Position: Coordinators of the project

Nieves Lorenzo has a Bachelor in Biochemistry Degree from University of Barcelona (UB) and a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Research from University Pompeu Fabra (UPF). After different internships and working positions in Europe, such as a microbiological production startup in Belgium and a Forest Research Institute in Finland, she started to work at the CRG in 2012. Now she is carrying on her PhD project at the CRG, in the laboratory of professor Gian Gaetano Tartaglia on his Gene Function and Evolution laboratory. Her main scientific interest resides in better understanding biochemical mechanisms of toxicity in neurodegeneration, e.g. in Parkinson’s or Alzheimer diseases.

Soledad Pérez began her research career in 1998 when she was awarded a scholarship by the European Community under the Latin America Academic Formation program to work as a postgraduate fellow at the department of Clinical Biochemistry at St. Bartholomew’s and the Royal London School of Medicine and Biochemistry at Queen Mary and Westfield College in London. Upon completion of her postgraduate fellowship, she started her doctoral research at the department of Oral Cell Biology, Academic Centre of Dentistry (ACTA) in Amsterdam. In 2006 she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the department of Oral Cell Biology at the Free University in Amsterdam. After this, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Tissue Regeneration at the University of Twente in The Netherlands. In 2007 she joined the departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology at Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam as a postdoctoral research fellow. Finally, in 2012 she joined the Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies Group at IBEC. Her research interests include the design of scaffolds and their interaction with cells in in vitro as well as in vivo settings.

• Degree in Chemistry.
• PhD by University Rovira and Virgili.
• Researcher ICIQ’s scientific outreach programme manager.
• Scientific interest in molecular photovoltaic devices and polyurethane.

• MSc in Physics by Università degli Studi of Milan.
• PhD in Photonics by Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC); UPC Special Doctoral Award.
• Part of ICFO KTT team led by Dra. Silvia Carrasco, coordinator of many of the outreach activities organized by ICFO.
• Organizer of the Young Photonics Congress, a scientific congress for high-school students that has reached already its fourth edition.
• Co-organizer of the BIG Bell Test, a worldwide citizen science experiment that involved more than 100 scientists and 100.000 people around the world.

Marta García-Matos is a physicist, mathematician, and writer. At ICFO’s outreach team, she is in charge of interdisciplinary programs involving people some way or another into science and light. She has designed exhibitions and workshops for Barcelona Science Museum CosmoCaixa, organizes annually the speculative fiction contest The Light on the Waves, and has recently published, together with ICFO’s director Lluis Torner, the book The Wonders of Light (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Silvia Carrasco (PhD, MBA) is director of the KTT Unit at ICFO since 2006, and was awarded with the “Fem Talent” award in February 2013. She is also vice-president of the Spanish mirror of the European Platform Photonics21, a Member of the Board of SECPhO, the Southern European Cluster in Photonics and Optics, and the founder of the “From Science to Business” Program that ICFO has launched in 2008 jointly with ESADE Business School, to promote the entrepreneurial spirit among young scientists.

Ferran Sancho obtained his Chemistry degree in 2013 followed by a Master’s degree in Theoretical Chemistry and Computational Modelling in 2015 at the University of Barcelona (UB). He is currently carrying on a PhD project at Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) in the Life Science department. His open investigation lines are oxidoreductases catalysis, mainly flavoproteins and laccases, and the designing of new variants for industrial eco friendly applications.

Gerard Santiago obtained his Biochemistry degree by University of Barcelona (UB) in 2013, and a Bioengineering Master by Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS) in 2015. He is currently a PhD candidate in Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS). His scientific career revolves around different levels of Green Biotechnology, such as: new enzyme discovery for industrial applications in extreme environments, production of high-value compounds on eukaryotic strains grow it in waste materials and enzyme design (focused on oxidoreductases) for eco-friendly industry.

Celia Santos graduated in Biology from at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and studied a Master’s in Genetics and Cell Biology at the same center. While at the UAM, she workded in José Fernández Piqueras’ lab (Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa) addressing non-coding (miRNAs) loci underlying genetic susceptibility to T-Lymphoblastic lymphoma. She is currently doing her PhD in Genetics in Marco Milan’s lab at IRB Barcelona, studying the role of microRNA machinery in growth regulation in Drosophila melanogaster. She has participated in various science and research activities with young students at IRB Barcelona and in secondary schools and has been involved in workshops for the general public.

Núria Ros has a Bachelor in Biotechnology (University of Vic) and a Master in Biomedical Research (Pompeu Fabra University). Since 2014, she is a PhD student in evolutionary biology trying to unravel the origin of animal multicellularity by studying a unicellular relative of animals. She has been involved in several projects to try to better understand this organism continuing her formation with microscopy courses and a stage at Harvard University. Besides this, during all these years she has complemented her scientific career with several outreach and teaching activities, always trying to engage the general public and especially future students with interest for sciences.