ICREA

Academia Awards
nd
2009 (2 call)
Awardees (in Alphabetical order)

Area Surname, Name Univ. Gender

Life & Med. Sc. Ariño, Joaquin UAB M
Life & Med. Sc. Ayte del Olmo, Jose UPF M
Technology Baró Mariné, Maria Dolors UAB F
Social Sc. Caballe, Jordi UAB M
Social Sc. Carrion‐i‐Silvestre, Josep Lluís UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Dieguez Fernandez, Montserrat URV F
Exp. Sc. & Math. Escuer Fité, Albert UB M
Humanities Espinal Farré, M. Teresa UAB F
Life & Med. Sc. Estévez, Raúl UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Fernandez Sanchez, Enrique UAB M
Humanities Fradera Barceló, Josep Maria UPF M
Social Sc. Freixas Dargallo, Xavier UPF M
Social Sc. Ganuza Fernandez, Juan‐Jose UPF M
Life & Med. Sc. Garcia‐Fernandez, Jordi UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Garcia‐Ojalvo, Jordi UPC M
Social Sc. Gomez Pomar, Fernando UPF M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Illas Riera, Francesc UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Latorre Sentís, José Ignacio UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Llibre Saló, Jaume UAB M
Technology Llorca, Jordi UPC M
Technology Masoller, Cristina UPC F
Technology Medina Cabello, Francisco URV M
Humanities Mora Torcal, Rafael UAB M
Humanities Nieto‐Galan, Agustí UAB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Pomarol, Alex UAB M
Humanities Sanmartí Grego, Joan UB M
Humanities Segarra Montaner, Marta UB F
Exp. Sc. & Math. Solà Puig, Miquel UdG M
Technology Suñe Tarruella, Jordi UAB M
Life & Med. Sc. Ventura Zamora, Salvador UAB M

Total Awardees 30

2
Awardees (by ICREA Area)

Area Surname, Name Univ. Gender

Exp. Sc. & Math. Dieguez Fernandez, Montserrat URV F
Exp. Sc. & Math. Escuer Fité, Albert UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Fernandez Sanchez, Enrique UAB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Garcia‐Ojalvo, Jordi UPC M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Illas Riera, Francesc UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Latorre Sentís, José Ignacio UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Llibre Saló, Jaume UAB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Pomarol, Alex UAB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Solà Puig, Miquel UdG M
Humanities Espinal Farré, M. Teresa UAB F
Humanities Fradera Barceló, Josep Maria UPF M
Humanities Mora Torcal, Rafael UAB M
Humanities Nieto‐Galan, Agustí UAB M
Humanities Sanmartí Grego, Joan UB M
Humanities Segarra Montaner, Marta UB F
Life & Med. Sc. Ariño, Joaquin UAB M
Life & Med. Sc. Ayte del Olmo, Jose UPF M
Life & Med. Sc. Estévez, Raúl UB M
Life & Med. Sc. Garcia‐Fernandez, Jordi UB M
Life & Med. Sc. Ventura Zamora, Salvador UAB M
Social Sc. Caballe, Jordi UAB M
Social Sc. Carrion‐i‐Silvestre, Josep Lluís UB M
Social Sc. Freixas Dargallo, Xavier UPF M
Social Sc. Ganuza Fernandez, Juan‐Jose UPF M
Social Sc. Gomez Pomar, Fernando UPF M
Technology Baró Mariné, Maria Dolors UAB F
Technology Llorca, Jordi UPC M
Technology Masoller, Cristina UPC F
Technology Medina Cabello, Francisco URV M
Technology Suñe Tarruella, Jordi UAB M

Total Awardees 30

3
Awardees (by University)

Area Surname, Name Univ. Gender

Life & Med. Sc. Ariño, Joaquin UAB M
Technology Baró Mariné, Maria Dolors UAB F
Social Sc. Caballe, Jordi UAB M
Humanities Espinal Farré, M. Teresa UAB F
Exp. Sc. & Math. Fernandez Sanchez, Enrique UAB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Llibre Saló, Jaume UAB M
Humanities Mora Torcal, Rafael UAB M
Humanities Nieto‐Galan, Agustí UAB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Pomarol, Alex UAB M
Technology Suñe Tarruella, Jordi UAB M
Life & Med. Sc. Ventura Zamora, Salvador UAB M
Social Sc. Carrion‐i‐Silvestre, Josep Lluís UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Escuer Fité, Albert UB M
Life & Med. Sc. Estévez, Raúl UB M
Life & Med. Sc. Garcia‐Fernandez, Jordi UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Illas Riera, Francesc UB M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Latorre Sentís, José Ignacio UB M
Humanities Sanmartí Grego, Joan UB M
Humanities Segarra Montaner, Marta UB F
Exp. Sc. & Math. Solà Puig, Miquel UdG M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Garcia‐Ojalvo, Jordi UPC M
Technology Llorca, Jordi UPC M
Technology Masoller, Cristina UPC F
Life & Med. Sc. Ayte del Olmo, Jose UPF M
Humanities Fradera Barceló, Josep Maria UPF M
Social Sc. Freixas Dargallo, Xavier UPF M
Social Sc. Ganuza Fernandez, Juan‐Jose UPF M
Social Sc. Gomez Pomar, Fernando UPF M
Exp. Sc. & Math. Dieguez Fernandez, Montserrat URV F
Technology Medina Cabello, Francisco URV M
Total Awardees 30

