Aurelio Mateo-Alonso

Aurelio Mateo-Alonso is a Professor at the University of the Basque Country, leading the Molecular and Supramolecular Materials Group at POLYMAT (Basque Center for Macromolecular Design and Engineering). He holds an Ikerbasque Research Professorship and coordinates research in advanced materials. His academic journey includes a BSc and MSc in Organic Chemistry from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (1999-2000), a PhD from Queen Mary College, University of London (2003), and postdoctoral research at Università di Trieste (2004-2009). Since 2009, he has led independent research at the School of Soft Matter Research, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (Germany), before joining POLYMAT in 2012.

His research focuses on conjugated organic materials, low-dimensional systems (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), self-assembly into hybrid nanostructures, and applications in electronics/energy. Key themes include molecular machines, fullerene-functionalized architectures, and NIR-absorbing materials.

Prominent awards include the Young Investigator Prize (2007), Eugen-Graetz Prize (2009), ERC Consolidator Grant (2016), and the Research Excellence Award (2021). His work bridges molecular design and functional materials, with contributions to molecular shuttles and energy-related nanomaterials.

Grants and leadership include coordination of the Molecular and Supramolecular Materials Group and involvement in the AcroBioPLAST project (Interreg-POCTEFA). His lab at POLYMAT collaborates broadly, focusing on advanced materials for next-gen applications.