Gloria Platero, at her desk

Gloria Platero, researcher at the Materials Science Institute of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), part of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), has been elected as the chair of the Commission on Semiconductors (C8) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). She has been elected as one of the 9 vice-presidents of the institution and will be in charge from 2025 to 2027.

The Commission on Semiconductors (C8) was established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics in 1957 to promote the exchange of information and views among the members of the international scientific community in the general field of Semiconductor Physics.

Among its mandate, the C8 aims to promote the exchange of information and views among the members of the international scientific community in the general field of Semiconductor Physics; recommend Union sponsorship of international conferences that qualify for support under Union regulations; promote the free circulation of scientists; organize where feasible the award of medals or other testimonials of excellence in its field; publish where feasible newsletters, circulars, occasional books, journals or handbooks in its area; maintain liaison with other IUPAP Commissions, with the Commissions or Committees of other Unions or of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) or other scientific organizations; and, finally, make available to each General Assembly of the Union a summary of activities and progress in its field since the previous Assembly.

The new composition of the Executive Council received formal approval at the IUPAP General Assembly in October 2024. As a result, the new general president of the UIPAP is Silvina Ponce Dawson. The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) is the only international physics organization that is organized and run by the physics community itself. Its members are identified physics communities in countries or regions around the world.

The IUPAP was established in 1922 in Brussels with 13 Member countries and the first General Assembly was held in 1923 in Paris. It currently has 60 country members. The Union is governed by its General Assembly which meets every three years. The Council is its top executive body, supervising the activities of specialized International Commissions, Affiliated Commissions and Working Groups.

Platero leads the group 'New Platforms and Nanodevices for Quantum Simulation and Quantum Computation' at the Material Science Institute of Madrid, she also belongs to the University Institute Gregorio Millan on Nanoscience and Industrial Mathematics (Carlos III University of Madrid), and to the Quantum Technologies Platform at CSIC.

Her research is in Quantum Nanotechnologies. She investigates the theory of spin qubits in quantum dot arrays, their manipulation, and the transfer of quantum information in these systems for quantum computation purposes. She also investigates hybrid systems: superconducting cavities coupled to qubits, where photons are the flying qubits.

One of her main topics of research over the years is related to time periodic driven systems, the so-called Floquet engineering, theme highlighted by the EPS. In fact, together with her collaborators, she has developed a theoretical framework, Floquet-Bloch theory, to investigate Hamiltonians periodic in time and space. She and coworkers also investigate low dimensional topological insulators, the interplay between topology and driving and the role of topological edge states for the transfer of quantum information in different platforms, such as photonic crystals.