4
Ariño, Joaquín
Life and Medical Sciences

UAB

Short bio
Joaquín Ariño was born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1957. He gained a degree in
Pharmacy and obtained his Ph.D. degree at the University of Barcelona, under
the supervision of Joan J. Guinovart. In 1986-87 he was a Fulbright Fellow at the
Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Medical School. He became
“Profesor Titular” at the Dept. Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona and started his research in the molecular biology of
yeasts. In the early 1990s he was involved in the sequencing of the first
eukaryotic genome (S. cerevisiae) and in 1993 became Professor of
Biochemistry (Catedrático). He has published over 100 research papers or
reviews in the fields of biochemistry, genetics, and microbiology, and has been PI
in multiple national and international research projects. J. Ariño is member of the
Editorial Board of The Biochemical Journal since 2005.

Research interests
My laboratory has been since its inception interested in the control of cellular
processes by phosphorylation-dephosphorylation mechanisms and was
responsible in the 90s for the discovery of many Ser/Thr protein phosphatases
from animals, plants and fungi. Recent work is focused on the role of protein
phospho-dephosphorylation mechanisms in stress response, the regulation of
gene expression under stress and the investigation of the homeostasis of alkaline
cations and other metals in yeast from a Systems Biology approach.

5
Ayte, José
Life and Medical Sciences

UPF

Short bio
José Ayté graduated in Pharmacy at Universitat de Barcelona and then joined
the Biochemistry Department, where he obtained his PhD working on the
mechanisms that regulate the metabolic pathways of cholesterol homeostasis.
He pursued his research career working as a postdoctoral fellow during eight
years in the labs of James DeCaprio (Harvard Medical School, USA) and Paul
Nurse (Imperial Cancer Research Fund, UK). In both laboratories, Dr. Ayté
worked on the basic mechanisms that control cell cycle progression. He was
recruited by UPF in 2000, where he is the co-director of the Oxidative Stress and
Cell Cycle Group.

Research interests
Using the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model system, our
group is interested in studying the components and molecular mechanisms
regulating the responses to oxidative stress and the mitotic and meiotic cell cycle.
Specifically, we are focused in understanding and decipher the signals that
activate and repress MBF, an essential transcription factor that regulates cell
cycle progression. We are also interested in the changes in the gene expression
program that take place when cells switch from mitotic meiotic division (sexual
reproduction), essentially at the level of regulated splicing. We use state-of-the-
art methodological approaches in the fields of molecular biology, proteomics and
in vivo imaging as a complement to classical genetics.

6
Baró, Maria Dolors
Technology

UAB

Short bio
Maria Dolors Baró, BSc Physics (UB, 1971) and PhD in Physics (UAB, 1975), is
professor of Applied Physics at the UAB, head of the Physics Materials II Group
and leader of the Group of Nanostructured Materials recognized by the DGR.
She has wide experience acting as co-ordinator or partner group leader in
European, national and regional projects. Since 2004, she has published about
80 articles in peer-reviewed journals, taken out a patent and presented over 45
invited talks. She has chaired one summer school, one workshop and one
symposium, as well as participating in the Steering Committee of 8 international
scientific conferences. She is the president of the Specific Committee of
Sciences of the Research Assessment Commission (CAR) of the AQU Catalonia.
In 2004, she was awarded the Narcís Monturiol Medal for scientific and
technological merit by the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Research interests
Her current research interests cover magnetic behaviour of submicron dots
composed of ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic bilayers, double inversed
core/shell nanoparticles and nanoparticles presenting different shapes;
nanomechanical characterization and strengthening mechanisms in bulk metallic
glasses, amorphous ribbons and nanocomposites or sorption kinetics in reactive
hydride composites.

7
Caballé, Jordi
Social Sciences

UAB

Short bio
Jordi Caballé is professor of Economics at the Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona (UAB). He obtained his PhD degree from the University of
Pennsylvania (1989). He has served as dean of the School of Economics and
Business at the UAB, secretary of the Spanish Economic Association, and
director of the Spanish Economic Review. He has published his research in
leading international journals like Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy,
Review of Economic Studies, Economic Journal, International Economic Review,
Journal of Economic Theory and Journal of Public Economics.

Research interests
His research areas are Macroeconomics, Decision under Uncertainty, and
Financial Economics. In particular, he has studied the implications of habit
formation, consumption spillovers, and altruism for macroeconomic dynamics
and fiscal policy. He has also developed some techniques of decision under
uncertainty and has applied them to the tax evasion problem. Finally, he has
analyzed the performance of financial markets under insider trading and
imperfect competition. He is currently studying the effects of habits and
aspirations on the distribution of wealth, the transitional dynamics of growth
models with heterogeneous goods, and the characterization of stochastic
dominance for different concepts of risk aversion.

