Domènec Espriu, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), has been appointed director of the State Research Agency by the Governing Council after an open selection call.
The State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación, AEI) manages most of the R&D competitive calls and it is the entity responsible for promoting excellence in Spanish research since its creation in 2015. Its main objectives are the promotion of technical and scientific research in all areas of knowledge, the monitoring of financed actions and their impact, and advice on the R&D strategic plan. The Agency has a budget of 825.7 million euros for 2021 and of 1.358 million euros in the 2022 tentative budget, the highest figure in its history.
The director is responsible, among others, for the government and ordinary management of the AEI, the preparation of strategic and operational objectives and budgets. Espriu will also be in charge of relations with international science and research funding organizations, collaborations with public and private research centres, and providing recommendations and strategic actions that increase the Agency’s capacity to meet its objectives.
Prof. Domènec Espriu
Prof. Espriu has a long and outstanding academic and research career. He has made important scientific contributions to the field of theoretical physics and in particle physics phenomenology. Part of his career took place in well-known universities and research institutions (Universities of Barcelona, Oxford, Harvard, and CERN, among others). He joined the University of Barcelona in 1988 to become full professor in 1997.
Prof. Espriu has carried out institutional management and direction tasks as Director of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences between 2006 and 2009, as well as Vice-rector of Research at the University of Barcelona between December 2016 and January 2021. He has extensive experience in research management, as coordinator of the National Particle Physics Program of the State R&D&I Plan and as evaluator of research proposals and activities of various national and international funding agencies; He has also held responsibilities in scientific committees, executive committees and boards of various initiatives and institutions. In 2014 he was elected Professor Honoris Causa at the University of Saint Petersburg.
Research
Espriu’s most recent research focuses on the use of effective field theories to describe strong interactions in extreme conditions. A recent article on this issue can be found here. He is also actively pursuing research on the LHC experiments at CERN (here) and possible extensions of the Standard Model of fundamental interactions (here). Espriu is also interested in the physics of gravitational waves and its connection with fundamental physics and cosmology (here).
More information: Research output
