Prof. Josep Puigmartí-Luis is the head of the ChemInFlow group located at the University of Barcelona and he is also affiliated with Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTC) that was honored with the "Maria de Maeztu" Unit of Excellence, in 2021. He completed his PhD in supramolecular chemistry at the Institut de Ciències dels Materials de Barcelona (2008), and right after, he received a competitive ETH fellowship. In 2012, he was nominated as a Ramón y Cajal researcher, but after two years, he decided to move back to Switzerland where in 2015 was awarded an ERC Starting Grant, a Chair of Excellence (France) in 2018, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Valencia in 2019. In 2021, Prof. Puigmartí-Luis received the emergent consolidated research group recognition from the Catalan research system, earned a favorable Accreditation as Full Professor from AQU Catalunya in 2023, and the same year he was also honored with the Rising Star Award from IEEE 3M-NANO.
Research interests
Self-assembly can be described as a dynamic process present in nature that has long been used for the evolution of living organisms, but is still scarcely understood by modern science. The main reason being that self-assembly is generally studied under equilibrium conditions. Despite the remarkable progress made in materials engineering, the quest for a technology to study and kinetically control self-assembled processes is still incomplete. Like in nature, only through kinetic controlled conditions we can achieve materials with a rationalized function and efficiency; a result that will open new horizons in nanotechnology. Therefore, the research activities of my group are centered on accomplishing an extraordinary kinetic control over self-assembly by controlling the fluid flow phenomena of reagents at the micro and nanoscale.
Selected publications
- Landers, FC et al. 2025, 'Clinically ready magnetic microrobots for targeted therapies', Science, 390 - 6774 - 710 - 715.
Ngo AT, Aguilà D, Vale JP, Sevim S, Mattera M, Díaz-Marcos J, Pons R, Aromí G, Jang B, Pané S, Mayor TS, Palacios-Corella M, Puigmartí-Luis J 2025, '- On-the-Fly Synthesis of Freestanding Spin-Crossover Architectures With Tunable Magnetic Properties', Advanced materials, 37 - 37 - - .
Nicholas JD, Del Grosso E, deMello AJ, Puigmartí-Luis J, Ricci F, Sorrenti A 2025, '- Sustained, Reversible, and Adaptive Non-Equilibrium Steady States of a Dissipative DNA-Based System', Angewandte chemie-international edition, 64 - 43 - - - e202512967.
- Ju, XH et al. 2025, 'Technology Roadmap of Micro/Nanorobots', Acs nano, 19 - 27 - 24174 - 24334.
- Alves PG, Puigmartí-Luis J et al. 2025, 'Strategies for Navigating Magnetic Microrobots in Neurovascular Networks: A Numerical Analysis', Small science, 5 - 10.
- Alves PG, Puigmartí-Luis J et al. 2025, 'Analysis of the Navigation of Magnetic Microrobots through Cerebral Bifurcations for Targeted Drug Delivery', Adv.Int.Syst. 7 - 8 - 2400993.
- Tang Q, Puigmartí-Luis J et al. 2025, 'Piezoelectrostatic Catalysis of the Azide-Alkyne Huisgen Cycloaddition', Journ.Ame.Chem.Soc. 147 - 10 - 8289 - 8299.
Selected research activities
• 9 invited oral presentations delivered during 2025
• 16 peer‑reviewed publications and 1 book chapter
• 2 journal covers and 1 back cover featuring the group’s work
• Participation in 5 PhD thesis evaluation committees
• 1 PhD thesis presented as co‑supervisor
• Supervision of 1 master’s student and 3 undergraduate final projects (TFG)
• 5 active research projects:
- 3 European projects (all coordinated by the group)
- 1 national project
- 1 Swiss project
• Recipient of the Advanced Materials Award from the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM)
• Outreach contribution as a speaker at the ICMAB Alumni Day, offering guidance on career paths after a PhD or postdoc.