8
Carrion-i-Silvestre, Josep Lluís
Social Sciences

UB

Short bio
Josep Lluís Carrion-i-Silvestre is professor at the Department of Econometrics,
Statistics and Spanish Economy of the University of Barcelona. He obtained his
PhD in Economics at the University of Barcelona in 1999 and continued his
research activity at the same university as a member of the research group
Anàlisi Quantitativa Regional (AQR-IREA) since 1995. He has developed
different postdoctoral visiting stays at the European University Institute in
Florence, at the Boston University and the New York University. He has been
principal researcher of competitive research projects in different editions and
published papers in journals such as Econometric Theory, Econometrics Journal,
Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, and Review of Economic Studies,
among others.

Research interests
His main research interests are in non-stationary time series and panel data
analysis. He has developed procedures to account for structural breaks when
characterizing the stochastic properties of time series and testing for the
presence of long-run relationships among economic variables. His publications
not only focus on econometric theoretical developments but also cover topics on
empirical economics such as the analysis of economic convergence, real
exchange rates, current account deficit and unemployment.

9
Diéguez, Montserrat
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

URV

Short bio
Montserrat Diéguez studied chemistry at the Rovira i Virgili University in
Tarragona (Spain), where she received her Ph.D. in 1997 working in the group of
Prof. C. Claver. After a year as postdoctoral fellow with Prof. R.H. Crabtree at
Yale University, in New Haven (USA), she returned to Tarragona in 1999. She is
currently working as associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University. She has
been involved in more than 30 research projects in the field of organometallic
chemistry, steroselective synthesis and asymmetric catalysis. She is author of
more than 95 articles in SCI indexed Journals and book chapters and of several
contributions to Conferences. She obtained the Distinction from the Generalitat
de Catalunya for the promotion of University Research in 2004 and the Grant for
Research Intensification from URV in 2008.

Research interests
Her main research interests are focused on the sustainable design, synthesis
and screening of highly active and selective chiral catalysts for reactions of
interest in the biological, pharmaceutical and organic nanotechnological industry.
Her areas of interest include organometallic chemistry, steroselective synthesis
and asymmetric catalysis using combinatorial and biotechnological approaches.

10
Escuer, Albert
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UB

Short bio
Born in Lleida in 1956, Dr. Albert Escuer graduated in Chemistry at the University
of Barcelona. He obtained his PhD in Chemistry (UB) in 1984 under the
supervision of Prof. Joan Ribas and after a postdoctoral stay at the Università
degli Studi di Firenze with Prof. Dante Gatteschi, he continued his research
career, focused on molecular magnetism, at the Inorganic Chemistry Department
at the same University occupying different tenured positions.

He has authored and co-authored about 200 peer-reviewed research and review
papers with strong repercussion (current h index 44) on coordination chemistry
and magnetism topics. He is Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the UB
since 2003.

Research interests
The research at Dr. Escuer’s Molecular Magnetism group is focused on the
design of polynuclear systems involving transition or lanthanide cations in the
search of specific magnetic properties. His work follows two complementary
lines: new high spin clusters with Single Magnet Molecule (SMM) behavior and
N-dimensional systems able to give Single Chain Magnet or Molecular Based
Magnet response.

The synthetic strategy based in self-assembly of the adequate fragments

comprises from the design of the adequate organic ligands to the final magnetic
characterization, the ultimate goal being the transformation of coordination
aggregates into materials.

11
Espinal, M. Teresa
Humanities

UAB

Short bio
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Philology (Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona - UAB, 1978), a Master of Arts in Linguistics (University of London,
1981), and a PhD in Theoretical Linguistics (UAB, 1985). Postdoctoral research
stays at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, University of
Utrecht, and Université Paris 7-CNRS. She is currently Professor of Linguistics
and Director of the Center for Theoretical Linguistics at the UAB. She has
published four books, and edited two special issues of journals. She is also the
author of a number of articles in journals (Lingua, Language, The Linguistic
Review, Linguisticae Investigationes, Linguistics, International Journal of
Lexicography, Journal of Pragmatics, Journal of Linguistics, among others), and
in edited volumes.

Research interests
Espinal’s main research interests are the theory of language and the syntax-
semantics interface. Her most recent research has focused on the structure and
expression of negation in natural languages (mainly negative concord, expletive
negation and double negation), idiomatic constructions and lexicalization
patterns, and the structure and interpretation of bare nominals in Romance.
Previous research dealt with different adverbial expressions and the adjunct /
disjunct asymmetry. The final goal is to understand the structure of language,
and the mechanisms by which we interpret its expressions.

