I decided to study Physics at the university because it was my favourite subject (along with mathematics and foreign languages) and then I started collaborating with research groups at the end of the studies.

I do not know if it was my first role model, but my four female cousins, which are older than me, were all in STEM: mathematics-physics, chemistry, engineering and informatics. For me it was quite all right to follow their lead.

In our institute we have an Equality Commission, which pursues to study the situation of the IMN and to act to improve it.

I love my work, and I cannot name one thing I am prouder of. From the different projects that come out at the end, to the formation of students, there are many things that make me feel that it is worth it and that my contribution is important.

As in any other work, you have to work hard, do your best and find places where you can learn new things (again, I will advise the same to a boy).

Hard working, multidisciplinarity, patience.

Develop applications with the materials and nanostructures I am working with that could reach the society.

I would like to continue in nanotechnology investigating novel applications, materials, etc. It is a work you do not get tired of, it evolves and changes almost every day.

I became interested in STEM in primary school, mainly I loved mathematics. In high school, I also discovered physics and chemistry, and I realized that I was genuinely interested in learning how our world works. After this, I decided to pursue a Physics Degree at the University. I did not have a strong formation in biology after university, as I chose a more technical path, but around 10 years ago I began learning it from online courses and I found it fascinating.

I was not aware of having a role model when I was young, but upon reflection, I realize that my parents had a huge influence on my decision to pursue a STEM career. My father had a technical background and job, and he was always happy to share and explain me things or help me with my homework from school. My mother could not access higher education due to family obligations linked to her status as a woman, so she had a very clear objective: that her daughters could study whatever they wanted and be independent. With these two inputs, I felt very free to choose a STEM degree and a scientific career that I liked without thinking too much about whether there were many women or not in it.

I should say that, in my youth, I did not know scientist except Marie Curie, but she was much more of an icon than a role model. Once I started my PhD, my thesis directors, Dr. Luisa González and Dr. Yolanda González (both women), became my role models. They taught me how to do science: to be patient, consistent, to design the experiments, to mount setups, to analyse results,… but mainly they showed me to find joy on the scientific process and in sharing knowledge and understanding. In the recent years, I am also inspired by my colleague, Dr. Sahba Mobini, which has a strong passion for science and learning, and she is always able to transmit me her enthusiasm. I really appreciate her strength to be consistent and original, and her ability to always extract something good out of every situation.

I participate in the Equality Committee of my Institute (https://imn.csic.es/igualdad/), and we collaborate in a cooperative commission with others Equality Comittees of CSIC Institutes located in CSIC+UAM campus. Together, we have organized and participated in very interesting and formative courses about how to consider the gender perspective in science and engineering, and we have implemented an outreach activity to highlight and publicize the women who have won Nobel Prizes in Science: “Escape Road: In Search of Nobel and Non-Nobel Women Scientists”.

I feel proud of all the team work that I have developed, of all the joint efforts to write a project, make an experiment work or understand some new results. For me, the pleasure of sharing and achieving a common goal with your team (students, supervisors, colleagues,…) is very rewarding.

I would repeat the same advice that I gave for the girls and women that want to follow their studies in my sector: Go for it, because it is worth it, and try to find mentors and colleagues that can help you to achieve your goals. Moreover, consider that your input may be needed to provide a team with all the needed (or at least several and diverse) points of view to face a problem in a more complete way and therefore to find a better solution.

I believe in doing science to help our society and to help the others; in listening all the points of view and sharing knowledge and curiosity as a way of making the world more understanding and inclusive; and in the big pleasure of learning every day.

I aim to consolidate my research line on electrical stimulation, and to help developing experts in this field. I would like to continue feeling the passion of learning new things every day, and to be able to share it with the new students and colleagues. I also would like to have more participation in committees related with diversity, equity and inclusion.

I will continue to work as a scientist at IMN, and I hope that by them my research group, that it is now quite young, will be consolidated.