Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo

Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo is a physicist who has devoted most of his research career to study the epistemological foundations of biology, focusing on the problem of origins of life and its non-trivial chemical roots. After completing a PhD in Sciences (Complex Systems) at the UPV/EHU, he worked as a postdoc at the Centre for Astrobiology (Spain), Institute for Polymers at ETH-Zürich (Switzerland) and D. Biology of the University Roma Tre (Italy). His main scientific contributions have been in the elaboration of protocell models, both in vitro and in silico. This has reinforced a theoretical perspective according to which phase heterogeneity, molecular diversity and the functional coupling among various kinds of physical and chemical processes are key to understand the emergence and nature of biological phenomena. Ex-Ramón_y_Cajal Research Fellow in Humanities, he is currently full-time researcher of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), with a double affiliation: at the D. Philosophy, as a senior researcher of the IAS-Research Group (http://www.ias-research.net/), and also at the Biofisika Institute (Basque Excellence Research Centre), where he leads the Theoretical/Protocell Biophysics Lab  (https://www.biofisika.org/en/research/theoretical-protocell-biophysics-laboratory).

Contact: kepa.ruiz-mirazo@ehu.eus

Posts by Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo

Autonomy beyond the proto-cell: towards a ‘dialectical turn’ in origins-of-life research

14 December 2022

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