Maria

A short biography

Dr. Maria Gimenez is Principal Investigator at CiQUS, Ramon y Cajal at the University of Santiago de Compostela and Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham. In 2006 she received her PhD from the University of Valencia working under the supervision of Prof Eugenio Coronado and Dr. Francisco M. Romero on multifunctional materials of interest in molecular magnetism. She then joined the Supramolecular Chemistry and Chemical Nanosciences Group of Prof. Neil Champness working as postdoctoral research fellow for almost three years. In 2009 she was awarded with a two-year Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship in the Nanocarbon Group of Prof. Andrei Khlobystov at the University of Nottingham. In 2011, she started her independent career as Royal Society Research Fellow and in 2015 she became Assistant Professor of Materials Chemistry in Nottingham. In 2018 she joined the CiQUS, launching her project ERC-STG NANOCOMP supported by the Oportunius Program (Xunta Galicia). She is currently coordinator of a strategic research group on Condensed Matter & Functional Materials (MAT2). The research in her group is currently focused on the development and functional characterisation of hybrid metal-carbon nanostructures for spintronics and energy-related applications.

In the last 10 years her studies have included a number of firsts, including (i) the first demonstrations of a molecular rhombus tiling (Nat. Chem. 2012), a supramolecular bilayer at a surface (Nat. Chem. 2011) and unusual nanoribbons inside carbon nanotubes (Nat. Mater. 2011); (ii) the encapsulation of single molecule magnets (Nat. Commun. 2011); (iii) the controlled assembly of preformed magnetic nanoparticles (Angew. Chem., 2013,) and exploitation of electrochemical nanoparticles (Adv. Mater. 2016, ChemSusChem 2021) in hollow carbon nanostructures. She has discovered a new type of supramolecular fluid (PCT/ES2021/070659, ES2797556 Angew.Chem. 2021) and established a new catalyst technology (PCT/ES2021/070649, ES2796448) offering a unique opportunity to address recyclability & sustainability for cost-effective electrochemical technologies. She has directed four doctoral thesis at the University of Nottingham and 12 MSc theses. She has participated in 15 research projects (11 as PI).

During these years she has been granted different fellowships and awards: Spanish Ministry of Education and Science Undergraduate Fellow, Extraordinary award for highest Degree in Chemistry, Regional Government Fellowship for Doctoral Studies, Marie Curie Intra-European Research Fellowship, Royal Society DH Research Fellowship, ERC Starting Grant-NANOCOMP, Ramon y Cajal contract and a ERC PoC Grant-ZABCAT. In recognition of her multidisciplinary achievements, Maria was awarded in 2012 with a very prestigious prize (Emerging Investigator Award 2012) by the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry for outstanding and novel research (covered in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2012, 51, 51). In 2016 and 2017 she became Emerging Talent SRUK/CERU Award finalist for the impact of her studies on the development of materials chemistry using carbon nanostructures.

Download CV

International Group on Multidisciplinary Research

Meet the Group

 
Post-Doctoral Researchers

Carlos Herreros-Lucas

Carlos was born in León, Spain. He obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Universidad de Oviedo. He carried out an international placement at University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, thanks to the Erasmus program in which he had his first experience with the nanoworld. Indeed, his research project involved metal nanoparticles in hollow carbon nanofibers, which lead into his postgraduate studies about the development of hybrid carbon nanostructures for energy-related applications. In his spare time, he likes to travel and to learn computer programming.

Gustavo Rama Martínez

Gustavo obtained his B. Sc in Chemistry from University of Santiago in 2007, during his M. Sc. he worked in the development of new synthetic N-donor coordinating aminoacid suitable for the synthesis of metallopeptides. He completed his Doctoral Thesis in 2014 working on the application of supramolecular structures, based on metallopeptides, to recognize specific sequences of B-DNA. He was awarded a postdoctoral Fellowship from Xunta de Galicia in 2015 to carry out his research about gamma-peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) in the Carnegie Mellon University (PA, USA). He joined his former group in 2017 as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2018, he received a fellowship with economic support from Xunta de Galicia to continue his work in obtaining new DNA binders as diagnostic and therapeutic tools. He joined María Giménez-López group as an associate researcher in 2020 to synthetize N-donor ligands. He loves cycling and outdoor sports in his free time.

