The new dean’s team is composed by Begoña Milian (vice-dean for Degree Entry and Employability), Iolanda Porcar (Studies), Rafael Ballesteros (International Relations and ICT), Mª José Ruiz (secretary of the Faculty), Teresa Albelda (Mobility’s coordinator), Juan Modesto Clemente (First course’s coordinator), Jorge Verdú (second course), Miriam Beneito (third course), Amparo Sanz (fourth course), Marc Montesinos (degree coordinator), Rosendo Pou (double degree Physics-Chemistry), José. A. Sáez (director of the Master’s Degree in Chemistry), Alicia Monleón (coordinator of External Internships and Dual Mention), Carlos Gómez (coordinator of Undergraduate Degree Final Projects) and Daniel Tordera (coordinator of Innovation).

Rafael Ibáñez spent three years at the Laboratoire de Chimie du Solide, University of Bordeaux I, for his doctoral thesis, which he read at the Universitat de València in 1984. He has collaborated in a total of 45 research projects (19 as principal investigator) and 34 contracts and agreements with companies (31 of them as responsible researcher).

The main research of the new dean has focused on the exploration of alternative synthesis routes for the preparation of materials by environmentally friendly methods. He is co-author of numerous publications in Materials Science journals and nine international patent filings.

He began his association with the Universitat de València in December 1984, teaching practical lessons at the University College of Castellón (today Universitat Jaume I). For more than 25 years he has been attached to the Institute of Materials Science of the Universitat de València, where he was secretary since its creation in 1995 and later director between 2002 and 2008.

He was course coordinator in the Faculty of Chemistry between 2012 and 2017, when he became coordinator of External Internships. He has been a member of the Faculty Board uninterruptedly since 2014 and of the Universitat’s Senate since its total renewal in 2021.

Ibáñez is a founding partner and scientific consultant of two StartUP companies (LaserFOOD and PersiSKIN) located in the Science Park, which develop their activity in projects linked to the sustainability of the post-harvest fruit sector. These companies have received support from various national and European projects, as well as a significant number of awards, including the 2013 Award for the Best European Project of the Valencian Community for the Laser-Mark project, from the EU Eco-Innovation programme. He received the IVACE award for Entrepreneurial Researcher in the European R&D Industry Project category.