nireEHU JOSE MARIA PITARKE DE LA TORRE
- Knowledge area
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Department
- Centre
- Faculty of Science and Technology
- Electronic mail
- jm.pitarke@ehu.eus
Prof. Pitarke studied Physics at the University of the Basque Country, where he received his PhD degree with distinction in 1990. During his PhD work, he investigated some aspects of tunneling spectroscopy and electron and photon emission in solids. After a postdoctoral stay at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA), he obtained in 1993 a tenured position at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). He combined his work at the UPV/EHU with sabbatical semesters at various USA Universities and the Imperial College of the University of London. Since 2000, he has been full professor of condensed matter physics at the UPV/EHU. Since 2005, he has been By-Fellow of Churchill College of the University of Cambridge. His research interests include condensed matter theory and many-electron dynamics in solids, surfaces, and nanostructures. In February 2006, Prof. Pitarke was appointed Director-General of the Nanoscience Research Center nanoGUNE, at the time of its creation. He joined nanoGUNE in September 2006, without completely abandoning his duties at the University. Hardly a few months after the opening of nanoGUNE in January 2009, he received a special mention by the jury of the 9th Manuel Laborde Werlinden prize for his business initiative on graphene. He was the driving force of the start-up company Graphenea, which was founded in April 2010 as a joint venture of private investors and nanoGUNE with the mission of commercializing high-quality graphene wafers.