Giovanni Sáenz-Arce

Giovanni Sáenz-Arce initiated his research journey by achieving recognition at the National Scientific Fair of Costa Rica in 1997, where he secured the Unique Prize for Scientific and Technological Innovation. Subsequently, in 1999, he the Alcatel Prize for Technological Innovation at the Central American Level for his unconventional techniques project related to chromosome banding. Following these accomplishments, he pursued studies at the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Physics and concurrently completing 90% of a Bachelor's degree in Meteorology. Upon graduation, he delved into academia and research, joining the Physics Department at the Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica (UNA), the same institution that granted him with a scholarship for postgraduate studies.
Then, he moved to the University of Alicante, Spain, where he completed his master's degree in Molecular Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, specializing in mechanical properties and electronic transport in nanocontacts at the University of Alicante, Spain. Subsequently, he obtained his Ph.D. in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology with European distinction with a thesis titled "Study of Atomic-Size Structures using a Scanning Tunneling Microscope with Force Resonant-Detection" in the group of Dr. Carlos Untiedt at the University of Alicante. In the course of his doctoral work, he designed and calibrated an SPM that allows simultaneous measurements of electronic transport and mechanical properties (adhesion force and energy dissipation) of nanostructures, under variable temperature conditions from 1.5 K to 300 K.
Dr. Sáenz-Arce expanded his expertise through research stays at institutions such as the Freie Universität Berlin, Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotrón (Campinas, Brazil), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Universidad de Valencia (Spain), and Universidad Nacional Autómona de Mexico (Mexico).
In 2012, he returned to Physics Department at UNA, achieving the rank of Associate Professor and contributing to the Industrial Materials Laboratory. Later, he coordinated the Applied Physics Research Program, establishing his own research group (https://sites.google.com/site/giovannisaenz/) with focuses on microfluidic device manufacturing for infectious disease diagnosis and the characterization of morphological, mechanical, and electrical properties of nanostructures using local probe microscopy techniques.
Currently, Dr. Sáenz-Arce is on leave from his home university (UNA) to join the DIANA group led by Dr. Jaime Colchero with a María Zambrano contract. The project overarching goal is to characterize functional nanomaterials through local probe microscopy, with applications in a new generation of opto-electronic devices based on micro and nanometric systems. Specifically, it involves the development of devices to measure mechanical, electrical, and optical properties simultaneously to evaluate efficiency and potential applications in emerging technologies.
In the realm of education, Sáenz-Arce has imparted courses at various institutions and supervised numerous theses at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. Additionally, he has coordinated the Research Program in Applied Physics and served as the general coordinator of the Doctorate in Natural Sciences for Development across three Costa Rican public universities (TEC, UNA, UNED) through www.docinade.ac.cr and lead the international accreditation process of DOCINADE.