Aitziber López-Cortajarena, scientific director and Ikerbasque professor at the CIC biomaGUNE Cooperative Research Center, has been appointed corresponding academician in the physics and chemistry section of the Spanish Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences (RAC). The mission of the RAC is to promote study and research in the Mathematical, Physical, Chemical, Geological and Biological Sciences and their applications, as well as to disseminate scientific culture. One of its main functions is to advise the government on matters within its competence, particularly those related to scientific policy that may have a bearing on the country's scientific and technological development.

Professor Cortajarena is delighted: “To have been elected to join such an important institution is a great recognition for me, one of the greatest that can be achieved on a national level. It’s a huge honor and a significant professional achievement.” Membership of the Academy provides an opportunity to contribute first-hand to the Academy's mission and to help promote the research and development of science in the country. “For me it is very important to make an impact beyond the science we do in our lab. Membership also provides an opportunity to work on these areas with some of the most outstanding people in the country's research and to learn

from all of them, as well as to exchange knowledge among the different scientific fields covered by the Academy”.
This recognition is awarded by researchers with a wealth of experience and outstanding careers, since it is the academicians themselves who propose and vote on the new additions to the Academy. “A source of great pride is the fact that they have considered my career and the research developed by my group to be a reference in my field, in which we use approaches from chemistry and physics to understand and design biological systems with specific properties and their application in biomedicine and technology,” she added.

The Ikerbasque research professor would like to thank “all the people who have supported me throughout my career, both professionally and personally, enabling me to secure these achievements and awards. This is the result of the work of many people, especially my mentors, the people who have worked in my research teams over the years, as well as all the collaborators I have had the opportunity to work with”.

Four RAC members at CIC biomaGUNE

CIC biomaGUNE highlights the fact that, in addition to Professor Cortajarena, there are three other researchers at the center who are academicians of the Royal Academy of Sciences. They are: Ikerbasque professor Luis Liz-Marzán (full academician); general director of CIC biomaGUNE José María Mato (corresponding academician in the natural sciences section); and Ikerbasque professor and AXA chair Maurizio Prato (foreign corresponding academician in the chemical and physical sciences section). In this respect, the research center is delighted with the new addition of Professor Cortajarena to the RAC: "For someone to be appointed as an academician, he or she must enjoy internationally recognized scientific prestige. The fact that 27% of the group leaders of CIC biomaGUNE are academicians of the RAC is an honor and at the same time a privilege, since it not only recognizes their great research work, but also contributes toward promoting and enhancing the Science, Technology and Innovation System.”