Carlos Moreno Cruz

Carlos was born in Iznatoraf, a small town located in the province of Jaén in the south of Spain. After completing the Licentiate Degree in Chemistry at the University of Granada, he carried out his MSc studies in Biotechnology. Next, Carlos carried out his PhD studies under the supervision of Profs. Araceli G. Campaña and Juan M. Cuerva, synthesizing and characterizing the physical properties of heptagon-containing nanographenes. Shortly before finishing his PhD, he was awarded with a SNSF Spark Grant and joined Prof. Michal Jurícek Group at the University of Zurich in 2020. He carried out his postdoctoral research focusing on the preparation of novel carbon-based molecules with appealing topologies, Quantum Spin Liquids based on Phenalenyl radical and the synthesis and theoretical study of twisted peropyrenes. In 2022, Carlos joined the MOReFUN Group at the University of Granada with a Junta de Andalucía Postdoctoral Grant, being appointed as Ramón y Cajal Researcher in 2025. Since September 2023, Carlos is leading the SPIRANT project, seeking new spiroconjugated carbon-based systems with appealing optical and electronic properties.

Carlos is a passionate chemist, with interests in the synthesis of new carbon-based molecular materials and their experimental and computational characterization. He also has experience in the theoretical characterization of inorganic complexes and open-shell organic compounds.
Outside the lab, he used to play football and currently enjoys playing padel tennis and hiking in the mountains. He loves architecture and enjoys playing city building videogames and reading good sci-fi books.