Premios GEQO 2022

M. Concepción Gimeno

M. Concepción Gimeno is Research Professor of the High Scientific Research Council (CSIC), at the Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis (ISQCH), a mixed center of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza.

She got the Ph.D. Thesis, under the supervision of Professors Rafael Usón and Antonio Laguna, at the University of Zaragoza in 1988. She carried out a postdoctoral stay at the University of Bristol with Prof. Gordon Stone, working on the synthesis and reactivity of transition metal carbines and returned to the University of Zaragoza with a Reintegration Grant.

In 1990 she obtained a position as Senior Scientist of the CSIC, in the Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalysis, and later, he got the promotion to Scientific Researcher in 2000 and Research Professor in 2008. During the first period she made several stays as visiting professor at the University of Braunschweig (Germany).

Her scientific interests are focused on the design, study, and analysis of new group 11 metal compounds with specific catalytic, luminescent and/or biological properties and with potential applications, such as in the synthesis of high added value compounds, as dopants of OLEDs or sensors and as agents for targeted anticancer therapy or as theragnostic agents.

Prof. Gimeno is the author of more than 290 scientific papers among articles, reviews and book chapters and has a patent licensed in exploitation. She has supervised 18 doctoral theses, and the research of numerous postdoctoral researchers and Master or Erasmus students. Her publications have received more than 7800 citations (h-index 45). She has also given numerous invited talks in universities and different national and international conferences.

She has held numerous management positions as Vicepresident of the RSEQ or President of the Territorial Section of Aragón, member of the Chemical Sciences and Technologies Commission of the CSIC, Vicedirector of the ISQCH or as Chemistry Coordinator of the State Research Agency.

Prof. Gimeno is Associate Editor of the journals Gold Bull., Molecules or Scientific Reports, as well as member of the Advisory Board of Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. and Chem. Eur. J. She has been awarded with the «IUPAC 2017 Distinguished Women in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering», the «Excellence in Research of the Organometallic Chemistry Group (GEQO)» in 2017, the «Innovation and Future Award of the Heraldo de Aragón» in 2017, the «Medal of the Courts of Aragon» in 2018 and the «Excellence in Research of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ)” in 2018, among others.

Dr. Sergio Gonell

Sergio Gonell graduated with honors in 2010 at the Universitat Jaume I. In 2015 he received the PhD degree at the Universitat Jaume I, under the supervision of Eduardo Peris and Macarena Poyatos. The objective of his PhD Thesis was to develop geometrically isolated poly-NHCs for the synthesis of multimetallic complexes. This allowed to study the influence of the multimetallic nature of these complexes in their catalytic performances, and to approach a detailed study on the catalytic cooperativity between the metals comprised in these multimetallic units. His PhD Thesis was awarded the Extraordinary Awardby the Universitat Jaume I. In 2014 he was awarded the “SusChem prize for Young Chemical-Researchers” in the predoctoral category, given by the Spanish Technological Platform for Sustainable Chemistry.

In May 2015 Sergio joined Joost Reek’s lab at the University of Amsterdam, as a postdoctoral researcher. During this period, he focused his efforts in the fine tuning of the catalytic properties of transition metal complexes by modification of its second coordination sphere (catalysis in confined spaces, preorganization of substrates, etc.), expanding in this way his knowledge to supramolecular catalysis.

In May 2017 Sergio joined the Alexander Miller’s lab at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (USA), as a postdoctoral researcher under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global program (MSCA-IF-GF). During this period, he learnt a wide set of electroanalytical techniques to study electrocatalytic processes. In particular, his interest was focused on understanding the mechanism of different types of molecular transition metal catalysts in CO₂ electroreduction. In continuation within the Marie Sklodowska-Curie program, Sergio returned to Spain in August 2019, to the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia, at the Julio Lloret’s group, where he studied the mechanism of first row transition metal catalysts in CO₂ electroreduction, by experimental and computational means.

In early 2021, Sergio joined the Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM) at Universitat Jaume I of Castelló with Juan de la Cierva Incorporación contract from the Spanish government. At INAM, he is developing research at the interphase of inorganic synthetic chemistry and catalysis related to solar fuels cells.