María V. Morales has been a Tenured Lecturer in Chemical Engineering since 2024 and is a Senior Researcher under the "Ramón y Cajal" Excellence Program at UNED (Spain). She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry (UNED, 2017, extraordinary doctorate award and international mention), a master’s degree in Chemical Science and Technology (UNED, 2012), and a Bachelor of Engineering in Industrial Chemistry (UPM, 2009). After a brief period in industry, Dr. Morales began her research career in 2012 through the Spanish Society of Catalysis (SECAT) fellowships, followed by a competitive FPI-UNED grant for her doctoral studies, which included a research stay at the University of Porto (Portugal).
Post-Ph.D., she held positions at UNED, CEMHTI-CNRS (France) as part of an ERC-funded project, and ICP-CSIC (Spain) through a "Juan de la Cierva" fellowship. Her research focuses on heterogeneous catalysis and reactor design, with a particular emphasis on the development of non-noble metal nanoparticles supported on nanostructured carbon materials for catalytic applications. Currently, she is particularly interested in hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived molecules to synthesize high-value-added compounds and biofuels. Dr. Morales has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in Q1 journals and has supervised three Ph.D. theses (one completed and two ongoing). She is a member of SECAT.
Inmaculada Rodríguez-Ramos (B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemical Sciences, University of Granada, 1981; Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences, 1984, University of Granada with Prof. Moreno-Castilla; postdoctoral fellow at Cambridge University with Prof. JM Thomas, 1985-1986, at the University of Alicante with Prof. Rodríguez Reinoso, 1987-1988, and at the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry with Prof. JL García-Fierro, 1989) is a Research Professor at the Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica (ICP-CSIC) in Madrid, where she leads the Group for Molecular Design of Heterogeneous Catalysts. Her research focuses on understanding surface reactions at the atomic-molecular scale to optimize catalyst performance. Currently, she develops nanomaterials and chemical processes for energy and environmental applications, emphasizing sustainable production of chemicals and fuels. Her work includes CO2 valorization to liquid fuels and methane, as well as the preparation and functionalization of carbon nanomaterials, such as nanotubes and graphene oxides, as catalyst supports. She has participated in 30 R&D projects funded through national and international public calls, serving as principal investigator in 20 of them. She has also been the lead researcher for research contracts with various companies. She has supervised 20 doctoral theses and has published approximately 280 articles in international JCR journals, along with 25 chapters in collective books, accumulating a total of 9,000 citations.
Prof. Antonio R. Guerrero Ruiz studied Chemistry at the University of Granada (1975-1980) and received his PhD in 1983, performing research in the field of carbon supported nanoparticles (Fe, Ru) applied as catalysts of CO hydrogenation to hydrocarbons. By three postdoctoral positions: at the CNRS-Marseille (1984-85), where learns about microcalorimetry of chemisorption; at the CNRS-Lyon (1986), where acquired expertise on catalytic surface reactivity on metal oxides, and at the university of Alicante (1987-88), where developed bimetallic catalysts supported on activated carbons; he has completed his proficiency in chemistry reactions at solid surfaces. From 1989 he has been at the UNED-Spain firstly as Associate Prof. and from 2006 as Full Prof. of Inorganic Chemistry. He is an international referent in applying carbon materials (including graphenic and carbon nanotubes) as free metal catalysts or as supports of metallic nanoparticles. In his research studies, he has introduced surface reactivity tools to understanding the chemical steps occurring on the heterogeneous catalysis processes, such as studies using Isotopic Labelled reactants or operating Temporal Analysis of Products reactors or performing calorimetric experiments to evaluate the adsorptive-surface interactions. He has published more than 300 scientific papers with nearly 10.000 citations. He has educated more than 25 PhD students and collaborated with more than 100 researchers from up to 16 countries.
