ICMM's Pilar López-Sancho, awarded with Winter 2021 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction for Women in Physics

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Great news at Material Science Institute in Madrid (ICMM-CSIC). Research Professor at our center Pilar López-Sancho has been awarded the Winter 2021 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction for Women in Physics, a prize given by the European Physical Society. They highlight "her contributions to the understanding of the electronic structure of low-dimensional materials", and add that this prize is also a "recognition of her continuous, tireless, and successful actions for the empowerment of women in physics.”

López-Sancho works in the Department of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics at ICMM. She studied at Universidad Complutense of Madrid and has been working for decades in what today is the ICMM, where she remained till today and where she is more than a renowned researcher. Kees van der Beek, Condensed Matter Division of the European Physics Society, has given her the diploma on November 21. 

The European Physical Society explains that López Sancho, a theoretical physicist working in the field of condensed matter systems, made her first important contributions by developing a new and fast method for the calculation of bulk- and surface electronic Green’s functions and transfer matrices. "It is a remarkable feat that this work remains of high actual value, being used by many groups around the world, and enjoying higher citations today than ever before", adds the society. In their opinion, this places her publications solidly in the 'evergreen' class, and demonstrates Pilar’s insight and acuity for choosing relevant problems.

Her scientific career has been very intense: she worked to apply her methods to metallic interfaces and dilute magnetic semiconductors and her most significant contributions are to the electronic structure and transport properties of low-dimensional carbon systems, according to the EPS. "Pilar thus performed groundbreaking work on the effect of the Coulomb- and spin-orbit interaction on electronic localization and spin-dependent transport in carbon nanotubes", says the verdict.

Recent works by López-Sancho, which have been highly noticed and much-cited, concerned the induction of localized states and magnetism by different types of topological defects in graphene, and the effects of the spin-orbit interaction on electronic transport in single-layer and multilayer transition metal dichalcogenides.

Not only science but female science

If the research career of Pilar López-Sancho is undisputed, so is her work about equality. EPS talks about an "impressive 'second career' as a never-tiring advocate for women in physics" because Pilar has been continuously active in the defense of women in physics, at all levels. In fact, in 2001, she was the co-founder of the Association of Women in Research and Technology AMIT, and was its President from 2009 to 2013. AMIT, a member organization of the European Platform of Women Scientists, is now a powerful association of women in all scientific disciplines and at all stages of their careers and has more than 1000 members. Pilar is also the founder of the Women in Physics Group of the RSEF (Real Sociedad Española de Física) and was its Chair from 2002-2018.

At CSIC, López- Sancho has been involved in social responsibility tasks such as scientific dissemination, management, and gender equality issues, all designated by the Presidency of CSIC. Among others, she has been delegate president of the Women and Science Commission of CSIC, the first institutional commission of this type created in Spain.

At the ICMM researchers are very happy for this distinction for a very loved colleague. "Pilar is quite an institution here", explains José Ángel Martín Gago, ICMM's director. He says they are so happy because the award "shows that the work of women like her is recognized, which is also an example for the rest of the researchers who work (and will work) in Material Science".