External Advisory Committee

Pablo Ordejón

CSIC Research Professor, Group Leader and Director of ICN2, Barcelona

Prof. Pablo Ordejón is a physicist specializing in electronic structure calculations and nanoscale simulations. He earned his PhD from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and held research positions in the U.S. and Spain before joining ICN2, where he became Director in 2012. With over 225 publications and 34,000 citations, he has significantly contributed to materials science. A fellow of the American Physical Society, he co-founded SIMUNE and collaborates with industry on atomistic simulations, focusing on 2D materials and electronic transport.

Marie Laure Bocquet

First-Class Research Director (LPENS, ENS Paris, and CNRS)

A specialist in surface chemistry, Profesor Bocquet investigates chemical processes at metallic, oxide, and graphenic surfaces using high-resolution Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) data. Her expertise in Density Functional Theory (DFT) supports the development of simulation tools for STM imaging, elastic and inelastic spectroscopy. With 92 publications, including articles in Science, Nature, and JACS, her work has received ~4,500 citations (H-index: 36). Research applications span heterogeneous catalysis, corrosion, graphene synthesis, gas sensors, and blue energy.

Cyril Aymonier

Director of ICMCB, Bordeaux

Cyril Aymonier, CNRS Senior Researcher at the Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry of Bordeaux,  specializes in high-pressure and high-temperature fluid chemistry, particularly supercritical fluids, for designing and recycling advanced nanostructured materials. With a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bordeaux and postdoctoral experience in Freiburg, his research includes nanomaterial synthesis, continuous multi-step processes, and sustainable recycling technologies. Author of over 200 publications with 7,000 citations (H-index: 43), he contribute to innovative materials science. His prolific teaching activity includes the international master’s program Advanced Materials Innovative Recycling (AMIR).

Laura Na Liu

Director Physics Institute University of Stuttgart

Prof. Laura Na Liu received her Ph.D. in Physics at University of Stuttgart, Germany. She then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and as a Texas Instruments visiting professor at Rice University, respectively. Before she became a professor at the Kirchhoff Institute for Physics at University of Heidelberg in 2015, she had worked as an independent group leader at the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. In 2020, she joined University of Stuttgart and became the Director of the 2. Physics Institute. A pioneer of DNA nanotechnology, Professor Liu, has been working at the interface, where nanophotonics meets biology and chemistry.

Professor Peter Saalfrank

Institut für Chemie, Universität Potsdam, Germany

Expertise in the line of Chemical Physics of Complex Materials

Honors and Awards

Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, Universität Potsdam (2008-2010); Elected ‘Fachkollegiat’ (Referee Board Member) of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German  Research Council, DFG), “Fachkollegium Festkörper-und Oberflächenchemie: Theorie und Modellierung” (Solid State and Surface Chemistry: Theory and Modelling) (2004-2008, 2016-2019)

Research Interests

Theoretical Surface Science, System-bath quantum dynamics, Laser-driven electron dynamics, Theoretical photophysics and chemistry, Electronic structure theory.

Professor Antonio Hernando Grande

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

Expertise in the line of Electronic Properties at the Nanoscale

Honors and Awards

Director of “Instituto de Magnetismo Aplicado” (IMA“Académico Numerario de la Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales”; Doctor Honoris Causa by the UPV/EHU and by the “Universidad de Cantabria; Gold Medal by the “Real Sociedad Española de Física”; “Miguel Catalán” research award by the Autonomous Community of Madrid; Fellow of the American Physical Society; “Dupont” science award; “Juan de la Cierva” national research award.

Research Interests

Magnetism and related areas. He combines basic research of magnetic materials with projects in applied research.

Professor Francisco J. García Vidal

Department of Theoretical Condensed Matter, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain

Expertise in the line of Photonics

Honors and Awards

Director of the IFIMAC- Condensed Matter Physics Center “María de Maeztu Center”; Prof. García Vidal is one of the most prestigious researchers in Photonics in the world. He knows well the reality of research in Spain, and the local boundaries for science and technology, particularly the evaluation systems in both CSIC and the ministry.

Research Interests

Structure and Dynamics of Polymers and Soft Matter; Neutron Techniques and Instrumentation.

Professor Dieter Richter

Jülich Center for Neutron Science (JNSC) and Institute of Complex Systems, Jülich, Germany

Expertise in the line of Polymers and Soft Matter

Honors and Awards

Director of the Institute for Neutron Scattering at the FZJ (1989-2014); Chair at the Materials Physics Department of the University of the Basque Country founded by the Bank of Bilbao Vizcaya (1997); “Staudinger-Durrer Prize of the ETH” (2015); “Walter  Hälg Prize” of the European Neutron Scattering Association (2009); “Erwin-Schrödinger Award” (2002); “Max-Planck Award” (1990) among others.

Research Interests

Structure and Dynamics of Polymers and Soft Matter; Neutron Techniques and Instrumentation.