The European Academy of Sciences has elected Prof. Ballester as a member, based on his academic achievements. “I am thrilled and highly honoured to have been elected as a member of the EURASC. I will do my best to spread the scope of EURASC in the international scientific community,” states Ballester.
Prof. Ballester is a leading expert in supramolecular chemistry. His research group at ICIQ has a double focus: the design, synthesis and application of molecular containers and also to understand molecular self-assembly processes as a methodology to construct large and functional supramolecular assemblies or molecular machines.
After receiving his PhD degree from the University of the Balearic Islands, he spent some years working in the USA as a post-doctoral associate both at the University of Pittsburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 2003, he has been recognised as an ICREA Research Professor and in 2004 he joined ICIQ as a group leader. Among other awards, he was the recipient of the 2012 Janssen Cilag Organic Chemistry Prize awarded by the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ).
Ballester is also the coordinator of the Innovative Training Network (ITN) NOAH, a multidisciplinary chemical research programme within the area of functional molecular containers, encapsulation processes and their applications. The consortium brings together seven academic partners and two industrial companies from different European countries to train through research the new generation of scientists.
The European Academy of Sciences (EURASC) is a fully independent international association of distinguished scholars, which aims to recognise and elect to its membership the best European scientists (transcending national borders) with the aim of strengthening European science and scientific cooperation. The Academy also makes available the expertise of its members in advising other European bodies in the betterment of European research, technological application and social development.
One of the most important objectives of the Academy is the promotion of fundamental research and excellence in science and technology and their essential roles in fostering social and economic development. To this end, EURASC organizes seminars and symposia to promote fundamental sciences, rewards excellence in science and technology by electing scientists to its Fellowship and Honorary Membership and awards the Medal of the Academy to the brightest professorial and postdoctoral science researchers who perform cutting edge research.