Belén Valenzuela Requena

Belén Valenzuela Requena is a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Materials Science (ICMM), part of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Her research focuses on quantum phases of matter and interdisciplinary connections between condensed matter physics, artificial intelligence, and natural intelligence.

• Education: PhD in Physics (2002) from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, supervised by María Angeles Hernández Vozmediano; BSc in Theoretical Physics (1995) from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Research interests: Belén specializes in strongly correlated electron systems, high-temperature superconductivity, topological phases, and Dirac matter. Recently, she has expanded into cognitive systems, exploring intersections between condensed matter physics and artificial/natural intelligence.

Outreach and Teaching: She is actively involved in public engagement, contributing to initiatives like the GEFES webpage for Spanish Condensed Matter Community. At ICMM, she delivers postgraduate courses on quantum materials and participates in outreach programs such as Escape Road: A la búsqueda de las Científicas Nobel y no Nobel.

Professional Experience: Since 2021, she has held a Senior Scientist position at ICMM CSIC. Previously, she served as a Tenure Track researcher at the same institution (2009), Visiting Professor at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2008), and completed postdoctoral work at ICMM CSIC (2005–2008) and University of Guelph (2003–2005).