Francisco
Julia Hernandez

Francisco Juliá-Hernández (FJH) is currently a Ramon y Cajal Fellow at the University of Murcia (UMU), where he leads his independent research on photocatalytic organic synthesis with Earth-abundant metals. FJH received his degree in Chemistry at UMU in 2007 and an MSc in 2008. Right after, he started his PhD studies in the group of Prof. Vicente at the same university. During his doctorate, FJH worked on the synthesis and catalytic applications of organometallic Pd(II) and Pd(IV) complexes. In 2009, he carried out a short stay at Sapienza University of Rome. In 2012, he received his PhD degree. His work on stable organometallic Pd(IV) complexes was very relevant and its impact surpassed the field of organometallic chemistry to catalytic organic synthesis. The quality of his results was recognized with various awards, including the Best PhD Thesis Award. In 2012, FJH left Spain to join the group of Prof Igor Larrosa as a postdoctoral research assistant at Queen Mary University of London (UK). In London, he capitalized on his experience in organometallic chemistry to acquire new knowledge of synthetic organic chemistry. This work, within the frame of an ERC StG, led to the publication of 3 research papers in JACS and ACIE. It is worth to highlight the direct arylation of (hetero)aromatics with a new class of ruthenium catalysts, which allowed for the first time the functionalization of aromatic C–H bonds without the need of directing groups that opened a new research line at Larrosa’s group. In 2014, he was awarded a COFUND postdoctoral grant (Marie Curie Action) to join the group of Prof Rubén Martín at ICIQ, where he worked on C–C and C–H bond functionalization and carboxylation reactions with CO2 in the frame of an ERC StG. At ICIQ, FJH published in the highest quality journals such as Nature, JACS and ACIE, receiving awards including X SusChem/RSEQ Awards, Thieme Journals Award and “La Vanguardia de la Ciencia”. FJH also participated in mentoring and supervising PhD students. Moreover, driven by his independent research interests, he was able to develop an independent project which resulted in his first corresponding authorship and a new line at the Martin’s group. In late 2018, FJH started his independent career at Stockholm University as an Assistant tenure-track Prof. In Sweden, he set up his independent research lab and recruited/mentored researchers (postdocs, MSc students), secured funding as an independent PI (4 projects, >500k€) to start a research program on sustainable photocatalytic organic synthesis. He was awarded a Starting Grant in 2019 (Swedish Research Council), the most prestigious grant for early-career independent researchers, which directly entitled him to a promotion to Associate Professor. In 2020, FJH received a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship and moved back to UMU, where he is currently developing his independent research program, supervising several TFG and TFM students, and a PhD student. His research has received support with 3 national research grants (>300k€, FJH as sole PI) and an FPI contract, as well as funding from UMU. FJH has attended several international conferences, some of them as invited speaker, and he has been invited as a speaker to international research institutions. He has organized the 2023 JIQ-RSEQ symposium. FJH has done teaching and supervision in three different countries, is a member of the board of Frontiers in Chemistry, and has collaborated with researchers worldwide.