The "Extraordinary Award of the PhD in Physics" from the Autonomous University of Barcelona for the period 2008/2009 was granted to Dr. Juan S. Reparaz. He performed and defended his PhD thesis entitled "Optical Properties of Low-Dimensional Semiconductor Nanostructures under High Pressure " at the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) under the supervision of Prof. Alejandro R. Goñi and Dr. M. Isabel Alonso. After concluding his PhD thesis he moved to the Berlin Technical University, Germany, as a Post-doctoral Researcher in the group led by Prof. Axel Hoffmann and Prof. Christian Thomsen for a period of two years. Presently, he is back at ICMAB-CSIC, working on different topics of nanoscience & nanotechnology in the Department of Nanostructured Materials.

Dr. Juan S. Reparaz obtained his Master in Physics degree in 2003 at the "Instituto Balseiro" (San C. de Bariloche, Argentina). During this period his research activities focused mainly on "Vortex dynamics in Josephson junction arrays". During his PhD thesis he worked mainly on "High Hydrostatic Pressure Effects in Semiconductor Nanostructures". In particular, he investigated Si1-xGex alloys, Ge/Si quantum dots, CdSe quantum dots, InGaAs/As superlattices, and the pressure dependence of vibrational modes in ZnO substrates. Currently, his main research lines are: i) Optical investigation of semiconductor nanowires and, ii) SiGe alloys as feasible candidates for piezoresistive sensors. To date he has published 26 articles in high impact international journals such as Advanced Functional Materials, Applied Physics Letters, and Physical Review B.