Alejandro Martín Hobdey studied physics at the University of Manchester and obtained a PhD in nuclear physics at the University of Rochester, USA.  Following postdoctoral work at MIT on laser cooling and trapping of atoms, he was awarded a permanent position as Research Scientist in 1988 at the Instituto de Óptica in Madrid, and then went on to work on medical physics as a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School.  He has worked in several research programmes within DG Research since joining the European Commission in 1994, including the New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) initiative of Framework Programme 6.  He has participated in the setting up the European Research Council since its inception, having been the head of the Starting Grants Unit until 2012 and Head of the Call and Project Follow-up Coordination Unit until 2020.  He is currently head of the Physical Sciences and Engineering Unit within the Scientific Department.