Prof. José Antonio Lozano, new Scientific Director of the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics - BCAM

• The researcher has been designated to lead the center for the next 5 years in an international call managed by Ikerbasque

An Evaluation Committee formed by members of BCAM’s Scientific Committee and Ikerbasque, the Basque foundation for science, has appointed Prof. José Antonio Lozano as the new Scientific Director of the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics. The international call opened for the position has received candidacies from Europe, Asia and America.

J.A. Lozano obtained a degree in Mathematics in 1991 and a degree in Computer Science a year later, both from the University of the Basque Country. After finishing his doctorate in 1998, he achieved a tenure position at the same university. In 2009 he became Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the UPV/EHU, where he has been leading the Intelligent Systems Group since 2004. Also, since 2014, he has been in charge of BCAM’s research line in Machine Learning.

His research has focused, among other areas, on Artificial Intelligence and particularly in the fields of data analysis and combinatorial optimization. In both fields his goal has been the development of methods and algorithms capable of giving answers to real world problems. In his extensive career as a researcher he has published more than a hundred articles in scientific journals, which have received more than 10,500 citations, he has directed 18 doctoral theses and has written two books. In addition, his international prestige has led him to be an associate editor of the most relevant journals in the area of Artificial Intelligence and to organize the international congresses with the greatest impact within the field. His concern for the practical application of research results has led him to sign numerous contracts with public and private entities aimed at using mathematics to solve their problems.

As BCAM’s Scientific Director, Lozano will be responsible for implementing the strategy and research program of the center, in the medium and long term, strengthening its position as a reference center in Applied Mathematics. In his appointment as Scientific Director he thanked the center’s previous leader, Prof. Luis Vega Gonzalez, for the "excellent" work developed in the center and he assured that his main motivation during the next 5 years will be "to continue improving and to make BCAM grow even more".