INPhINIT fellow Alonso Campos starts his research stage at IMDEA Nanociencia

13.11.2020

”la Caixa” Foundation will fund Alonso’s doctoral stage through the INPhINIT programme. His project is about the development of "extraterrestrial supermagnets".

Alonso Campos was finishing his Physics degree at Cambridge University when decided to apply for a ”la Caixa”’s Doctoral INPhINIT Incoming grant. “I thought it would be a great opportunity for me if I were to receive a fellowship, since the programme focuses on applied science at the best research centres of Spain and Portugal together with leadership and management training opportunities”, Alonso says. He is one of the 35 awardees with a INPhINIT grant on 2020.

The doctoral fellowship programme INPhINIT of ”la Caixa” Foundation is devoted to attracting talented Early-Stage Researchers —of any nationality— who wish to pursue doctoral studies in Spanish or Portuguese territory. With this programme, ”la Caixa” Foundation aims at supporting the best scientific talent and fostering innovative and high-quality research offering researchers an attractive and competitive environment for conducting research of excellence.

The group of Permanent Magnets and Applications at IMDEA Nanociencia, led by Dr. Alberto Bollero, hosts Alonso. “While looking into the possible projects to apply to for my fellowship, Bollero’s project immediately caught my attention”. The research project is focused on the development of new rare earth-free permanent magnets from meteorite compounds. The solution to the economic and environmental issues related to the production of the strongest permanent magnets (containing rare-earths) might come from the sky. The research intends to synthesize artificially in the lab a new material that is naturally formed only in outer space. “The project combines many features of interest to me (applied science, resource and economic sustainability, interdisciplinarity, etc.), which together with IMDEA Nanociencia’s prestige as a Spanish and European leader in nanoscience research led me to choose it for my fellowship application.”

IMDEA Nanociencia is one of the top Spanish research institutions awarded with the Severo Ochoa Excellence seal since 2017, by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which recognizes excellence at the highest level in terms of research, training, human resources, outreach and technology transfer. IMDEA Nanociencia currently hosts two INPhINIT fellows, Alonso Campos at the Permanent Magnets and Applications Group (Dr. Alberto Bollero) and Rama Prajapati at the NanoBiotechnology Group (Dr. Alvaro Somoza).

Source: IMDEA Nanociencia