This award highlights the excellence of young researchers from the Group of Polymers of the RSEQ

Dr. José A. Berrocal has been recognised with the award “Joven Investigador en Polímeros” addressed to young researchers working on polymers and members of the Group of Polymers (GEP), a mixed group of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) and the Spanish Royal Society of Physics (RSEF). This award highlights the contributions made by Dr. Berrocal in the field of polymer mechanochemistry and chemical recycling/upcycling of polymer materials.

I’m very happy and proud to receive this award, which is not only a recognition of my trajectory so far, but also a recognition of all my young collaborators who have trusted me as their thesis and postdoctoral supervisor. I would like to thank my PhD advisors, Professors Stefano Di Stefano and Luigi Mandolini, who provided me with all the tools to start my academic career, as well as Professors Bert Meijer, Ben Feringa, and Christoph Weder, from whom I tried to steal a few tricks on ‘how to play the game’ after my PhD. I hope that, with this award, our group will become even more visible within the context of Spanish research, as we have recently relocated here, and that we can forge new connections within this fantastic community.

Dr. José A. Berrocal

About Dr. José A. Berrocal

Dr. José Augusto Berrocal embarked on his independent career at the Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in September 2019. His research combines concepts and techniques from organic, supramolecular and polymer chemistries to tackle scientific challenges that exceed one specific field of interest. Designing and understanding stimuli-responsive materials devoted for potential sustainable and environmental applications constitutes a major drive in his research.

In July 2023, Dr. Berrocal assumed the role of Group Leader at ICIQ as part of ICIQ’s Starting Career Programme (ICIQ-SCP) funded by the Severo Ochoa Excellence Grant CEX2019-000925-S (MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/ 501100011033). He has started this new phase also with an ERC Starting Grant for the project “Reversible Heterolytic Mechanophores for Dynamic Bulk Materials” (ReHuse).