Professor Jaco Vangronsveld is the Research Institute director - Center for Environmental Sciences and leader of the Environmental Biology research group at the University of Hasselt in Belgium.

He is also employed at the Department of Plant Physiology and Biophysics of the Institute of Biological Sciences of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University - as part of the "Research in Lublin" program, the author of which is the Rector of the UMCS - Professor Radoslaw Dobrowolski. The whole project had been implemented in cooperation with the Lublin City Hall.

The professor is the author of over 300 articles in reputable journals from the JCR database, 36 chapters in books and many other publications. His scientific work is appreciated worldwide, as evidenced by the huge number of citations of his publications (about 17 thousand). He is one of the 1% most cited scientists in the world (2018 Highly Cited Researchers list according to Web of Science from the Clarivate Analytics database).

Close cooperation with prof. Jaco Vangronsveld and the opportunity to participate in many international projects provide great and wide opportunities for both Maria Curie-Skłodowska University students and all colleagues.

For the help in implementing the material, we would like to thank the Vice-Dean, prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Wójcik from the Department of Plant Physiology and Biophysics at the Faculty of Biology and biotechnology.