Alza, Esther
Esther Alza studied Chemistry at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), where she also obtained her Master’s degree in Synthesis and Catalysis. She completed her PhD in Organic Chemistry (European Doctorate) at URV–ICIQ in 2011 under the supervision of Prof. Miquel A. Pericàs.
After postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge (UK) as a Wellcome Trust Fellow (2012–2014), where she worked in medicinal chemistry and enabling technologies for drug discovery in the areas of anticancer and antibacterial research, she returned to ICIQ to further develop her research in catalysis and flow chemistry. Between 2016 and 2021, she led the ERTFLOW Unit at ICIQ, focusing on continuous flow technologies for pharmaceutical and fine chemical applications, as well as on technology transfer and industrial collaboration.
In 2020, she co-founded Treellum Technologies and in 2022 Alza & Associates, where she currently serves as CEO. Since 2024, she is also affiliated with the Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry at URV. Her work spans scientific consultancy, advanced research, photochemical reactor technologies, and the development of automated and high-throughput experimental platforms.
Her research interests focus on catalysis, flow chemistry, reaction engineering, and the integration of emerging technologies into chemical processes. She has co-authored numerous scientific publications and patents and actively contributes to bridging academic research with industrial innovation.
Pericàs, Miquel A.
Miquel A. Pericàs was born in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) in 1951. He studied Chemical Engineering (Institut Químic de Sarrià, 1974) and Chemistry (University of Barcelona 1974) and obtained his PhD (University of Barcelona) in 1979. After postdoctoral studies at the Spanish Research Council (1979-1980), he joined the Department of Organic Chemistry of the University of Barcelona in 1980 as an Associate Professor, being promoted to Full Professor in 1991. In 2000 he was appointed as the Founding Director of the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), a position he held until September 2020. He has been a Group Leader at ICIQ till March 2022.
He is now an "ad honorem" professor at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, a permanent academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (2022), a member of Academia Europaea (2021), and a founding partner of Alza and Associates Sustainability Consulting.
The major research interests of Miquel A. Pericàs have been focused on enantioselective catalysis in batch and flow with species immobilized onto polymers and magnetic nanoparticles, and on the discovery of new reactions mediated by light.
