José J. Baldoví, elected new full member of the Young Academy of Spain

The ICMol researcher is one of the seven new academicians elected from a total of 142 candidates.

The distinguished researcher of the Gen-T Plan José Jaime Baldoví Jachán, director of the 2D Smart Materials group at the ICMol of the Universitat de València, has been elected as a new Full Member of the Academia Joven de España. Together with Baldoví, four researchers have been elected from among 142 candidates, after being evaluated by an international expert committee made up of highly prestigious researchers from different areas of knowledge.

The election was effective last Monday 17th June in an extraordinary meeting of the General Meeting of the Young Academy of Spain. The new Full Academicians elected alongside Baldoví are Elena del Corro García, Rosa María Fernández García, Francisco Pelayo García de Arquer, Irene Lebrusán Murillo, Ana Ortega Molina and Carlos Tornero Dacasa. «Their profiles cover different fields of knowledge including archaeology, sociology, biology, the study of medical applications, electrocatalysis, theoretical chemistry and phylogenomics,» say the Academy. The work of all those selected represents more than 400 scientific articles, the development of eleven patents, major awards and prizes, and the most prestigious and competitive grants from the European Research Council (ERC), among others.

«The Young Academy of Spain represents a forum for the exchange of knowledge, experience and leadership among young researchers with outstanding careers. I feel enormously grateful for the trust placed in me and the recognition, as well as for all the professional and personal growth that this experience will bring,» explains Baldoví.

José J. Baldoví (Xàtiva, 1986) carries out his research at ICMol and is a member of the teaching and research staff of the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Universitat de València. He is currently leading an ERC Starting Grant project (2D-SMARTiES), a CIDEGENT project (2D-SWiMS) and is the Spanish representative in the Management Committee of the COST SuperQumap Action. His research activity focuses on the development of theoretical and computational frameworks for the chemical design of smart molecular and two-dimensional devices for information technologies. His interdisciplinary work integrates physics, chemistry and materials science to explore emerging applications in fields such as magnonics, spintronics, quantum computing and sensing devices.

He was a European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009 he graduated in Chemistry, completing a Master (2012) and a PhD in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (2016) at the University of Valencia, with extraordinary award at all stages of his academic life. His doctoral thesis was elected best thesis in Chemistry at the Universitat de València in 2017.

In his group, she currently supervises one Marie Sklodowska-Curie postdoc, two postdoctoral researchers, five doctoral theses and two undergraduate students. He has published more than 65 articles in international journals, one book chapter and 3 popular science articles, and has given more than 40 invited talks at international conferences and 8 seminars. Among other awards, in 2022 he was the winner of the XVII Premio Científico-Técnico «Ciutat d’Algemesí» for young researchers and in 2023 he was honoured by Rotary Club Xàtiva. He has visited 58 countries and is fluent in six languages. In addition, he has a Master’s degree in Science Communication that has allowed him to transmit the value of science to society through different articles and popular science events.

«I decided to present my candidacy so that I could contribute my best to the values and the multidisciplinary and inclusive character that the Academy represents. Participating in this type of initiative not only motivates us to continue our efforts, but also helps us to make our work more visible and to connect with other researchers who share our passions,» says the ICMol researcher.

About the Academy

The Academia Joven de España was founded in 2019 and its objectives include: (i) to promote science as a career option among young people, (ii) to promote scientific training through the promotion of knowledge, research and innovation as drivers of economic development, (iii) to serve as a forum and platform for young researchers in our country and (iv) to serve as a link between young Spanish researchers working abroad and our country.

One of the distinguishing features of the Academia Joven de España is that membership is limited to five years. This peculiarity preserves the youth of the 50 members of the corporation, with 10 new Academicians joining each year (7 this year) to replace those whose membership ends in that year.

The Young Academy of Spain stands out for its multidisciplinarity. The new Academicians join to complete a staff of brilliant young researchers including: 30 European Research Council (ERC) grants, 17 Starting Grants, nine Consolidator Grants and four Proof-of-Concept grants, eleven Marie Curie Sklodowska fellowships, 17 Ramón y Cajal researchers and 16 others with similar excellence programmes. Between them, they have more than 100 patents and several entrepreneurial ventures. The Academy is made up of a highly awarded research staff with four Princess of Girona Awards, one King Jaime I Award, one Julián Marías Award, two Miguel Catalán Awards and five Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry Awards, five National Research Awards for Juniors and one for Seniors, one Juan Abelló Award from the Royal National Academy of Pharmacy, one award from the Spanish Royal Society of Physics, one Agustín de Betancourt y Molina Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering, and several important international awards; one of the Full Academicians holds two Guinness World Records and the former President of the Spanish Junior Academy was the first Spanish President of the Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).