12
Estévez, Raúl
Life and Medical Sciences

UB

Short bio
Raúl Estévez studied Biochemistry (1994) at the University of Barcelona, where
he also obtained his PhD in Biochemistry (2000, under the supervision of Dr.
Manuel Palacín), finishing both studies with extraordinary honours. He also
possesses an Interuniversitary Master of Business and Administration from 1999.
Following three years of postdoctoral research at the Center for Molecular
Neurobiology under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Jenstch and four years as a
Ramón y Cajal researcher, he started to work at the University of Barcelona as
Professor of Physiology in 2007. Dr. Estévez is member of CIBERER. His
research has focused on rare genetic diseases related to transport across
membranes.

Research interests
Ion transport across cellular membranes is crucial for many physiological
processes, for example the control of cell volume. The identification of the genes
involved in the ion translocation pathways related to cell volume has so far
remained elusive. As an alternative approach to identify these genes, our group
has been working since 2003 in a genetic disease (MLC), which may have
alterations in this process. We use a multidisciplinary approach by applying
imaging, electrophysiology and membrane protein biochemistry methods, and
employing mouse and zebrafish models.

13
Fernández, Enrique
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UAB

Short bio
Born in Asturias in 1948, I graduated in Physics from Univ. Complutense (1971)
and obtained a PhD from Purdue Univ., USA (1979). I was postdoc at Argonne
National Laboratory, Chicago (1979-1982) and staff physicist at Univ. of
Colorado, Boulder (1982-1985). In 1985 I started a research group in Particle
Physics at UAB, which became the Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) in
1991. I have been a Professor at UAB since 1987 and was Director of IFAE from
1991 to 2007. I chaired the European Committee for Future Accelerators (1996-
1998) and the CERN Scientific Policy Committee (since 2007). From 1993 to
1996 I was also Manager of the National Program for High Energy Physics. In
1995 I received the Narcis Monturiol Medal of the Generalitat and was elected a
Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Madrid in 2001.

Research interests
For most of my career I have done particle physics experiments, at Argonne and
Fermilab (1974-1979), Stanford Linear Accelerator (1979-1985), CERN (1985-
2001) and KEK, Japan (2002-2005). I was the principal investigator of the
Barcelona group in the ALEPH experiment at CERN (1986 to 2001). For a short
time I studied high-energy cosmic gamma rays with the MAGIC Telescope in La
Palma. In 2005 I oriented my career towards Observational Cosmology and
presently coordinate a Consolider Project aimed at the study of the so-called dark
energy.

14
Fradera, Josep Maria
Humanities

UPF

Short bio
Josep M Fradera (Mataró, 1952) is professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra
(Departament d’Humanitats). He graduated in the Universitat Autònoma of
Barcelona in 1976 and obtained the Ph. D. in History in 1982. He has been
assistant researcher at the IAS (Princeton) in 1987-1988. He has also been a
visiting scholar at the universities of Harvard (1997, 2000) and NYU (2004) and
visiting professor at the universities of Princeton (2006) and the University of
Chicago (2009) where he was awarded with a Tinker Fellowship. He has
published six books as sole author and contributed to many other edited books
and scholarly journals both national and international.

Research interests
J. M. Fradera has been currently working on two different research fields. One
of them concerns to the Catalan and Spanish cultural and political history of the
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. He is also a specialist on the Spanish and
European Empires from XVIth to XXth Centuries. In respect of this second
dedication he has published extensively on the Spanish Empire in America and
the Philippines. He is currently working in a comparative history of political
inequality (forms or representation; exclusion and segregation; unequal juridical
régimes in metropolis and colonial possessions or between colonies as such) in
four empires (Spanish, French, British and the US) since the Eighteenth
Century till the end of the First World War.

15
Freixas, Xavier
Social Sciences

UPF

Short bio
Xavier Freixas, (Ph D. Toulouse 1978) is Professor of Economics at the
Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (Spain) and chairman of the Risk Based
Regulation program of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). He
was the president of the European Finance Association and has previously been
Deutsche Bank Professor of European Financial Integration at Oxford University;
Houblon Norman Senior Fellow of the Bank of England and Professor at
Montpellier and Toulouse Universities.

He also has been a consultant for the European Investment Bank, the New York
Fed, the European Central Bank, the World Bank, the IMF, the Interamerican
Development Bank, the MEFF and the European Investment Bank.

Research interests
Professor X Freixas’s main research interests are in the area of banking. He
analyses the asymmetric information issues in the relationship between banks
and their stakeholders. He also covers the role of the lender of last resort and the
mechanism through which injects liquidity either at the aggregate level, at the
level of an individual bank or both. He also studies the impact on the current
crisis of bank manager’s incentives and shareholders regarding risk taking. He
also covers the design of efficient banking regulation in an asymmetric
information environment and the issue of macro prudential regulation t, as well as
the role that non-banking financial institutions might have on the development of
a banking crisis.

16
Ganuza, Juan José
Social Sciences

UPF

Short bio
Short bio Juan Jose Ganuza holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (1991). He got his Ph. D. in Economics at
University Carlos III de Madrid (1996). In 1997-98 he was a post doc at University
California Los Angeles and Institut D'Economie Industrielle (Toulouse). Since
1998 he has been working at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. In 2009, he was
promoted to full Professor of Economics and Business.

