Julen Larrucea

Current research

Feynman's famous observation made me curious enough to seek access to quantum computers and learn the field from the inside. Quantum computing is now my main research area, and I coordinate a large German federal project on the topic. The processor in the photograph looks impressive; most days, my actual instruments are still a keyboard and mouse.

Scientific foundations

Molecular model used in quantum chemistry research

For many years I worked in quantum chemistry, with projects in materials science, condensed-matter physics, and nanotechnology. That period gave me a solid publication record (H-index 8), including several single-author papers. The image shows one of the amino acids I studied during my PhD.

Scientific software

I have written software for scientific data analysis and post-processing, created the BOMSI OpenStack installer, and later joined the OpenStack Training Labs core team.

Earlier experience

Other work and interests that have accompanied my research.

Research

My research topics have included aluminium toxicity, phase-change materials, bismuth nanoparticles and biomimetic magnetic thin films, together with several independent international collaborations.

Linux & infrastructure

After years of programming molecular models and running large calculations on some of the world's largest supercomputers, computing skills came naturally. Add an extra geek factor and you get a GNU/Linux and open-source specialist.

Teaching

Teaching was never compulsory in my positions, but I chose to do it voluntarily. I taught General Physics to first-year physics students in Finnish and Python to industrial-engineering students in German, besides giving many conference talks.

Languages

I grew up bilingual, then lived in Finland and Germany. I have long been interested in linguistics and translation, including scientific writing and software localization; for example, I translated much of Avogadro into Basque.

About

Julen Larrucea at a Basque cultural event

I live in Bremen, Germany, and come from the Basque Country, where my roots remain strong. I am also a member of the Basque cultural association in Bremen.

Links

My current quantum chemistry and computing work lives at quantum.larrucea.eu, including MolQBench, an interactive dataset of benchmarks for quantum-computing calculations in quantum chemistry.

BOMSI was my OpenStack installer: the first with a graphical interface, able to create automated USB installers for complete multi-node environments.

Learning OpenStack led me to build tools that made it easier for others, and eventually to join the Training Labs core team.

My older blog on atomistic simulations and practical computing. Later work moved to code repositories, with documentation living alongside the code.

I have been a member of several Basque communities, including Suomitar, the Basque Country-Finland cultural association, which I joined in 2006. I co-authored the first Basque-Finnish dictionary with them and I take care of online issues as a volunteer.

I have founded and/or joined many music bands, from Pop-Rock to Death-Metal and fusion. I started as a guitarist, then moved to bass and later drums. I have always enjoyed writing songs with character. I am also deeply into traditional folk music, and in Germany I play and teach several traditional instruments.

Privacy Notice for the personal website of Dr. Julen Larrucea

Last updated: 2026-09-07

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