Juan Morante: an energetic man

By Matin Durrani

Juan Morante, who’s boss of the Catalonian Institute for Energy Research (IREC), visited the headquarters of IOP Publishing, which publishes Physics World, late last year. Morante has also just taken up the reins as the new editor-in-chief of the Journal of Physics D and was here to discuss everything about the journal, from commissioning and peer review to design and marketing.

I caught up with Morante to discuss his work at IREC, which was founded in 2009 and now employs 135 staff, roughly 40% of whom are physicists, with the rest being chemists and engineers. The institute focuses on three big areas: materials for energy systems, power electronics and bioenergy.

Morante, who has co-authored more than 500 scientific papers and supervised some 35 PhD students, enjoys energy research because, as he explains, it involves finding ways to supply “cheap, abundant energy that’s guaranteed for ever”. But as he adds, we also need to find ways to store that electrical energy, which is sure to keep researchers like him – and the many he works with – busy.