He has published in the main journals in his research field (RAND Journal of
Economics, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Industrial
Economics, Journal of Economics Management and Strategy, etc) as well as in
general interest economics journals (as Econometrica), law journals (as the
Journal of Legal Studies), and business journals (as Management Science). He
is Associate Editor of Journal of European Economic Association ans SERIEs

He has been a consultant on procurement issues and he has collaborated on

several books related with procurement and regulatory issues, among them, The
Handbook of Procurement (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Research interests
Professor Ganuza’s main areas of interest are, business strategy and industrial
organization, economic of information, law and economics, auctions and
procurement.

17
Garcia-Fernàndez, Jordi
Life and Medical Sciences

UB

Short bio
Jordi Garcia-Fernàndez received a Biology degree and a special-prize Ph.D. in
Genetics at the University of Barcelona (1992), and performed a postdoctoral
stay at the University of Oxford. He came back to Barcelona and won a Lecturer
position at UB in 1995. He was habilitated in the first call (2003), and obtained a
full professorship in Genetics/EvoDevo in 2006. He is author of about 80 articles,
including four in Nature and the first full Catalonia-based Nature Review. JGF
holded the Distinció de la Generalitat de Catalunya -young investigator- (2002),
sponsored by the Nobel Prize Edward Lewis and the Linacre Professor Peter
Holland, and was invited Research Professor to the Merton College (Oxford), of
which he is honorary fellow. He had and has outstanding students, postdocs, and
collaborators. Without her/his passion for discover, this bio would not be here.

Research interests
Jordi’s research is oriented to understand the molecular mechanisms of body
plan formation and the changes in the mechanisms responsible of evolution, that
is the new field of Evo-Devo, at the intersection of evolution, molecular biology,
genetics, and comparative genomics. Centered in the cephalochordate
amphioxus in the recent past, he is now shifting to a global approach analyzing
key-positioned animals from early metazoans to mammals.

18
Garcia Ojalvo, Jordi
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UPC

Short bio
Jordi Garcia Ojalvo is full professor of Applied Physics at the Universitat
Politècnica de Catalunya since 2008. He obtained his PhD in Physics at the
Universitat de Barcelona in 1995. He was postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia
Institute of Technology (USA) in 1996, Alexander von Humboldt fellow at the
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (Germany) in 1998, and visiting professor at
Cornell University (USA) in 2003. Since 2006 he is visiting research associate in
Biology at the California Institute of Technology (USA). He has published more
than 100 scientific articles in international journals, and coordinated research
projects funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the spanish government, and
the European Commission. In 2003 he received the “Distinció de la Generalitat
de Catalunya per a la Promoció de la Recerca Universitària”.

Research interests
His research interests lie within the fields of statistical and nonlinear physics and
biophysics. He studies the nonlinear and stochastic dynamics of different natural
and artificial systems, including lasers, neurons and genetic circuits. His most
recent interest is to understand the relation between structure and function in
living systems. To that end, he studies phenomena such as brain dynamics and
biological oscillations and synchronization in cells.

19
Gómez Pomar, Fernando
Social Sciences

UPF

Short bio
Fernando Gómez holds a Law Degree from Universidad Complutense (1985)
and a PhD from the University of Bologna-Royal Spanish College. He taught at
Universidad Complutense, and since 2000 he is Professor of Law at Universitat
Pompeu Fabra. He was visiting scholar at Harvard Law School, and Visiting
Professor at the University of Wales, the University of Hamburg, George Mason
University, and the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel.

He has published his research in the major international journals in Law and
Economics, namely the Journal of Legal Studies, the Journal of Law, Economics
and Organization, the American Law and Economics Review, the International
Review of Law and Economics, and the Review of Law and Economics, as well
as in European Private Law, like the European Review of Private Law, the
European Contract Law Review, and the Zeitschrift für europäisches Privatrecht.
He is the author or co-author of several books in Spain and abroad.

He is editor of InDret, the first peer-reviewed legal journal in Spain, and sits in the
Board of the International Review of Law and Economics, Review of Law and
Economics, and European Review of Contract Law.

Research interests
His research interests lie in the intersections between Law and Economics,
European Private Law, Tort and Contract Law Theory.

20
Illas, Francesc
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UB

Short bio
Francesc Illas (1954) carried out his chemistry degree studies and Ph. D Thesis
at the Universitat de Barcelona where he became Professor of Physical
Chemistry (Catedrático de Química Física) in 1992. He spent several periods at
different research centers (IBM Almaden Research Center and Los Alamos
National Laboratory) and has been invited professor at Universita’ della Calabria
and Université Pierre et Marie Curie. He published ~ 400 papers in international
journals which received ~ 7500 citations (H-index = 41). He received the
Distinguished Professor Mention for the Research Promotion awarded by the
Generalitat de Catalunya in 2001, the Bruker Physical Chemistry Research
Award of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry in 2004 and was elected Fellow
of the European Academy of Sciences in 2009. At present he is the Director of
IQTCUB) and of XRQTC.