Víctor Leborán Alvarez

Víctor obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Universidad de Santiago in 2016. During last decades as a researcher he has participated in different projects of many fields, all of them mainly correlated with data analysys or image processing, but also some of them related with hardware automation. The following should be noted: Design of new thermoelectric devices based on films, 2D thermoelectrics, environmental management in wind farms, wind data analysis, inspection for detecting damage for the aeronautical, naval and railway industry (Hipatia project). Study of the premotor ventral cortex in the LANCON neuroscience Laboratory. And detection of the vascular caliber on retinal angiography.

Pre-Doctoral Researchers

Melanie Guillén-Soler

Melanie received her B.Sc. in Chemistry (2017) from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). In 2016, she received an Erasmus scholarship to study the fourth year at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Erlangen, Germany. The summer of 2017 she joined the research group of Dr. Francisco Fernández-Trillo at the University of Birmingham, as a Summer Fellow. She obtained the M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry (2018) from the UAM under the supervision of David González Rodríguez working on "Non-covalent synthesis of bicomponent self-assembled nanotubes". She is currently a Ph.D. student working on the development of sustainable hybrid nanocarbon materials for energy-related applications. Out of the lab, she likes running, travelling, and spending time in nature.

Marcelo Osorio-Celis

Marcelo is from Colombia and he has been living in Spain during last years. He received a B.Sc. in Chemistry with honours from Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), where he also obtained a M.Sc. in Advanced Chemical Research. He joined Dr. María Giménez-López group in July 2018 as a Ph.D. student. Subsequently, he received a three-year Ph.D. scholarship from Xunta de Galicia, and he is currently working on the functionalization of SMM (Single Molecule Magnets). He likes cooking, paddle and have a beer with friends.

Eugenia Pilar Quirós-Díez

Eugenia was born in Oviedo (1995) and she grew up in the same city. She received a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 2017 from the University of Oviedo and a M.Sc. in Organic and Inorganic Chemistry in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Félix Rodríguez and Prof. Francisco Javier Fañanás at the same university. She received a three-year Ph.D. scholarship from Xunta de Galicia and she is currently a Ph.D. student at University of Santiago de Compostela under the supervision of Dr. María Giménez-López.

Yolanda Sabater-Algarra

Yolanda was born in Novelda (Alicante), in 1995, where she grew up. When she finished high school, she moved to Barcelona, where she received a B.Sc. in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (2017) from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, and a M.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry and Introduction to Chemical Research (2018). She conducted her research under the supervision of Prof. Josep Sedó and Prof. Daniel Ruiz-Molina at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2). Yolanda is currently a Ph.D. student at University of Santiago de Compostela under the supervision of Dr. María Giménez-López

Lucía Vizcaíno-Anaya

Lucía comes from Málaga, Spain. She first joined the research group of Dr. María Giménez-López at CiQUS after being granted a summer fellowship in 2018. The following year she obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry from University of Málaga and decided to re-join the group to continue her studies. She received a M.Sc. in Chemical Investigation Research and Industrial Chemistry from University of Santiago de Compostela in 2020. She then received a 4-year Ph.D. scholarship from Spanish government. Her Ph.D. research project addresses the electrochemical characterization of redox active molecules inside carbon nanotubes that will function as model memory capacitors for memcomputing. She likes sports, music and travelling.

Noa Varela Domínguez

Noa obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry (2018) from Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. She then moved to Barcelona, where she received a M.Sc. in Advanced Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. During her master studies, she joined the group of Prof. Javier Rodríguez-Viejo, working on magneto-ionic effects in CoO thin films by pulsed-heating nanocalorimetry under the supervision of Dr. Aitor Lopeandia. Noa is currently a PhD student supervised by Dr. María Giménez and Prof. Francisco Rivadulla. Her research project is based on the development of thermal switches that can be externally controlled using different stimuli.

