The PhD thesis was supervised by Marta Mas-Torrent, from the eMolMat Group at ICMAB-CSIC.

The PhD Committee that evaluated the Thesis was formed by Carmen Ocal Garcia, ICMAB-CSIC, Spain (President), Paula Mayorga Burrezo, Center for Advanced Functional Nanorobots, Czech Republic (Secretary) and Joaquim Puigdollers, UPC, Spain (Vocal).

Doctor Adrián Tamayo’s PhD thesis was part of the PhD Programme in Materials Science from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

From left to right: Joaquim Puigdollers (on screen), Carmen Ocal, Adrián Tamayo, Paula Mayorga Burrezo and Marta Mas. /ICMAB

Why did you choose ICMAB for your PhD?

Working here was a unique opportunity for a young Batchelor’ degree student and, I enjoyed working at strong interdisciplinary and multicultural environment. This was the reason for deciding to continue my scientific career at ICMAB.

How would you explain your research to a non-scientific audience?

My research consisted in manufacturing low-cost and flexible electronics devices.

What are the main applications of your research? Could you give us an example?

Organic electronics is a promising technology that try to reduce the cost, weight and robustness of conventional electronics. The great banner of organic electronics are OLED panels.

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

Nothing ever goes the way you plan in your way.

What will you miss the most from ICMAB?

My colleagues.

How do you think this experience will contribute to your training and to your future?

I have learned that one of the most valuable skills to possess is creativity. We all face problems. That's why being creative when solving problems is important.

What are your plans once you finish your PhD?

I will work a few months here while I am looking for a Post-Doctoral position.

What do you wish you had known at the beginning of your PhD, that you can recommend to the ones who are starting?

Be careful with COVID-19. Since my work is manly experimental, I needed to be in the lab to carry out my experiments. The lockdown was a hard hit.

Let us know who are your favourite scientists (man and woman). Why?

Richard Feynman was a keen populariser of physics and the father of nanotechnology.

Do you have any other comments you would like to say?

I think this is the start of something really big. And sometimes the beginnings are the hardest one, and this just gets started.

More information and photos.