On the edge of obsession
Antonio Fernández Domínguez has joined POLIMA as an Otto Mønsteds Visiting Professor
Please meet Professor Antonio Fernández Domínguez for a talk about how he ended up being a Professor in Physics and why online meetings are not enough to establish meaningful collaborations.
By the end of my PhD, I was offered a postdoctoral position at Imperial College in London. So, I had to rush to write up my PhD thesis. I spent five years in London, and I think I could have stayed longer, but at that time my wife was pregnant with our second child and life in London with a family was too hard. It was my idea to spend longer abroad, but instead I applied for a tenure track program in to go back to Spain. I got the position and since then I have been in the same institution where I did my PhD. I know, it sounds quite endogamic, but the truth is that it is the best! The university has been the first in all the rankings for many years, so, it was natural for me to go to the best place I knew – back home.
How has your career developed?
Both my parents studied physics. From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to be a physicist. By the time, I finished school, I knew straight away that I wanted to go to this science building and study physics – I was super motivated. I was quite young (22 years) when I finished my studies at UAM and I was offered the opportunity immediately to start working in the physics department at UAM, where I did my PhD.By the end of my PhD, I was offered a postdoctoral position at Imperial College in London. So, I had to rush to write up my PhD thesis. I spent five years in London, and I think I could have stayed longer, but at that time my wife was pregnant with our second child and life in London with a family was too hard. It was my idea to spend longer abroad, but instead I applied for a tenure track program in to go back to Spain. I got the position and since then I have been in the same institution where I did my PhD. I know, it sounds quite endogamic, but the truth is that it is the best! The university has been the first in all the rankings for many years, so, it was natural for me to go to the best place I knew – back home.
”My life has been split between on the one side what I wanted to do scientifically and on the other side what I wanted as a father and a husband
I got married during the PhD, and we had children quite early at least for Spanish standards, so I didn’t have the freedom to move around like other of my colleagues. My life has been split between on the one side what I wanted to do scientifically – I want to say yes to any challenge - and on the other side what I wanted as a father and a husband, which is also challenging and exciting. But time is limited, and you can’t live two different lives. My wife has been tolerant and respectful, though also demanding at times. She has helped me greatly to handle things.
”I wouldn't say I'm excited, a lot of the time I am more obsessed because things don't work. But these are, to me, pleasant obsessions
What excites you as a researcher?
The most satisfying feeling is when what you have proposed in theory also works experimentally, but I must say that most of the time it's not that about excitement, it's more that I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed with the thing that is not working and there's always a small thing that is not working and then I go home, and I keep thinking about it and I'm very silent and my family knows that if I am more silent than usual, it's because I'm looking for something that is not properly functioning. It usually happens when things are almost there, then I get more dysfunctional with the rest of my life because I need to fix things. So, I wouldn't say I'm excited, a lot of the time I am more obsessed because things don't work. But these are, to me, pleasant obsessions.Why did you choose to become an Otto Mønsted Visisiting Professor at POLIMA?
During my postdoctoral period in London back in 2010/11, I started to work on nonlocal effects in plasmonics, which N. Asger Mortensen (Director of the POLIMA centre) was also working on. Asger was one of the pioneers in the field and I enjoyed interacting with him both personally and scientifically. Though I was a younger researcher than Asger, he has always treated me with respect, and I felt comfortable and appreciated next to him. I am very thankful to him for those interactions, which were important for my development as an independent researcher.After the stay in London, I didn't work that much on nonlocality anymore, but we kept in touch at conferences, and after the PhD defense of Elli Stamatopoulou, Christos Tserkezis and N. Asger Mortensen invited me for a longer stay at POLIMA. I decided to cease the opportunity, attracted by their excellent science, and because I get along very well with POLIMA researchers too.
How do you benefit from visiting POLIMA?
Because science and anything that has to do with knowledge, teaching and learning is super personal and I am very much against - and this comes both as a father and a scientist -online teaching, and tablets or computers instead of books. You learn much more when you meet with people personally where every look and the way you move your hands are part of the learning process. It's not just words; it's not just equations, it’s much more than that.It’s always super fruitful to meet people in person with time, quality time, not just between talks or in a coffee break during a conference. I try to apply this also with my students and postdoc; emails, online meetings, all that, it never works as good as in-person meetings.
So, although I know very well all the research that is carried out here, just being here for one month, I know that it will create bonds that are going to last not just next year but for a much longer period.
”I don’t think it is rocket science, you just need to understand it and then it doesn’t seem so difficult… at all
How do you think POLIMA benefits from your visit?
I think that the younger researchers benefit from meeting senior scientists from abroad. They probably know the scientist from papers and conferences but sitting next to them in a personal 1:1 meeting and talking to them as peers; that is different.And then I think I'm bringing knowledge to POLIMA about topics that the group is already working on, but they want to develop further. I don’t feel like an expert, but I believe that sometimes you just need somebody to open a door for you and then you will see new opportunities. I try to encourage and inspire because I don’t think it is rocket science, you just need to understand it and then it doesn’t seem so difficult… at all.
Furthermore, I am sure that there will be a lot of scientific papers coming out of our collaboration and I hope I will be able to send the students SDU POLIMA.
Facts
- Professor Antonio Fernández Domínguez has joined the POLIMA centre for 3 months in 2025/26 as an Otto Mønsteds Visiting Professor.
- Antonio Fernández Domínguez is currently employed as Professor Titular at UAM, Madrid Spain. He belongs to the Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, which is part of the Condensed Matter Physics Center, IFIMAC.
- Antonio Fernández Domínguez’ research is supported by:
- Otto Mønsteds Fond
- European Union’s Horizon Program (MIRAQLS) This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101070700
- Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities