BRIEF VITA

    • My research focuses on collective phenomena in complex systems, spanning nonlinear dynamics, network science, and statistical physics. Over the years, I have studied a broad range of emergent phenomena, from localization and synchronization in nonlinear systems to disease spreading and social dynamics in networks.

      I began my Ph.D. at the University of Zaragoza (2003–2006), studying localization phenomena (discrete breathers) in nonlinear discrete systems, in close collaboration with the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory. During this period, I also explored the structure of interaction networks in complex systems and investigated nonequilibrium phenomena such as synchronization, chaos, and jamming. This work earned me the Extraordinary Doctorate Award in 2006 and the Young Researcher Award from the Spanish Royal Society of Physics in 2007.

      My postdoctoral career took me to the Scuola Superiore di Catania (Italy) as a Research Associate, the Weizmann Institute as a Visiting Researcher, and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona) as a Juan de la Cierva Fellow. There, I expanded my research to disease spreading and social dynamics on networks, addressing problems such as evolutionary game theory, the emergence of social consensus, and epidemic mitigation strategies. In 2009, I joined Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) as a faculty member in Applied Mathematics, where I started working on explosive phase transitions and multilayer networks.

      These research themes remained central when I returned to the University of Zaragoza as a Ramón y Cajal Fellow (2011–2015). After being promoted to Associate Professor in 2016, I founded the Theoretical and Applied Modeling Group (GOTHAM) at the Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), where I continue to serve as Principal Investigator of GOTHAM lab and, since 2023, as Full Professor (Catedrático) in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics.

      Over the course of my career, I have published more than 160 JCR-indexed papers in leading journals, including Physics Reports, Nature Physics, PNAS, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review X, Nature Communications, Science Advances, and Nature Human Behaviour. My work has also been presented in more than 70 invited talks at conferences, workshops, schools, and other scientific events worldwide.
  • Research interests
    • Nonlinear dynamics
      Complex Systems and Networks
      Epidemic spreading
      Emergence of behaviors and culture in Social systems
      Synchronization phenomena
  • AWARDS, Honors, Fellowships & APPOINMENTS

    • Spanish Research Agency: Collaborator at the Division of Scientific and Technical Coordination, Evaluation, and Monitoring. - since 2025
    • Director of the Secretariat for the Organization and Monitoring of Research and Innovation of the University of Zaragoza - since 2025
    • Board Member of DIFENSC (previously GEFENOL) - since 2024
    • Scientific Committee of FISES - since 2024
    • Elected member of the directors board of COMSOTEC - from 2022 to 2024
    • Research Fellow of the Center for Computational Social Science (University of Kobe, Japan) – since 2019
    • Associate Editor of Journal of Physics: Complexity (IoP) - since 2019
    • Program Chair International Conference COMPLENET - 2019 & 2020
    • Steering Committee of Latinamerican  Network Conference - since 2017
    • Board of directors of BIFI - from 2015 to 2024
    • BIFI's Division of Physics Coordinator - from 2015 to 2024
    • Visiting Researcher of the London Mathematical Society – 2015
    • Associate Editor of J. of Complex Networks (Oxford UP) - from 2015 to 2025
    • Profesor Visitante Especial (CNPq Centro Nacional Pesquisas, Brasil) - 2014-2016
    • Distinguished Visitor of SUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance) - 2014
    • Associate Editor of Chaos, Solitons & Fractals (Elsevier) - since 2013
    • Member of the Complex Systems Society Council - from 2013 to 2019
    • Scientific Committee of GEFENOL Summer School, from 2013 to 2023
    • Academic Editor of PLoS One, from 2011 to 2022
    • Ramon y Cajal fellowship – call 2010
    • Postdoctoral Fellowship of Weizmann Institute of Technology – call 2007
    • Juan de la Cierva fellowship – call 2007
    • Premio Investigador Novel en Física Teórica de la RSEF- 2006
    • Premio Extraordinario de doctorado - 2006
    • Visiting researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory 2005
    • Beca de Formación de Profesorado Universitario FPU – call 2003
    • Beca Doctorado I3P – call 2002