Research interests
The main research interests of Francesc Illas focus in the electronic structure of
surfaces and materials using the computational methods of quantum chemistry
and of solid state physics. Currently he works on the electronic structure and
reactivity of supported metal clusters and nanoparticles, surface chemistry,
molecular mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysis, magnetic coupling in ionic
solids and the interpretation of optical, vibrational and photoemission spectra of
solids and surfaces.

21
Latorre, José Ignacio
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UB

Short bio
I finished by Ph. D. in Theoretical Physics at the University of Barcelona in 1985.
Then, I moved to MIT as a Fullbright Fellow and, later on, to the Niels Bohr
Institute in Copenhagen. In 1989 I became Assistant Professor at the University
of Barcelona and Full Professor in 2008. I'm the director of the Centro de
Ciencias de Benasque Pedro Pascual, that hosts high level international scientific
events. Besides my Physics research interests, I've applied ideas from artificial
intelligence to different practical problems as a consultant for private companies.
I'm also promoting scientific outreach creating an IPTV that focus on the human
side of Science.

Research interests
I've been working on Particle Physics, both on theoretical and phenomenological
aspects of the Standard Model. At present, I collaborate in the construction of a
global set of Parton Distribution Functions for the LHC particle accelerator. More
recently, I've entered the field of Quantum Information. I work on quantum
algorithms, on the characterization and exploitation of entanglement and on the
development of new tools to simulate quantum physics on classical computers.

22
Llibre, Jaume
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UAB

Short bio
Jaume Llibre i Saló (Barcelona, 1952) is a Full Professor in Applied Mathematics
at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). He followed his undergraduate
studies at Universitat de Barcelona (1969-1974), and received his Ph.D. at UAB
in 1979. He has been a long term visitor at more than 20 universities and
research institutes of 9 different countries. He is the author or editor of 19 books
and more than 450 articles that he has published with 144 different coauthors
from more than 15 different countries. He has 26 Ph.D. students and more than
20 postdoctoral students of 10 different countries.

He is a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona.

Research interests
His main interest is on the dynamical systems, and more precisely in the
following two main topics.

(1) The qualitative theory of differential equations including Hamiltonian systems

and Celestial Mechanics. In particular periodic orbits, limit cycles and their
bifurcations, integrability, structural stability, averaging theory, stability,
singularities, the problem of the center, central configurations for the n-body
problem, global dynamics of some restricted problems...

(2) Discrete dynamical systems: periodic structure of continuous maps and their
topological entropy, Lefschetz and Nielsen numbers for studying the periodic
orbits of different kind of maps in their homological classes...

23
Llorca, Jordi
Technology

UPC

Short bio
Born in Barcelona in 1966, Dr. Jordi Llorca graduated and earned his PhD in
Chemistry at the University of Barcelona (UB), where he was later appointed
Associate Professor and Ramón y Cajal Fellow. In 2005, he joined the Technical
University of Catalonia (UPC) as Full Professor. He has conducted research at
the University of New Mexico (USA), ICMAB-CSIC and CNRS (France) and has
been Invited Scholar at the University of Udine (Italy), University of Auckland
(New Zealand) and University of Aberdeen (UK). He has received several awards
including the Catalan Chemical Society Student Prize in 1990, the Distinction of
Generalitat de Catalunya to the Promotion of the University Research in 2003,
the Humbert Torres Prize in 2003 and the I3 Research Intensification Award of
MICINN in 2008. He is group leader of the Laboratory of Hydrogen at the Institute
of Energy Technologies (INTE-UPC) and group leader of the Laboratory of
Nanoparticles at the Center for Research in NanoEngineering (CRnE-UPC).

Research interests
Currently, Dr. Jordi Llorca is working on the design and manufacture of new
devices at the nanoscale for conducting chemical reactions aimed at the
generation, purification and separation of hydrogen for fuel cells and energy
applications. These include a new generation of highly efficient catalysts as well
as novel microreaction concepts.

24
Masoller, Cristina
Technology

UPC

Short bio
Cristina Masoller received her Ph.D. in physics from Bryn Mawr College, USA, in
1999. Her thesis was on nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor lasers with optical
feedback, under the supervision of Prof. Neal Abraham. Between 1991 and 2004
she was Assistant Professor at the Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo,
Uruguay; between 2004 and 2009 she was a ”Ramon and Cajal” researcher at
the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). Since May 2009 she is Agregat
Professor at UPC. She has published over 90 articles in refereed journals (the
complete list is available in her web site [Link] with more
than 1100 citations (h-index 17).

Research interests
Her main research interests are in the field of photonics, where she has studied
the nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor lasers. She has focused on the
influence of time delays and multi-mode emission (delayed feedback, laser
synchronization with delayed coupling, polarization switching, muti-transverse or
longitudinal modes, stochastic switching and other stochastic effects induced by
the interplay of noise and delay). She has also studied related phenomena
occurring in other dynamical systems, such as excitability in neuronal models and
collective behavior of large arrays of delay-coupled chaotic units.