Glen Murray

Glen graduated with a Masters degree in Chemistry (M.Sci.) from University of Nottingham in 2014. Since then he has worked at Unilever making “reduced fat chocolate” and then at Catalent Pharma Solution as an Analytical Development Scientist. He joined Dr. María Giménez-López group for his 4th year project working on the synthesis and functional characterisation of iron complexes. He is currently a Ph.D. student based in Nottingham where Dr. Giménez is an Honorary Professor in Materials Chemistry. He enjoys playing rugby.

Master Students

Oscar Vicent Giner Rajala

Óscar obtained his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering in Málaga. He moved to Santiago de Compostela to study a M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and Biprocesses. He joined Maria Gimenez Group (2021) to collaborate in ZABCAT project (Proof of concept). He is currently collaborating with Dr. Héctor Rodríguez (Procesos de Separación Sostenibles, CRETUS) in his master's final project, that consists in the electrochemical characterization of hybrid materiales of redox active molecules and ionic liquids and it uses on energy storage. He likes sports, travelling and computers.

Diego Sánchez-Brunete

Diego was born in 1997 in Santiago de Compostela. He is studying his last year of the degree in Chemistry at University of Santiago de Compostela. He is currently on a research project at CiQUS focusing on the synthesis of coordination compounds with spin transition (SCO) under the supervision of Dr. María Giménez López, and in collaboration with the group of Prof. Miguel Vázquez López and Prof Eugenio Vázquez Sentís. He loves to play soccer, listen to music, travel and walk in natural places.

Research Management and Admin

Daniela Reggio

Daniela joined Dr. María Giménez-López’s group in 2020 to assist her in the management of research projects, accountancy, purchases and outreach activities. Daniela is completing her Ph.D. in Materials Science on Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) substrates application for the detection of small molecules from cultural heritage objects and technology transfer. She specialized on non-destructive methods for analysis of historical glass, metals, and building materials. After being awarded an abroad post-graduate scholarship, Daniela obtained a M.Sc. in Technology and Analysis of Archaeological Materials from University College London (UK) in 2014. She was trained at University of Rome ‘Sapienza’, obtaining B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage Conservation (2007 and 2011). Out of academia, Daniela worked as a heritage scientist consultant for international organizations, coordinating EU funded projects, and lecturing in Europe and South America. She a committed clown researcher, slow swimmer and fast eater.

Colaborators

José Manuel Vila Fungueiriño

Jose obtained a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Master in Materials Science and Technology from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC). In 2016 he completed the PhD in Materials Science as FPI fellow at the Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS) at USC under the supervision of Pr. Francisco Rivadulla working on the synthesis and characterization of epitaxial oxide thin films prepared by chemical solution deposition. In 2016 he joined the Institut d'Electronique et des Systèmes (IES, Montpellier, France) to integrate functional oxides nanostructures on silicon platforms by using soft chemical routes. Since 2019 he is associate researcher at CiQUS applying transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the structural and physical study of nanomaterials and in 2021 he was awarded with the “Juan de la Cierva-incorporación” grant."

Alejandro López-Moreno

Alejandro obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Universidad de Salamanca. He worked on the development of new technologies in the fluorination of steroids under the supervision of Prof. Francisco Bermejo in the Organic Chemistry Department, in collaboration with Crystal Pharma. He then joined the group of Dr. Emilio Pérez at IMDEA Nanoscience, Madrid, where he obtained his M.Sc. in Chemical Science and Technology in 2014 and the Ph.D. in 2017 working on the chemical modification of carbon nanotubes with pyrene derivatives. He joined the group of Prof. Naoki Komatsu at Kyoto University as a postdoctoral fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in July 2017. In July 2019, he joined the group of Dr. María Giménez-López as a postdoctoral researcher, where he was awarded with a prestigious ‘Juan de la Cierva’ Fellowship. He is now working at IMDEA.

Wide range of departmental and inter-departmental facilities

(including CIQUS and Nottingham Nanotechnology & Nanoscience Center facilities)

We would like to thank these organisations for their financial support.

Funding opportunities arise frequently, so if you are interested please get in touch and we will get back to you soon.