My professional life began when I graduated in Mathematics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in June 1990. After a couple of months when I was declared totally unfit for military service, I started my doctoral thesis under the supervision of Jaume Llibre, professor of Mathematics at the UAB. I completed the thesis on differential equations in the plane (Hamiltonian systems and polynomial foliations) in October 1995. Here you can see the doctoral thesis tree of the dynamical systems group at the UAB.

During my doctoral period, I was an associate professor at the Unit of Economic Analysis of the Department of Economics and Economic History at the UAB. I taught mathematics courses at the Faculty. I will always be grateful to my colleagues in the department for the many things I learned about research and the management of a university department. Not only that, from the close relationship with some professors in the department, I started a small adventure in research in mathematical economics and game theory. From this project, a sincere friendship was born with María Ángeles de Frutos, professor of Economics at Carlos III University of Madrid, which was cut short when she passed away in December 2012 after a long illness.

In October 1995, immediately after defending my PhD, I joined the Mathematics and Statistics Department at Boston University as a postdoctoral researcher for two academic years. Despite enduring one of Boston’s coldest winters in the 20th century in 1995, I found myself welcomed warmly by the community. Financial support for this endeavor came from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education. In Boston, I met Bob Devaney, who introduced me to complex dynamics, and Ziggy Nitecki at Tufts University, who graciously shared a stimulating problem on structural stability.

Upon the conclusion of my contract, I returned to Barcelona, securing a permanent position in the Unit of Economic Analysis (UFAE) at UAB. There, I taught microeconomics and industrial organization at the business school in Sabadell. Finally, in February 2003, I attained a permanent position in the (old) Department of Applied Mathematics and Analysis at the Universitat de Barcelona. However, during the academic years 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11, I took three years’ leave from UB to work in the Department of Computer Engineering and Mathematics at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sescelades Campus, in Tarragona. Since September 2011, I have resumed teaching at UB, now in the new Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. In February 2019, one month before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was promoted to Full Professor.

My work in mathematics is closely associated with two dynamical systems groups in Barcelona (UB and UAB), focusing on discrete and continuous dynamical systems generated by the iteration of functions or differential equations, respectively. However, over the past two decades, my work has primarily centered on Holomorphic Dynamics. Together with Núria Fagella as Principal Researcher, we have established a research group dedicated to this field. We investigate discrete dynamical systems generated by the iterates of a holomorphic function in the complex plane. Additionally, we organize a weekly seminar at the Universitat de Barcelona and biennially host the Topics in Complex Dynamics school, a prominent meeting in the field of holomorphic dynamics, since 2005.

In November 2014, I was elected President of the Catalan Mathematical Society for a four-year term. The executive committee included Enric Ventura (Vice President, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), Iolanda Guevara (Assistant Vice President, secondary school teacher), Natalia Castellana (Treasurer, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), and Albert Ruiz (Secretary, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). My tenure ended in February 2019.

In March 2020, I was elected director of the Fundació Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer, dedicated to the memory of the Catalan mathematician Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer (1912-1967), the most prominent Catalan mathematician of his time despite his severe disability. In July 2022, I assumed the position of director of the Institute of Mathematics at the University of Barcelona.

Catalonia boasts a robust structure of organizations dedicated to promoting mathematics, including the Graduate School of Mathematics, the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, the Institut de Matemàtiques at UB, and the Institute of Mathematics of UPC-Barcelona Tech. In summary, Barcelona offers an attractive environment for mathematical research, particularly in dynamical systems.