Rocio Ranchal

Professor, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

She began her scientific career at the Department of Materials Physics at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) in 2000, focusing on the sintering of magnetic materials. From 2001 to 2002, she secured various grants, including one from the European Space Agency, to work at the E.T.S.I. Telecomunicación at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid on GaN-based devices for space applications. In 2002, she received a grant to pursue a PhD at UCM under the supervision of Profs. Eloísa López and Claudio Aroca, researching the magnetic and transport properties of permalloy/Gd multilayers and Co-doped LSTO perovskite heterostructures. A pre-doctoral stay in Prof. A. Fert’s group in France enriched my expertise. In 2004, she became an Assistant Professor, and in 2005, she received the “Jóvenes Investigadores” (Young Researchers) Prize in Experimental Physics from the Spanish Royal Physics Society (RSEF), and my PhD culminated in 2006 with honors (sobresaliente cum laude).

Since January 2021, she have been a Full Professor at UCM. Her current research includes voltage control of magnetization, surface acoustic waves, and the synthesis of magnetic materials for energy efficiency. she have supervised PhD and Master's theses as well as postdoctoral researchers, and have led five competitive research projects supported by national and local entities. Her work has involved contracts with industry and participation in European and national projects. she have co-authored more than 58 peerreview scientific articles and one patent. I actively engage in outreach and have held leadership roles, including being Director of the Revista Española de Física (Spanish Journal of Physics) published by RSEF, and Coordinator of the Degree in Materials Engineering at UCM from 2022 to 2024.