The Aragonese José María de Teresa is the new President-elect of the European Physical Society (EPS)
The researcher at the Aragon Nanoscience and Materials Institute (INMA), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Zaragoza, is the first Spaniard to hold this prestigious post
De Teresa will work to promote the exchange of knowledge within this society that brings together 100,000 physicists; synergies with other groups and for all this to contribute to the sustainable development of Europe
Zaragoza, 2 June 2025. José María de Teresa, CSIC research professor at the Aragon Nanoscience and Materials Insitute (INMA), a joint institute of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza, has been appointed President-elect at the Governing Council of the European Physical Society (EPS, www.eps.org) held in Copenhagen on 16 and 17 May 2025.
The first objective is to make EPS an even more dynamic company with an even greater impact on the more than 100,000 European physicists. ‘I intend to improve the internal organisation and strengthen the communication programme,’ he explained. In addition, the Aragonese scientist aims to use the physics knowledge of its members and the tools and networks available in the EPS to reinforce European values and contribute to the sustainable development of Europe. “In this line, I think it is important to encourage institutional declarations and meetings at European level, as well as the establishment of synergies with other scientific organisations and the development of programmes for scientific dissemination and the promotion of equality and diversity. Although the programme is very ambitious and will require a great effort, I have no doubt that I will have the support and collaboration of many Spanish and European physicists,” he concludes.
The European Physical Society (EPS) was born in 1968 with the aim of promoting the advancement of physics in Europe and neighbouring countries, providing both a forum for the discussion of topics of common interest and the means by which actions of an international character could be undertaken. At that time, the Second World War was still very close and the Cold War was in full swing, so the founders of the EPS thought that a European Physical Society could act as a glue between the different countries, along the lines of what we now consider a ‘soft power’.
The membership of the EPS includes 42 national physics societies (such as the DPG in Germany, the IOP in the UK or the RSEF in Spain), as well as several associated institutions (CERN, ESRF, IBM, DIPC, etc.) and individual members, totalling more than 120,000 members. The EPS is organised into 18 divisions and thematic groups and between 2021 and 2024 José María de Teresa headed the Condensed Matter Physics division.
A life dedicated to research
José María de Teresa studied Physics at the University of Zaragoza and was awarded an introductory research grant by the CSIC. At this university he completed a doctoral thesis on the phenomenon of colossal magnetoresistance in manganese perovskites, which was supervised by Professors Agustín del Moral and Ricardo Ibarra. Subsequently, he carried out two postdoctoral stays, at IFW (Dresden, Germany) and CNRS (Orsay, France), in the latter place under the supervision of the Nobel Prize in Physics Albert Fert, with whom he worked in the field of spintronics using magnetic tunnel junctions.
He subsequently joined the CSIC, where he has been a Research Professor since 2011 and leads the Nanomidas group (Nanofabrication and advanced microscopies) at the Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA-CSIC-UNIZAR), which was awarded the Severo Ochoa seal of excellence in 2024. He is coordinator of the Spanish nanolithography network and of the nanofabrication area in the Advanced Microcopy Laboratory of the distributed ICTS ELECMI, focused on electron and ion microscopy. He has been distinguished in several scientific societies: Fellow of the APS (2021), of the EPS (2023) and of EURASC (2024). In addition, he was awarded the RSEF Young Researchers Award in 1997.
Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence
The Aragon Nanoscience and Materials Institute (INMA-CSIC-UNIZAR) has been the first in our region to obtain the Severo Ochoa accreditation of excellence, awarded by the State Research Agency. This recognition means funding of 4.5 million euros and the allocation of five pre-doctoral contracts for the period 2024-2028. They are in addition to the ten that were already awarded in the previous call, when the INMA was on the verge of achieving accreditation.
The INMA is a mixed institute, which was created three years ago by merging two research centres of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza, precisely to aspire to this mention of excellence. With around 300 members, it has more than 40 ongoing European projects and an annual average of 300 publications and 7 million euros obtained in competitive public programmes. In addition, it works in collaboration with industry, earning around one million euros per year in contracts and royalties.
02-06-2025
