< BackOn 29 January, Cayetano López Martínez was appointed by the Council of Ministers as the new director general of CIEMAT (Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research), following the recent death of his predecessor Juan Antonio Rubio Rodríguez. The new director general has a deep knowledge of this institution, having been deputy director general since September 2004 as well as director of the Energy department, from where he promoted important national and international projects.
Professor of Theoretical Physics of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, he has held important posts throughout his prolific career, notably those of vice-chancellor of the UAM from 1985 to 1994, and member of the Board of CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) from 1983 to 1995, as well as vice-president of CERN from 1987 to 1990. He was also director of the Madrid Science Park for four years until 2004 and he is doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Buenos Aires.
Additionally, he has headed important research projects into elemental particles, unified theories and nuclear transmutation for the elimination of waste, and has published numerous articles on these subjects in Spanish and foreign journals. He is also the author and publisher of various specialised books on matters relating to physics, and has given innumerable lectures on scientific policy, energy and information technology, among other subjects.
CIEMAT is a public research body renowned for the excellence of its work in the fields of energy, environment and technology; it comes under the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The Centre is technologically and geographically diversified, to attend to the needs of R&D&I nationwide; its headquarters are in Madrid, and it has specialised regional centres in Soria, Almería, Trujillo (Cáceres) and Barcelona.
CIEMAT's mission is to contribute to the country's sustainable development and to the quality of life of its citizens, by generating and applying scientific and technological knowledge. It is also a benchmark centre in the field of energy, the environment and ICT, as well as in basic research sectors, in collaboration with Spain's autonomous regional governments and the European Union and in co-operation with Latin American and Mediterranean countries.
