Judit Oliver Meseguer (Guadassuar, Spain, 1986) carried out her PhD in 2015 under the supervision of Prof. Avelino Corma (Prince of Asturias Award 2014 for scientific and technical research) and Dr. Antonio Leyva at the Polythecnic University of Valencia. Her thesis received the Special Award of the Polytechnic University of Valencia in 2015. From 2016 to 2019 she joined the group of Prof. Miquel Salmeron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley, CA, US) with a DOE contract working in the in situ characterization of supported catalysts by synchrotron techniques. In 2019, she returned to the ITQ to work with Dr. Antonio Leyva. In January 2020 she received the Juan de la Cierva Incorporación Contract and in 2024 the Ramon y cajal contract. Her research focuses on the development and characterization of new heterogeneous catalysts applied to sustainable organic synthesis.
Virginie Lhiaubet-Vallet obtained her PhD in Chemistry from the Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse, France). In 2001, she was awarded with an Individual Marie Curie Fellowship to join the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, Valencia, Spain), where she is currently carrying out her investigation as a Research Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Her main research interests are focused on the interaction between light and matter (especially biomolecules) to obtain information on the molecular processes responsible for photosensitization and to design new photoprotection tools. Thereby, she develops projects that span the fields of photochemistry, photophysics and photobiology. She had the privilege of receiving the European Society for Photobiology Young Investigator Award in 2007. She has been an officer of the Society for Photobiology since 2019, and is chairing its Education and Training Committee since 2024. Since 2016, she has also been involved in the Executive Committee of the “specialized group of photochemistry (GRUFO)” of the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ).
Antonio Leyva-Pérez was born and grew up in Seville (Spain). He studied Chemistry at the University of Valencia. After that, he carried out the Ph.D. on heterogeneous catalysis under the supervision of Prof. Hermenegildo García (Jaume I Award 2016), at The Polythecnic University of Valencia. His thesis received the Special Award of the Polytechnic University of Valencia in 2006. After a short stay in the M.I.T. at Prof. Steven L. Buchwald´s (BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award 2015) laboratories, working in organometallics, he did post–doctoral studies in the Chemistry Department of The University of Cambridge at Prof. Steven Ley´s group (Arthur C. Cope Award 2018) working in the total synthesis of the complex natural products isobongregic acid and epyriculol. In 2008, he returned to the ITQ to work with Prof. Avelino Corma (Prince of Asturias Award 2014 for scientific and technical research). After receiving a Ramon y Cajal research contract in 2014, a Distinguished Research permanent position in 2016, and a Tenured scientist position in 2019, he works independently. Since 2023, he’s a Researcher Scientist. His main objective is to expend time with his wife and two children while enjoying chemistry research too.