Mario Rocca (MR) graduated in Physics at the University of Genoa (UniGe) in 1982. He obtained his PhD in Rerum Naturalis at the Technische Universitaet Aachen (Germany) in 1985 with the grade summa cum laude. MR was awarded of the Borcher Plakette by TU Aachen and of the Scientific Production Prize of the Società Italiana di Fisica. Since 1984 MR is staff member of the University of Genoa (Full Professor of Condensed Matter Physics since 2001, currently decano of the Department of Physics) and associate researcher at CNR-IMEM. He was visiting professor at SPAS-CEA Saclay (F), University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and University of Washington at Seattle (USA), Cavendish Laboratory Cambridge (UK), Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro and INMETRO (Brasil) and UPMC Paris (F). The research activity of MR has been developed in Surface Physics and Nanoscience with major results in gas-surface interaction, simple chemical reactions and catalysis, growth and characterization of ultra-thin films, surface plasmon and acoustic surface plasmon dispersion. MR research activity counts 200 peer reviewed papers (h-index/Cit.: 38/4607- Scopus, 43/5635 Google Scholar), which have been presented in over 40 invited talks at major scientific conferences and 70 seminars and colloquia at universities and research laboratories. He supervised the work of 8 PhD students and of 12 postdoctoral researchers. He is currently editor of the journal Applied Surface Science (Elsevier) and of the Springer Series in Surface Science. He served as editor also for Surface Science Reports. He has cured as editor the “Springer Handbook of Surface Science” in 2022. He chaired the conferences 6th Vibrations at Surfaces 6 (1993), 26th European Conference on Surface Science (2009), 16th International Conference on Solid Films and Surfaces (2012), 3rd International Conference on Applied Surface Science (2019) and 35th Symposium on Surface Science (2023). He is the vice chair of the Surface Science Division of the International Union of Vacuum Science and Technology Associations. He is member of the board of the Associazione Italiana Vuoto e Tecnologia, of the Scientific board of the Union of Scientists for Disarmament and of the Academic Senate of UniGe.