Jesús Mendieta, new Marie Curie researcher at ICMM

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His name is Jesús Mendieta Moreno and he just joined the Materials Science Institute of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) thanks to a  Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Fellowship. He is now working in the Interdisciplinary studies based on nanoscopic systems (ESISNA) group, where he plans to contribute to understanding from a theoretical perspective behaviors of molecules on-surface.  Here, he presents himself:

Where do you come from?

I completed my doctoral thesis in 2017 at UAM University and CBMSO in the computational study of enzymatic reactions developing new computational tools. In 2018 I moved to Prague, Czech Republic, in Pavel Jelinek’s group, where I started a postdoctoral position. In 2021 I returned to UAM with a Maria Zambrano fellowship in the group of José Ortega.

What have you worked on so far?

In my PhD I worked in the development of multiscale techniques for the simulation of biomolecules, mixing Quantum Mechanics and Molecular Mechanics. I applied this technique to the study of enzymatic reactions in biomolecular systems such as proteins and DNA. During my postdoc in Prague, I changed my field of research and I moved to on-surface science applying the multiscale techniques to study on-surface synthesis and properties of molecules on Surfaces.

What will you work on? With whom?

In ICMM I joined the ESISNA group with Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). There I will contribute to understanding from a theoretical perspective behaviors of molecules on-surface. My MSCA project is granted to develop computational tools to rationalize, and finally predict photochemical reaction pathways of molecules deposited on surfaces for the creation of 1D and 2D materials.

Why did you choose ICMM?

In ICMM I'm joining a group leader in on-surface synthesis and an institute with several facilities and training opportunities that have helped me to obtain an MSCA fellowship and will help me to develop my scientific career.

And a personal touch: any hobbies? What would you like to contribute to the institute?

I like to practice outdoor activities such as mountain biking and mountaineering and in general any activity in nature. I would like to contribute to the institute in creating some good transfer of if knowledge between theory and experiments.