Jesus M. Santamaria

Jesus M. Santamaria is a full-time Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, and a Principal Investigator at the Nanostructured Films and Particles (NFP) research group. He has held leadership roles including Dean of the Faculty of Sciences (2001-2003), Director General for Research at the Government of Aragon (2003-2007), and Deputy Director of the Nanoscience Institute of Aragon (2008-2020). His research spans nanotechnology, chemical engineering, and biomedical applications.

• Education: Degree in Chemistry (1981, University of La Laguna); PhD in Chemical Engineering (1985, University of Salford, UK)
• Postdoctoral stays: University of Notre Dame (1989), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2008)

His research focuses on nanomedicine, molecular recognition, nanosafety, and heterogeneous catalysis, with notable work on 2D material heterostructures, bioorthogonal catalysis using palladium nanosheets, and microwave-activated chemical processes. He has supervised 34 doctoral theses and currently advises 8 PhD students.

Scientific awards include two ERC Advanced Grants (Hector 2011, Cadence 2017), Doctor Honoris Causa from Argentina's Universidad Nacional del Litoral (2010), and recognition as a Samca Professorship in Nanotechnology (2011-2021). His work has appeared in high-impact journals like Nature Chemistry and Science Advances.

He authored 357 peer-reviewed publications (92 since 2015, 93% in Q1 journals), 25 patents (9 industrial transfers), and two textbooks: Risk Analysis and Reduction in the Chemical Process Industry (1998) and Chemical Reaction Engineering (1999).