- The InTalent program is promoted by the University of Coruña (UDC) with funding from the company Inditex.
- This initiative allows the return to Galicia of researcher Xabier Rodríguez Martínez, a materials scientist expert in new technologies for energy harvesting and the decarbonization of the electricity supply.
- Xabier joins as an InTalent researcher with Dr. Jaime Martín, from the Polymers Research Group, linked to the Naval and Industrial Technologies Research Center (CITENI) of the UDC Industrial Campus.
A Coruña, June 28, 2024.- The University of A Coruña is celebrating these days the incorporation of new research talent of excellence among its staff. Next Monday, July 1, the materials scientist Xabier Rodríguez Martínez will join the UDC within the InTalent program, promoted by the University together with the company Inditex. Thanks to this initiative, the return of this Galician researcher is achieved, expert in new technologies for energy harvesting and decarbonization of the electricity supply, including photovoltaics and thermoelectricity, based on organic compounds, such as conjugated polymers and carbon nanotubes
Xabier Rodríguez Martínez
Xabier Rodríguez Martínez (Vigo, 1992) completed his studies in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2014, where he also obtained a scholarship to continue his master’s studies funded by the Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation. In October 2020, he obtained his doctorate with an extraordinary prize, during which he carried out stays in centers of very high international scientific level, such as Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom and ETH Zurich, in Switzerland.
In January 2021, the researcher began his first postdoctoral stage at Linköping University (Sweden) where he worked on the research and improvement of fully printed photovoltaic modules for use in indoor spaces. In November 2022, he obtained a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellowship to continue his scientific enrichment at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg.
The scientist devised his own research project in which he used anisotropic mixtures of conjugated polymers and carbon nanotubes for their application in thermoelectricity.
Incorporation with CITENI
Xabier Rodríguez joins the group of Dr. Jaime Martín Pérez, distinguished researcher of the Oportunius Program of the Xunta de Galicia, of the Polymers Group of CITENI, located at the Ferrol Industrial Campus of the UDC, as an InTalent researcher on July 1. There he will work linked to the PARACRYST project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) within the prestigious Consolidator Grants (CoG).
Given his scientific profile, the researcher will focus on promoting new advances in printed organic photovoltaic technology to promote its industrialization and adoption in civil society.
Rodríguez is particularly interested in developing high-throughput experimental methods guided by statistical methods, artificial intelligence and robots. Among his goals are improving the sustainability of organic photovoltaic technology with the use of non-halogenated solvents obtained from renewable sources, reducing costs with new synthetically simple materials, and industrial printing using roll-to-roll methods. These advances will be combined within situ and in operando spectroscopic techniques in stability benches designed for this purpose. His research is expected to have an impact on unique niches of organic photovoltaic technology, such as its use indoors, in agrivoltaics or in underwater applications.
InTalent
InTalent is a collaboration program between the University of A Coruña and the company Inditex for the recruitment and retention of research talent, with the aim of generating a scientific and research network of excellence within the University of A Coruña.
Created in 2016, it is funded by Inditex through a collaboration agreement signed on April 20, 2022 for the launch of the second edition of the program, in which Inditex provides sponsorship of 1.5 million euros to the UDC during the term of the agreement, until 2026.
Photo 1: Materials scientist Xabier Rodríguez Martínez will join the UDC within the InTalent program.
Posted by:
UDC Communication Office