Eastern European partners in EU consortia. For a consortium needing deep semiconductor materials knowledge without the overhead of a large Western European university, ISP NASU offers focused specialist capacity at lower cost. Their dual-track profile — fundamental nanostructure physics and applied humidity energy harvesting — makes them relevant to both basic-science and applied-energy project calls.
