Javier Carrasco and Daniel Carriazo, researchers at CIC energiGUNE, the Basque research center of reference in battery storage, thermal energy solutions and hydrogen technologies, and member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance-BRTA, have achieved the category of Ikerbasque research Professor, according to the Basque Foundation for Science - Ikerbasque, an entity promoted by the Basque Government to contribute to the development of scientific research by attracting talent and researchers of excellence.
“It is great news for our center and, above all, a boost to all the work of attracting talent and promoting research excellence that we have been developing for more than ten years”, said the Director General of CIC energiGUNE, Nuria Gisbert. “Javier and Daniel’s work speaks for itself, and they have undoubtedly earned this recognition”, said Asier Urzelai, People Area Director of CIC energiGUNE, who also wanted to thank Ikerbasque for “its invaluable support in attracting and retaining scientific talent”.
With the designation of Carrasco and Carriazo, there are now four CIC energiGUNE researchers with the category of Ikerbasque Research Professor, a program launched in 2008 by the Basque Foundation for Science to attract and keep scientists capable of leading research groups in the Basque Country, promoting innovative lines of research. Elena Palomo, scientific director of the Thermal Storage Area, and Paramaconi Rodríguez, head of the electrochemical hydrogen technologies group, are the other two scientists who hold this distinction within the center.
Javier Carrasco is Head of the Modeling and Computational Simulation group at CIC energiGUNE and has been included again this year in the “Ranking of the World Scientists ” of Stanford University as the third most influential researcher in the Basque Country in the field of Chemical Physics and one of the 50 most prestigious researchers in the territory considering all scientific branches.
In 2018, he received China’s ‘Top 10 Breakthrough of the Year’ award in the field of electronic science and technology for the article “Atomic-level energy storage mechanism of cobalt hydroxide electrode for pseudocapacitators”, published in Nature Communications. He was also the recipient of a Ramón y Cajal Grant, awarded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. His incorporation to the list of Ikerbasque Research Professors has coincided with the opening of the call from this year to researchers with permanence in the Basque Country, as is the case of Carrasco.
Daniel Carriazo is Head of the Lithium-Sulfur batteries research line at CIC energiGUNE, a center he joined in 2014. His current scientific interest is focused on the synthesis of nanostructured carbonaceous materials and/or with hierarchical porosity and carbonaceous metal oxide composite materials that may have a potential application as electrodes in energy storage devices.
Carriazo is also Associate Leader of the Energy Storage Working Group of the European Graphene Core 3 project, in which 148 organizations from all over the continent participate. This is the third phase of the Graphene Flagship initiative, promoted by the European Commission to turn graphene into an innovative agent of economic development.
