BCMaterials researchers travelled to Chile and Argentina in late May with the aim of strengthening cooperation ties with research institutions in both countries. The visit included the Advanced Mining Technology Center (AMTC) of the University of Chile and the Institute of Chemistry and Drug Metabolism (IQUIMEFA) of the University of Buenos Aires.

A delegation from BCMaterials, made up of Qi Zhang, Ikerbasque Research Professor, and Senentxu Lanceros-Méndez, scientific director of our center, traveled to China to visit two of the most prominent academic and research centers in that country: of the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) and the International School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology (WUT).

We welcome Mariana Ríos Naranjo as a new pre-doctoral researcher at BCMaterials. Ríos graduated in Physics from the National University of Colombia in Bogotá and also has a Master's Degree in Physics from the same university. She joined our center after working as a teacher in some Colombian universities, including the Konrad Lorenz University Foundation in the Colombian capital.

We want to congratulate Nagore Barroso, pre-doctoral researcher of BCMaterials, for becoming new doctor on 4th May. Nagore made a brilliant defense of her thesis entitled "A study of metal-organic framework sorption phenomena in solution".

It is our pleasure to see Nagore grating this great achievement and we want to underline the hard work she has been doing through these PhD years. Congratulations, Nagore!!

BCMaterials is pleased to welcome the prestigious scientist José Onuchic as a visiting researcher until next July. Onuchic is a professor of Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and Biosciences at University of Rice and director of the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, both institutions located in the United States.

We welcome a new post-doctoral researcher at BCMaterials: Estibaliz Ruiz Bilbao. After graduating in Chemistry at the UPV/EHU, she completed a Master's in Polymers, Colorants and Fine Chemicals at the University of Leeds (United Kingdom). Later she completed her doctoral studies in Materials Science at the UPV / EHU.

We want to congratulate Fangyuan Zheng, pre-doctoral researcher of BCMaterials, for becoming new doctor on 29th March. Fangyuan made an brilliant defense of her thesis entitled "Hybrid Photocatalytic Materials for Contaminants of Emerging Concern Degradation".

This is a result of years of the hard work of a brilliant young scientist. Congratulations, Fangyuan!!

Andrea Ugalde Pallares joined BCMaterials as a new predoctoral researcher. Based on her training and experience as a chemical engineer, Andrea will work together with Juan Pablo Esquivel, Ikerbasque Research Associate, within the framework of the BIDEKO project as a researcher for the manufacture and characterization of biodegradable batteries. Welcome Andrea!

The BCMaterials Foundation, Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures obtained the "HR Excellence in Research" distinction awarded by the European Commission to those research institutions that commit to implementing the HSR4R action plan.

This week Jon Pascual and Pablo Muñumer have joined our center as new post-doctoral and pre-doctoral researchers, respectively.