The recipient of the 2026 Research Excellence Award of the European Mineralogical Union is Prof. Paolo Lotti from the University of Milan (Italy).

Paolo Lotti obtained his PhD in 2013 at the University of Milan (Italy). After several months as a visiting scientist at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and two postdoctoral stays in Italy (Milan and at the Xpress beamline of the ELETTRA Synchrotron source, Trieste), he settled in Milan in 2017 as a junior assistant professor. Since 2023, he has been an associate professor of applied mineralogy and georesources at the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Milan.

His research focuses on pressure-induced crystal–fluid interactions, including zeolites and other microporous minerals, with implications for fluid transport in oceanic subduction. He also worked on establishing phase stability fields of feldspathoid-group minerals (leucite, kalsilite, and nepheline, to name a few), and their synthetic counterparts for technological ceramics. Recently, his research has focused on thermo-elastic characterization of Rare Earth Elements (REE)-bearing minerals with zircon- and monazite-type structures.

Paolo Lotti is also strongly involved in the mineralogy and crystallography community, as attested by his roles as an associate editor of American Mineralogist and an evaluation panel member at synchrotron facilities, a councilor at the Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology and the Italian Zeolites Association. He is a member of the teaching commission of the Italian Crystallographic Association and of the teaching committee of the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Milan. He has also participated in the organization of several International Schools of Crystallography on powder X-ray diffraction.

Given his major role in transmitting knowledge within the European crystallography and mineralogy community and his numerous scientific achievements, Paolo Lotti is truly worthy of receiving the EMU Medal for Research Excellence 2026.