José Augusto was born in Orvieto, Italy, in 1986. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2014 from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” under the guidance of Prof. L. Mandolini and Prof. S. Di Stefano.

In 2014, he relocated to the Netherlands as a postdoctoral researcher at Eindhoven University of Technology, in the group of Prof. E.W. “Bert” Meijer. This was followed by another postdoctoral experience in the group of Prof. Ben Feringa at the University of Groningen (2017-2019).

José Augusto began his independent career at the Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in September 2019, establishing his research program that combines concepts and techniques from organic, supramolecular, and polymer chemistries.

He has been serving as a Group Leader at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), initially within the CELLEX-ICIQ Starting Career Program (2023-2025), and subsequently as an ICREA Research Professor (from December 2025).

I lead research that blends organic and polymer chemistry to tackle big challenges.

Smart materials: We work on the development of advanced plastic materials that can sense their environment and alter their properties in response to external triggers, such as illumination with light, mechanical stimulation, temperature changes, exposure to chemical agents, and other stimuli.

Sustainable plastics: A part of our team is dedicated to developing simple and cost-effective methods for recycling and upcycling polymer waste, and enabling the closed-loop recycling of advanced plastics.

Artificial muscles: We are laying the groundwork for the generation of 3D-printable prosthetic implants that can be powered by metabolic energy.