Spanish National Research Prize for Angel Rubio
Angel Rubio, director of the Theory Department and managing director of the MPSD, has been awarded the prestigious Spanish National Research Prize for his work on computational solid-state physics.
He receives the Premio Nacional de Investigación Blas Cabrera for his achievements in predicting new properties of nanoscale materials and non-equilibrium phases of matter. The King of Spain, Felipe VI, said at the ceremony in Gandia, Valencia last night: “We can be very proud of our country’s achievements thanks to the personal commitment of the great men and women working in science with their teams.”
The Spanish Science Minister, Diana Morant, highlighted the conceptual and methodological advances of Angel Rubio’s work which had transformed computational materials science, opening new fields of experimental research. Rubio feels greatly honoured to receive the Prize: “This award is a testimony to the power of curiosity and passion for physics, driven by the incredible effort and collaboration of the exceptional team of students and researchers who have worked with me towards surprising discoveries.”
Angel Rubio’s research focuses on the electronic and structural properties of advanced materials, nanostructures and molecular complexes. His work includes the development of theoretical tools to investigate the electronic response of materials and molecules to external electromagnetic fields. He was named as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in 2022.
His work has been recognized by many awards, including the 2018 Max Born Medal and Prize, the Gold Medal of the Spanish Royal Physics Society (2016), the 2014 Premio Rey Jaime I for basic research, the DuPont Prize in Nanotechnology in 2006, the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award of the Humboldt Foundation in 2005, and two European Research Council Advanced Grants.
Angel Rubio is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the European Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2017, he was appointed as distinguished research scientist at the Simons Foundation’s Center for Computational Quantum Physics. He is a member of the Leopoldina (the German National Academy of Sciences), the Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, the European Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea, as well as a foreign associate member of the National Academy of Sciences in the USA.
