VAKAL Serhii Vasylovych (23. 11. 1955, Sumy) — specialist in the field of ecological safety. Doctor of Technical Sciences (2018). Graduated from the Sumy branch of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute (1980). Since then, worked at the All-Union Research Institute “Kompresormash” (Sumy); 1982–94 — engineer, junior, senior researcher of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Ecology of Sumy University; 1998–2003 — Deputy Director for Research, 2003–19 — Director of the Sumy Research Institute of Mineral Fertilizers and Pigments; since 2019 — acting director of this institute of Sumy University. Research interests: technologies for obtaining complex phosphorus-containing and organo-mineral fertilizers, product granulation, apparatus design of granulation processes, scientific and technical support for enterprises in the industry, utilization of large-tonnage production and consumption waste, consulting in the field of intellectual property and technology transfer. Participated in the development and commissioning of 2 installations for towerless granulation of nitrogen fertilizers and coagulants at enterprises of the chemical complex of Ukraine, the transition of the phosphorus-containing fertilizer industry to a new type of raw material — foreign phosphorites.