About DDD

David Díaz Díaz was born in 1974 in Tenerife (Spain), where he studied Chemistry at the University of La Laguna (ULL). He obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the same university under the supervision of Prof. Víctor Martín. His doctoral research focused on the synthesis of natural products and the development of new synthetic methodologies using transition-metal complexes.

In 2002, he joined the research group of Prof. M. G. Finn as a postdoctoral researcher at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in San Diego (CA, USA), where he remained for four years. During this period, he worked in close collaboration with Prof. K. B. Sharpless (two-time Nobel Laureate in Chemistry). His research focused on formamidine chemistry, bioconjugation techniques, some of the earliest applications of “click” chemistry in materials science, and the development of functional polymers and soft materials.

Since 2006, he has held various positions in both academia and industry, including a Ramón y Cajal research position at the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain) and a position as Senior Chemist at the multinational company Dow (Materials Division), working in Switzerland and the Netherlands. In 2009, he simultaneously obtained a permanent position as Tenured Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and a position as Experienced Researcher of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of Regensburg (Germany). He joined the latter in January 2010, where he established his independent research group.

In 2013, he became the first Spanish scientist to be awarded a Heisenberg Professorship by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and was appointed Associate Professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy of the University of Regensburg. In 2017, he received Honorary Adjunct Professorships from Jiangsu University (China), through the Chinese Society for Advanced Materials, and in Nigeria, through the African Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative. He was also awarded Honorary Membership of the Argentine Society of Organic Chemistry, completed his German Habilitation, and obtained Privatdozent status (venia legendi) from the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy of the University of Regensburg.

In January 2020, he joined ULL as a Beatriz Galindo Senior Distinguished Researcher (Tenerife, Spain; €260,000), for which he took a leave of absence from his permanent position at CSIC. He was the first researcher at ULL to receive a Beatriz Galindo grant, which was one of only two grants awarded nationwide in the field of Organic Chemistry.

Among the international and national distinctions he has received are the Young Researcher Award, PNG (2014, Japan), the RSEQ Research Excellence Award (2021, Spain), awards from the International Association of Advanced Materials (2022 and 2026, Sweden), and the ULL Institutional Research Award (Senior category; 2024, Spain), ULL Institutional Internationalization Award (2025, Spain), among others. The impact and relevance of his scientific activities are also reflected in his continuous inclusion in recent years in Stanford University’s ranking of the world’s most influential scientists (top 2%).

At the end of 2023, he obtained a permanent position as Full Professor at ULL. He has also promoted numerous specific international collaboration agreements with universities in several countries, including Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Germany, Romania, and the United States. He is a member of several international scientific societies, including ACS, RSC, RSEQ, GDCh, and SSB.

Among his editorial activities, he was the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Gels from 2015 to 2024 and, since 2024, has served as a member of the Editorial Board of Soft Matter. In 2026, he also took on the position of Editor-in-Chief of The All Results Journals.

In the field of higher education, a substantial part of his teaching activity has been carried out in Germany, particularly at the University of Regensburg. He has also taught postgraduate courses in Chile, Argentina, Nigeria, China, France, and Italy. His laboratory has attracted a large number of students and academic researchers from more than 20 countries for research stays, internships, and undergraduate and Master’s thesis projects.

Throughout his career, he has participated in numerous international collaborative networks and has published 270 scientific papers, in addition to numerous book chapters and science communication articles. He has organized several national and international scientific conferences, and his current research focuses primarily on the development of advanced functional materials for applications in areas including biomedicine, catalysis, coatings, environmental remediation, sensors, and energy.

He currently also serves as Secretary of the “Antonio González” University Institute of Bio-Organic Chemistry, Director of the Nanotec-Intech-ULL facilities, and Secretary of the ULL Appeals Committee for Teaching and Research Staff Positions.