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Medina, Francesc
Technology

URV

Short bio
Francesc Medina obtained his PhD in Chemistry (Universitat Rovira i Virgili -
URV) in 1993 and continued his research career at the same University
occupying different tenured positions. Actually, he is Professor at the Chemical
Engineering Department (URV) where he is leading the “Heterogeneous
Catalysis” research group.

Between their scientific contributions highlights around 110 papers, 100

participations in international congresses, direction of more than 65 research
projects (25 international competitive and 40 for the industry) and the supervision
of 20 PhD (6 in realization).

In 2003, he co-founded the AMIC innovation centre and in 2007, the research
group created the Spin-off APLICAT that provides close support to the group in
commercialization tasks and disseminating the know-how generated.

Research interests
The research at Dr. Medina’s group is focused in all the steps involved in
catalytic processes: synthesis, preparation, characterization and activity of
different nanomaterials for different purposes as catalysts for industrial chemistry
at laboratory and pilot/industrial scale. More specific research lines are focused
on: smart multifunctional materials, materials science and engineering, new
catalytic environmental processes, reactors design and renewable energy
sources.

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Mora, Rafael
Humanities

UAB

Short bio
Rafael Mora received the B.A. Degree in Prehistory and Ancient History from the
Universitat de Barcelona (UB) in 1981 and the PhD degree in Prehistory in 1988.
From 1991 up to 2009 he has been Associate Professor at the Prehistory
Department of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and from 2009 he
is Full Professor of Prehistory at the same university. He is the head of the
Material Culture and Archaeology of Human Behavior Group at UAB, and
Director of CEPAP, a research center ascribed to UAB and focused on
Prehistoric archaeological research and knowledge transfer to cultural and
educational institutions. He has directed excavations in several archaeological
sites in Catalunya and elsewhere, and co-authored over 200 technical reports
and journal papers and he is co-author of several archaeological monographs.

Research interests
His research interests are centered in Human evolution, with special emphasis in
Palaeolithic archaeology both in Europe and East Africa, particularly those topics
related to paleo-technology, cognition and social behavior of prehistoric
populations. Related areas of interest are archaeological field and recording
techniques and the use of new technologies in the improvement of
archaeological data management.

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Nieto, Agustí
Humanities

UAB

Short bio
I am a Senior Lecturer of History of Science at the Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona (UAB). Following degrees in both Chemistry and History, I took my
PhD in the History of Science at the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) in 1994, and
held postdoctoral positions in the Modern History Faculty, University of Oxford,
and the Centre de recherche en histoire des sciences et des techniques at the
Cité des sciences et de l’industrie/CNRS, Paris. I have written widely on the
History of Chemistry, the History of Technology and the History of Science
Popularization (18th-20th centuries). Among my most important books are
Colouring Textiles (Kluwer, 2001), Chemistry, Medicine, and Crime (Science
History Publications, 2006), and Popularizing Science and Technology in the
European Periphery, 1800-2000 (Ashgate, 2009).

Research interests
Framed within the context of recent historiography that considers the science-
public relationship as a dynamic process, my research focuses on the History of
the Popularization of Science and Technology (18th-20th centuries). I am also
interested in the History of Chemistry in twentieth-century Spain, with a particular
emphasis on the role of professional chemists during Franco’s dictatorship. In a
broader context, my work is particularly devoted to revisit knowledge
transmission processes from centers to peripheries at a European level.

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Pomarol, Alex
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UAB

Short bio
Alex Pomarol (Barcelona, 1964) received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Particle
Physics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 1991. He has
been postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1991-
1993), University of Pennsylvania (1993-1994) and CERN, Geneva (1994-1996,
1998-2000). He is currently an Associate Professor at the UAB. He has also
been a Scientific Associate at CERN, Geneva in 2006, and at present is a
member of the Scientific Committee of the Galileo Galilei Institute for Theoretical
Physics (Florence). In 2001 he received the Distinció de la Generalitat award for
young researchers.

Research interests
His research interest centres on the understanding of the fundamental laws of
elementary particles, mainly focusing in one of the most important open question
in particle physics: the origin of the breaking of the electroweak symmetry. The
understanding of this breaking is crucial not only for unravelling the nature of
particle masses and flavour mixings, but also for the comprehension of the origin
of matter and dark matter in our universe. He is interested in how to learn about
this from the The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva).

29
Sanmartí, Joan
Humanities

UB

Short bio
Joan Sanmartí received his PhD in Prehistory and Ancient History from the
University of Barcelona (UB) in 1986. He became Titular Professor at the UB in
1990 and Full Professor in 2003. In 2007 he was appointed Ordinary Fellow of
the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (International Union of Academies). In 2009 he
taught as a Visiting Professor at the Department of Anthropology of the University
of Chicago.

