Sallarès holds a PhD in physics and, since 2012, has been conducting his research at the ICM in the field of marine geosciences.
The physicist Valentí Sallarès is the new director of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM) in Barcelona. Sallarès replaces Josep Lluís Pelegrí, who has headed the centre for the last four years. His achievements during this period include obtaining in 2020 the Severo Ochoa accreditation of excellence, which only about thirty research centres in Spain can boast.
The new director, deputy director of strategy in the previous directive team, takes on the challenges of maintaining excellence in scientific output, continuing to attract young talent and increasing the transfer of knowledge of the research carried out at the centre. The aim is raising public awareness of the importance of the ocean for the future of the planet and the urgent need to improve its state of conservation to ensure its sustainability.
"Assuming the leadership of the ICM in these difficult and convulsive times is a very important challenge that I face with energy and enthusiasm. The goal is to maintain our position as the leading marine research centre in Spain and in the Mediterranean in terms of scientific excellence and, at the same time, to increase the visibility and social return of our research and strengthen the links with the public, especially in our local and regional setting", points out Sallarès.
Professional career
Sallarès holds a PhD in physics and, since 2012, he has been conducting his research at the ICM in the field of marine geosciences. Specifically, his research focuses on the methodological development of seismic tomography and its applications in the study of the structure and processes that govern the evolution of subduction zones, with special emphasis on the generation of earthquakes and tsunamis, and extensional continental margins. He has also worked with geophysical and hydrographic methods to investigate ocean dynamics.
To date, the researcher has published around a hundred articles in prestigious journals and books, has given around 250 communications at international conferences and around thirty seminars and lectures at international research centres. He has also participated in more than thirty scientific projects financed by both public agencies and private entities, leading some fifteen of them. Finally, Sallarès has directed several oceanographic campaigns and is a member of the steering committee of the BlueNetCat Maritime Network and of the Catalan Council for Maritime Co-management of the Catalan Government, among others.
Another highlight of his career is having obtained, in 2020, the “Ciutat de Barcelona” Award from the Barcelona City Council for a research published in the journal Nature that proposed a new model that takes into account the variations in the elasticity of rocks in the behaviour of earthquakes, which allows improving tsunami forecasting.