Francesc X. Llabrés i Xamena (Xesc) earned his PhD in Chemistry (2000) at the University of the Balearic Islands working under the supervision of Prof. C. Otero on the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of zeolites. Following postdocs at the University of Turin (Prof. A. Zecchina), Polimeri Europa, and the University of Padua (Prof. G. Granozzi), he joined the ITQ in 2004 (Profs. A Corma and H. Garcia) as a Ramón y Cajal Fellow.

In 2010, he became a Tenured Scientist of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at ITQ. His current research focuses on the synthesis and applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), particularly in heterogeneous catalysis.