Research interests
His research agenda has focused on the study of the Western Mediterranean
Protohistory, most particularly on the processes of sociocultural change that led
to the formation of complex societies. Within this main scope, one particular
subject has been the role of Greek and Phoenician-Punic colonization and trade,
but he has also paid close attention to the analysis of internally generated
processes that are relevant for any approach to social complexity –such as
regional population density and measures of sociopolitical integration and
division of labor– and has devoted considerable effort to the recovery of empirical
data concerning the issues abovementioned. Most of his fieldwork has been
carried out in Catalonia, but he has also worked in the Balearic Islands (Majorca
and Minorca) and he currently co-directs a research project in Tunisia on the
formation of the Numidian state

30
Segarra, Marta
Humanities

UB

Short bio
Marta Segarra is Professor (Catedràtica) of French Literature and of Feminist
Theory and Gender Studies at the University of Barcelona, director of the Centre
Dona i literatura (Women and Literature), and coordinator of the UNESCO Chair
Women, Development and Cultures at this university, as well as Associate
Scholar at the Centre d’études féminines et d’études de genre (University of
Paris 8). Her most recent publications are the books Nouvelles romancières
francophones du Maghreb (Paris, Karthala, 2010), The Portable Cixous (New
York, Columbia UP, 2010), and Traces du désir (Paris, Campagne Première,
2008). She is General Editor of the peer-reviewed series “Mujeres y Culturas”
(Icaria Editorial), and of the international journal Expressions maghrébines
(classified A in ERIH and included in the Arts & Humanities Citation Index).

Research interests
Marta Segarra’s fields of research are French and Francophone contemporary
literature, deconstruction and feminist theory, gender and postcolonial studies,
and French cinema. The main objective of her research for the next five years is
to reflect on the concept of community developed by contemporary women
writers, and on how literary creation can (de)construct, undo, or redo community
ties damaged by political and social events.

31
Solà, Miquel
Experimental Sciences and Mathematics

UdG

Short bio
Miquel Solà (1964) obtained his PhD at the Autonomous University of Barcelona
in 1991 with academic honors. His doctoral research under the supervision of
Joan Bertran and Agustí Lledós was awarded with the Catalan Sant Albert Prize.
After several months in a consultant private company, in 1993 he moved to the
University of Girona (UdG) as assistant researcher. In 1994 he did postdoctoral
research in Amsterdam with Evert Jan Baerends and in 1995 in Calgary with
Tom Ziegler. He was appointed assistant professor of the UdG in 1997. In 2001,
he was awarded with the Catalan Distinction for the Promotion of University
Research (young scientist category). In 2003 he got a full professor position in
the UdG where he is currently co-leading (together with Miquel Duran) the M4
research group. He is co-author of more than 200 scientific papers and he has
supervised 10 PhD Theses. He is married since 1992 and he has a son born in
1997.

Research interests
His research interests have been mainly focused on theoretical studies of organic
and organometallic reaction mechanisms with special emphasis on fullerenes
and their reactivity, on the use of quantum molecular similarity measures, the
development conceptual density functional theory, and the analysis of electron
delocalization and aromaticity.

32
Suñé, Jordi
Technology

UAB

Short bio
Professor of electronics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). He
was born in Barcelona in 1963, he’s married and has 4 children. Ph.D. in physics
from the UAB (1989), he was research fellow at IMEC (Belgium) in 1989 and at
the University of Bologna (Italy) in 1990 and 1991. He was director of the
Department of EE (1996-2002) and vice-director of the UAB School of
Engineering for EE studies (2003-2007). He coordinates the NANOCOMP
research group dedicated to the conception, design, modelling, simulation and
characterization of electron devices. He has (co)authored more than 300
publications, among which 12 IEDM papers. In 2004, he received the award of
the Generalitat de Catalunya for the promotion of research and the IBM Faculty
award, recognizing a long lasting research collaboration with IBM
Microelectronics (USA). Distinguished lecturer of the Electron Devices Society
since 2009, he was upgraded to IEEE Fellow in 2010.

Research interests
Failure mechanisms of CMOS devices, reliability statistics and technology
qualification methodology. Application of oxides in nanoelectronics: breakdown-
based anti-fuses and resistive switching devices. Multi-scale modeling and
simulation of electron transport and electron devices. Nanoelectronic
metamaterials.

33
Ventura, Salvador
Life and Medical Sciences

UAB

Short bio
Cordoba, 1967. Salvador Ventura is Associate Prof. at the Dep. of Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology and leader of the Protein Folding and Design group at the
Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona
(UAB). He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed research and review
papers on protein folding and proteomics, apart from several book chapters and
patents. He got his Ph. D. in Biology at the UAB in 1998 and worked as
postdoctoral fellow (1999-2001) at EMBL-Heidelberg under the supervision of Dr.
Luis Serrano. He has been researcher at Harvard Medical School (USA) and
Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) among other centres. He rejoined UAB as a
Ramon y Cajal researcher in 2003. Dr. Ventura received the UAB 2008
Excellence Research Award.

Research interests
His research interests are protein folding, misfolding and amyloid formation, with
special focus on their role in conformational diseases such as Alzheimer,
Diabetes or Mitochondrial and Prionic disorders. The final goal is to understand
the mechanism of protein homeostasis in the cell and how nature maintains the
delicate balance between functional and pathogenic amyloids to generate novel
biological functions and protect against disease in humans.

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