The open and dissemination-oriented meeting will gather well-known researches and institutional representatives to celebrate ICMol anniversary for another year. The centre, funded in 2000, is dedicated to research and was recognised as a ‘María de Maeztu’ Excellence Unit by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in 2015.

This year’s conference pays tributes to professors Ignacio Nebot and José Sánchez, who are now retired after working in the ICMol as researchers. The event will be inaugurated by Carlos Hermenegildo, vice-principal for Research of the Universitat de València, Andrés García Reche, executive vice-president of the Valencian Innovation Bureau (AVI), Francisco Tomás, emeritus professor of the Universitat de València, Javier Quesada, Jaume I Foundation CEO, and Eugenio Coronado, ICMoI director – he will assess both the discipline and the centre.

It is remarkable that the Institute has now 7 grants from the European Research Council (ERC): 3 Consolidator grants, 3 Starting grants and 1 Advanced Grant. Thus, it is made up of a dozen researchers from the ‘Ramón y Cajal’ programme and a ‘Beatriz Galindo’ senior grant to attract new foreign talents. The ICMoI holds one of the UCIE (Scientific Unit of Business Innovation) from the Valencian Innovation Bureau (AVI) promoting knowledge exchange within the business fabric in Valencia.  

On this occasion, the conference will deal with different aspects of the research on the links between quantum chemistry and neuronal networks, 2D materials and its applications in technology, as well as the usage and value of molecular nanoscience in biomedicine. To do so, three well-known scientists will take part in the conference. The French scientist Jean Paul Malrieu, one of the most important quantum chemists in his generation, Hermenegildo García, who received the Rei Jaume I Award of New Technologies in 2016, and Ramón Martínez, who received it in 2018. Francisco Tomás Vert, emeritus professors in the Universitat de València, and Manuel Yáñez, professor in the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, will open the conference.

The event will start at 9:00 a.m. and finish at 4:00 p.m. with a round table on the Present and Future of Quantum Chemistry and Technologies. Nathalie Guihéry (Université Paul Sabatier-Toulouse), Otilia Mó (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Patricia Contreras (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Alejandro Gaita-Ariño (Universitat de València) will be present in the conference, and Alba Cervera (Barcelona Supercomputing Center) will participate from distance.

The conference will take place in the Assembly Hall of the Research Institutes in the Science Park of the Universitat de València (Burjassot-Paterna Campus).