Celia Castillo joins SUPREMA as a new Atracción de Talento Fellow

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Celia Castillo Blas was born in Madrid and now is joining the Materials Science Institute of Madrid as a new member of SUPREMA, where she is a new Atracción de Talento (CAM) fellow. She is a researcher interested in the field of the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their structural characterisation that comes from Cambridge (UK) where she has been working at the University of Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher and also affiliated to St John's College as College Research Associate.

What have you worked on so far?

I studied my undergraduate and master at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. Later, I did my PhD at the ICMM under the supervision of Dr Felipe Gandara and Prof. Angeles Monge where I met for the first time the field of the metal-organic frameworks and I was more focused in their structural characterisation by neutron and X-ray diffraction techniques. Later, in 2019 I joined the group of Dr Ana Platero-Prats as a postdoctoral researcher where I worked on the post-synthetical modification of Zr-MOFs for water remediation and also focused in the use of the pair distribution function (PDF) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy to characterise these complex materials. In November 2020 I moved to the UK to work with the Prof. Thomas Bennett at the University of Cambridge I the field of hybrid glasses and MOF-composites where I have developed new analysis approaches to unveil atomic interactions at the interfaces of MOF-composites using the PDF.

What will you work on? With whom?

Now I am back to the ICMM I will work with Felipe Gandara and other members of the SUPREMA group leading a new research line focused in the field of hybrid glasses. I am looking forward to get also involved in other project of the group.

 Why did you choose ICMM?

The ICMM is one of the leading research institutions in materials science in Spain. In addition, the location of the ICMM is also great to establish new collaborations with other neighbouring institutions and interacting with other colleagues and members of the CSIC and the university. Most importantly, the ICMM has the best group of theatre in the whole CSIC, and I am looking forward to be involved again!

And a personal touch: any hobbies? What would you like to contribute to the institute?

My hobbies are mainly musical theatre, organise events and hiking. I'd love to participate in outreach activities, especially for young people. In addition, I'd also love to organise a technical workshop about one of the techniques that I am using to expand the community.