Researcher Sara H. Mejías is awarded with a Junior Leader Fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation
22.03.2023
Madrid, 22nd March, 2023. Dr. Sara Hernández Mejías has received her postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship from "la Caixa" Foundation during the award ceremony on the 22th of March, together with 104 other researchers. Elisa Durán, Deputy General Manager of the "la Caixa" Foundation and Emilia Jordi, Director of the "la Caixa" Foundation's Scholarship Area, have awarded the doctoral and postdoctoral grants worth €20.2 M to national and international research projects of excellence.
Sara H. Mejías has a unique background in interdisciplinary research, with a solid background in protein engineering, bioorthogonal chemistry and spectroscopy. She has extensive experience in these disciplines, and has worked internationally in laboratories in the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and the USA, which has allowed her to create a wide network of scientists with experience in different fields.
The research project
Recently, Sara started her independent career at IMDEA Nanociencia thanks to a Junior Leader scholarship from the "la Caixa" Foundation. The goal of her group is to develop effective photosystems by establishing new methods to control the mechanisms of exciton decay by designing interactions between proteins and photoactive molecules.
Her research group combines molecular biology and spectroscopy synergistically and conducts mechanistic studies on the effects of amino acids on the decay of the excitonic properties of chromophores. This strategy sets the design rules for developing biohybrids with optimized light conversion properties for applications in photonics, energy storage, and photochemistry. In the project funded by the "la Caixa" Foundation, it will develop biohybrid conjugates for the conversion of customized photochemical energy. The legacy of the proposed project will be the knowledge-based fabrication of biohybrids with defined photophysical and photochemical morphology and properties for a wide range of applications in various fields, from nanotechnology to photochemistry, and a toolkit that will harness the full potential of light for human innovations.
“My research group focuses on the development of photoactive systems (photosystems) that allow light to be used as an energy source efficiently. The photosystems we develop use the fundamental principles found in natural photosynthesis. To do this, we combine molecular biology protocols and advanced spectroscopy techniques that allow us to evaluate the mechanism of action of the generated photosystems and optimize them for a wide range of applications”.
"La Caixa” Junior Leader Grant makes the difference
The postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowships from "la Caixa" Foundation are aimed at hiring excellent researchers of any nationality who wish to continue their research career in Spain or Portugal. The objectives of this programme are to foster high-quality, innovative research in Spain and Portugal and to support the scientific talent by providing them with an attractive, competitive environment in which to conduct excellent research.
Scientists are examined under a hard selection criteria in two stages, to select the most outstanding researchers in terms of originality and importance of their contributions, as well as having the leadership skills to head their own research group. Within this framework, the Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowships Programme will contribute towards internationalising the research system by attracting international talent through the “Incoming” subprogramme. Likewise, it will retain talent through the “Retaining” subprogramme. The programme has been partially funded by the European Commission through Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND scheme of the Horizon 2020 programme.
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Award ceremony of “la Caixa” Foundation Grants 2023 at CosmoCaixa Barcelona. |
The “Incoming” grants are awarded to outstanding scientists to perform their postdoctoral research at Excellent Research Centres awarded with the Severo Ochoa or María de Maeztu distinction in Spain, or centres evaluated as excellent by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia of Portugal. The “Retaining” grants are awarded to scientists fo carry out research at any research centre in Spain or Portugal, with a complementary training of 3-6 months in an international institution. The research programmes carried out at these centres are first rate, highly competitive and considered among the best in the world in their respective scientific areas.
“The "la Caixa" Junior Leader program has given me the necessary impetus to establish solid foundations on which to build my research group and has allowed me to create my work team to explore my ideas. In addition, this program of "la Caixa" Foundation provides a unique training program with courses that allow me to develop not only as a scientist but also as a group leader. This program offers a network and contacts with scientists both nationally and internationally”.
Why at IMDEA Nanociencia
“IMDEA Nanociencia offers unique technical capabilities to carry out the interdisciplinary research that we propose in my group. IMDEA also offers an international environment and the possibility of collaborating with researchers from different areas that helps in the enrichment of our research. Finally, IMDEA Nanociencia is a Severo Ochoa center of excellence that offers a motivating environment and support to young researchers that make it unique to establish myself as an independent researcher”.
IMDEA Nanociencia acts as host organisation within the framework of the Postdoctoral Junior Leader as Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence. The centre has characteristics which are essential for the development and consolidation of a research career. "La Caixa" Foundation strengthens the institutions’ commitment to research and society by attracting international talent and helping to retain researchers in the territory, supporting world-class researchers conducting frontier research and promoting the transfer of results to society.
More information:
Contact
IMDEA Nanociencia Dissemination and Communication Office
divulgacion.nanociencia [at]imdea.org
Twitter: @imdea_nano
Facebook: @imdeananociencia
Instagram: @imdeananociencia
Source: IMDEA Nanociencia
*Updated 13/09/2023.