2015/05/08
The scientific director of CIC biomaGUNE, Luis Liz-Marzán, elected member of the Royal Academy of Sciences
- Along with José María Mato and Soledad Penadés, three scientists from CIC bioGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE are now part of the scientific institution.
- The researcher, doctor in chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela, is the scientific director of the research center in San Sebastian since early 2013.
(San Sebastián, May 2015) .- The Ikerbasque researcher and scientific director of CIC biomaGUNE, Luis M. Liz-Marzán, has been elected correspondent member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain. With this appointment, three researchers from the two research centers in biosciences in the Basque Country, CIC bioGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE, are now part of the Academy of Sciences.
The General Director of both research centers, José María Mato, and the researcher from CIC biomaGUNE Soledad Penadés, are also members of the largest Spanish scientific institution.
The Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences is a public body for the study of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and engineering, which is a part of the Institute of Spain.
The embryo of the current Academy dates back to 1582, during when Felipe II was the king of Spain, with the creation of the Academy of Mathematics in Madrid, an institution that was born in a context of coexistence among experts in cosmography, architecture and civil engineering at the service of the crown.
Over the centuries the institution has evolved in its original advisory role for the government on scientific matters to its current mission, reporting to public agencies and private companies and the disclosure of the progress of science to society.
With a rich library and archive service, the Royal Academy of Sciences organizes lectures and programs to promote scientific culture.
In addition, the institution is responsible for translating scientific terminology as dictionaries and by drafting the Scientific and Technical Vocabulary, of which the fourth edition is currently being edited.
The institution includes 54 full members, 90 national correspondent members and a variable number of supernumeraries and foreign scholars.
Two other Basque scientists have also been recently admitted to the Academy.
The President of the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) and Professor of Condensed Matter Physics, Pedro Miguel Echenique, was appointed full member last year, after being correspondent academician since 1987.
In addition, the professor of the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU and scientific director of CIC EnergiGUNE, Teófilo Rojo, was appointed correspondent member this year.
- A career devoted to chemistry
Liz-Marzán, who heads BiomaGUNE since early 2013, has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela, and is closely linked to the University of Vigo, where he led the Colloid Chemistry Group for 17 years before being appointed scientific director of the Basque center.
The scientist developed his scientific activity in the fields of Colloid Chemistry and Nanoplasmonics toward applications in biomedicine.
Liz-Marzán has also been named Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Optical Society of America. He is co-inventor of five patents, published numerous scientific papers in high impact journals and is editor of the journal Langmuir, published by the American Chemical Society.
Liz-Marzán was awarded the Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry of Spain (2014), the highest award of this organization, as well as the ECIS-Rhodia Prize (2013), an award given by the European Colloid and Interface Society (ECIS).
He has been a visiting researcher at prestigious international research centers and universities, such as the Max-Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces (Germany) and the universities of Hamburg, Melbourne, Michigan and Tohoku (Japan).