Daniel Bafaluy, PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Kilian Muñiz & Prof. Rubén Martín (ICIQ), has virtually defended his PhD thesis entitled “New Strategies for C(sp3)-H Functionalization” (assigned to the Department of Analitical and Organic Chemistry of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili) publicly on October 2nd.

 

The members of the evaluation committee were: Prof. Mercedes Amat (Universitat de Barcelona), Dr. Alexandr Shafir (Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya) and Prof. Bill Morandi (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich).

Dr. Bafaluy is from Monzon, a town in Huesca (Spain). He studied Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza and did his master’s at ICIQ where he also did his PhD. He likes to play videogames and sports and to go hiking. Also, he is the drummer in a music group with other ICIQers called Zoo therapy.

Why did you become a scientist?

I have loved science since I was little. In class, I was the typical child who annoyingly kept asking questions about everything.

From the lessons learnt at ICIQ, which one do you value the most?

I think that the weekly seminars are top. The programme brings in speakers from the world’s scientific elite to talk about different chemistry fields. And this helps bring great names closer to the young researchers at ICIQ.

What ICIQ moment you´ll never forget?

I am not able to choose a specific moment… So, I am left with the incredible atmosphere and the friends that I have made during all these years.

What advice do you have for someone who’s starting their PhD now?

I would advise PhD students to learn to deal with frustration (or at least to be aware that they are going to face it) since research involves dealing with things that do not work.

Where are you going next?

I am currently looking for a job, as I do not contemplate continuing with a postdoc as a first option.

If you were a piece of lab equipment, what would you be?

A scale, because I think I am precise and I can bear the pressure.