Ramón y Cajal Fellow at the Institute of Space Science (ICE-CSIC). He obtained his PhD on Space Sciences by University of Barcelona (UB), and has performed research in astrophysics and extrasolar planets in the United States (Carnegie Institution for Science), Germany (University of Goettingen), and the United Kingdom (Queen Mary University of London), where he still currently holds a honorary Readership (equivalent to Associate Professor).

His most known work is leading the team that discovered Proxima b, the nearest exoplanet to the Solar System. This milestone achievement was quoted as one of the major discoveries of the year, and even the decade, and it made him appear in Nature's 10 most influential scientists of 2016 and the Time 100 list of 2017, among other recognitions.

He has also led public communication campaigns, and often participates with science communication institutions abroad. He is one of the founders of the Sustainable Offworld Network, which is a community of academics and professionals devoted to exploring concepts for the long-term and sustainable human presence in space.