Prof. Gustau Catalán earned his degree in Physics at the Universitat de Barcelona (1997) and his PhD in Physics at Queen’s University of Belfast (2001). He then took research positions at the Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (2002-2004, Mallorca), the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen, 2004-2005) and the University of Cambridge (UK, 2005-2009).

In 2009 he joined the former CIN2 as an ICREA Research Professor and leader of the Oxide Nanoelectronics (ON) Laboratory. Three years later he transferred his research to the then ICN. In 2012 he earned an ERC Starting Grant to set up in the world’s first laboratory devoted to nanoscale flexoelectricity.