Research Team
Group Leader
Kaixo!!
I am an Ikerbasque Research Fellow at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) in San Sebastian, Spain. I am an expert in nanoscience, with a strong interest in the benefits of nanoscale light-matter interactions applied to biological problems and quantum applications.
I graduated with a PhD in Physics in 2010 from the University of the Basque Country, advised by Javier Aizpurua, and Pedro Miguel Echenique. From 2011 to 2015 I served as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in Jennifer Dionne’s lab. In 2014, I obtained a Fellows Gipuzkoa Fellowship to start my career as an independent scientist in the Basque Country (Spain) at the DIPC. From 2019, I am an Ikerbasque Research Fellow at the DIPC where I lead this diverse research group of amazing people.
email: aitzolgarcia@dipc.org
Ph.D. Students
Miguel Angel Jimenez Herrera
co-advised with Dario Bercioux (DIPC)
email: ma.jimenez.herrera@gmail.com
Teresa Itziar Celaya Garmendia
Co-advised with Rafael Yuste (Columbia University, NY, USA)
Teresa has a Bachelor's and Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. She developed her Master’s thesis at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory before joining the Nanoneuro team as a Ph.D. student.
email: teresa.celaya@dipc.org
Carolina Martínez Strasser
co-advised with Dario Bercioux (DIPC)
Ph.D. student working on non-Hermitian quantum mechanics for both bosons and fermions.
Carolina has a background in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Master’s degree in quantum science and technology from the University of the Basque Country.
email: carolina.martinez@dipc.org
Antonio Morales Pérez
co-advised with Maia Garcia Vergniory (DIPC)
email: antonio.morales@dipc.org
Jon Lasa Alonso
co-advised with Gabriel Molina-Terriza (CFM, Donostia)
email: jonqnanolab@gmail.com
Chiara Devescovi
co-advised with Maia Garcia Vergniory (DIPC)
Hello there, I'm Chiara! I am a final year PhD student specializing in photonics. My investigation takes me deep into the fascinating world of topological band theory and the unique characteristics and nature of light. During the PhD time, I've had the extraordinary privilege of working alongside a myriad of insightful individuals, making our shared venture a remarkable part of my academic journey.
email: chiara.devescovi@dipc.org
Postdoctoral researchers
Javier Alfaro Mozaz
co-advised with Abraham Martin (Achucarro, Basque Country)
Dr. Javier Alfaro Mozaz graduated in physics from the University of Zaragoza, and developed his PhD in nanophotonics in Rainer Hillenbrand's group (CIC Nanogune), under his supervision and that of Prof. Alexey Nikitin (DIPC), studying the nanophotonics of two-dimensional hyperbolic materials.
During two years, under the supervision of Rafael Yuste (Columbia University) and Aitzol García Etxarri (DIPC), he studied the thermoplasmonic effect in the continuous and ultrafast regime, in nanoantennas and arrays of gold nanoantennas. For six months, he performed electrophysiology experiments in Rafael Yuste's laboratory at Columbia with a Fulbright grant.
email: javier.alfaro@dipc.org
Maria Blanco de Paz
co-advised with Paloma Arroyo Huidobro (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid)
email: maria.depaz@dipc.org
Maria Isabel Ardaya
co-advised with Abraham Martin (Achucarro, Basque Country)
email: mariaisabel.ardaya@ehu.eus
Galder Llorente
co-advised with Mónica Carril (Instituto Biofisika, Basque Country)
Galder Llorente is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Aitzol García's group and Mónica Carril's group. His research focuses on functionalization of nanoparticles targeted to neural binding receptors. Galder is an expert in the synthesis and functionalization of complex molecules and their application for biochemical purposes. He received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 2016, a Master in Synthetic and Industrial Chemistry in 2017, and a PhD in Chemistry at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in 2023
email: galder.llorente@dipc.org
German Pieslinger
co-advised with Eider San Sebastian (EHU, Kimikako Fakultatea, Donostia)
email: german.pieslinger@dipc.org
Alumni
Edurne Saenz Parraga
Edurne developed her Master Thesis, entitled “Machine learning applied to nanophotonics” in our group. She graduated in September 2022.
email: edurne.sp.95@gmail.com
Jorge Olmos Trigo
Jorge was a postdoc in our group, working on light-driven nanoscale chiral forces. Currently he is a Juan de la Cierva Fellow in Gabriel Molina Terriza’s group at CFM-CSIC.
email: jolmostrigo@gmail.com