1. Scientific contributions

In the last ten years, I have gained international recognition as a leading expert on the neural basis of WM and, as such, I am regularly invited to world-class workshops and conferences. I am within the 2% of science-wide top-cited scholars, according to the 2021 update of standardized citation indicators by Ioannidis et al PLoS Biology 2020 (DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.3). My primary expertise is on the computational basis of cognitive function (WM, attention and decision making), which I have recently consolidated by confirming mechanistic predictions of realistic neural network models with direct interrogation of monkey single-neuron data (refs. 2,6,7,8,9,10, below) as well as EEG and TMS experiments in humans (1,2). In addition, I have gained a reputation in the emerging field of computational psychiatry. This is not only due to my efforts in applying computational models to understand the link between biological mechanisms and psychiatric symptoms (3,5,7,10), but also to the diversification of my methods and the generation of new behavioural data in patient studies that creatively interact with computational models (3,4,5). This work represented a completely new research line in my lab to experimentally test WM deficits in schizophrenia and aNMDARE, which I successfully initiated by mastering new methodologies and by establishing fruitful collaborations in the neurology and psychiatry departments at Hospital Clínic. By adding neural-level experimental methods to my portfolio (intracranial recordings, EEG source reconstructions, MRS, DTI), MEMHIST forges a new research line that combines my various areas of expertise and enables the investigation of the detailed neural networks in human cognition that are relevant to disease.

2. Broader societal impacts

In the last 10 years, I have been actively participating in popularizing science events. I highlight here collaborations with the CCCB museum in Barcelona (brain data workshop within the "Big Bang Data" special exhibition in 2014), yearly lectures in high schools in the framework of the Brain Awareness Week since 2015, participation with workshops in the STEAM-Anella event at the Olympic Stadium for ca. 2 000 high-school students (2019 and 2020), and the 1st prize in the category "Physics and Society" in the Spanish "Science on Stage" fair for a project on brain-related experiments for scientists to run in primary schools.

3. Mentoring

I was nominated by my mentees to the 2020 FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence Mentoring Prize. Since 2011, I have supervised eight postdocs (two women) and nine doctoral students (five women) in my lab. Two of my trained postdocs have a permanent position in academia (Alexander Roxin, principal investigator at the Centre for Mathematical Research (CRM), Spain; and Rita Almeida, senior research engineer at Stockholm University Brain Imaging Centre), while another of my postdocs is in tenure-track post (Klaus Wimmer, principal investigator at the CRM). Another postdoc transitioned to an industry position in a brain-machine interface start-up and another one reoriented towards the health-care sector. The rest are still in the lab, two of  them applying for academic positions. All five doctoral students that have graduated from my lab since 2011, have continued to postdoctoral positions at prestigious institutions (Champalimaud Foundation, INSERM-Bordeaux Neurocampus, Universidad Católica de Chile, Ecole Normale Supérieure (x2)), and have remained committed to an academic career in neuroscience except for one, who secured a teaching position. In addition, I have also tutored 13 Master’s theses (at various universities, including University of Amsterdam, Technical University of Munich and every university in Barcelona) and 10 Bachelor’s theses since 2011.