PhD in Theoretical Physics (with distinction) from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, 1991.
Fulbright postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA, 1993 - 1994.
Currently, full professor of Applied Mathematics at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and founder of the research group GISC in (1996).
Associated researcher of the Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Universidad de Zaragoza.
His research deals mostly with the applications of the physics of complex systems to social and biological sciences; he has contributed to the advancement of different fields, from economics to condensed matter physics through ecology and theoretical computer science. During his career he has obtained relevant results for the different communities interested. Examples include a counterexample of the localization theorem that was later implemented in a semiconductor superlattice, a general theorem on the absence of phase transitions in one dimension, the largest experiments ever carried out on cooperation on networks, the mathematical demonstration of the existence of Dunbar circles in personal relationships and of a counterpart of the circles in nonhuman primates, or the experimental measurement of the evolution of social norms. He is an active practitioner of Open Science, having led GISC at UC3M to receive a distinction as a Full Open Science group, and in Citizen Science, organizing a lab for behavioral experiments with more than 2000 participants; the lab runs experiments for his research and also for institutions such as the ISTC-CNR (Italy), Middlesex University (UK), or Central European University (Austria).
He has been the PI of some 21 projects, receiving funding from the European Commission, the Spanish government, the Madrid Regional Government, NATO, ESF, and the BBVA Foundation. He has collaborated with companies such as Repsol, Siemens-Gamesa or Zaro Transportation. He is a cofounder of the Universidad de Zaragoza spin-off Kampal Data Solutions S.L., where he is working mostly on developing Kampal Schools. He also collaborates with the company Evidence-based Behavior (eB2) in the design of games of social interaction to include in their app to promote personal wellbeing. He is an elected member to the Council and to the Executive Committee of the Complex Systems Society. He is also a member of the expert network of Fundación COTEC “Los 100 de COTEC” and codirector of their Behavioral Economy Lab. He is a member of the scientific council of Fundación Sicómoro.