The communication, dissemination and knowledge transfer of our research are a fundamental part of the group’s activity and philosophy. This is why we are glad to celebrate that Maria Ferrer-Bonet and Marta Florez-Santasusanna won our latest calls for a senior research-support technicians, which will aid us in solidifying the implementation of the group’s strategies and improving our impact on society.
About Maria Ferrer Bonet
Maria’s role focuses on the communication, internationalisation and management of group. This includes support on the communication and internationalisation strategies of the group and the centre, the organisation of the outreach and scientific activities of the group, and the creation of contents and management of our channels, among other tasks.
Maria has been working for multiple international research centres and universities since 2014, gaining a wide experience Academia. She started in the Language Evolution Lab of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC) until 2016, then moving to the MulticellGenomeLab, also in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC). In 2020, she started working on the communication of ‘Unite! University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering‘ in the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), part of the EU’s innovative pilot programme of European Universities Initative, which was then formed by a consortium of 7 prestigious European universities. She has also collaborated with other research groups and centres, such as the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) or the Institute of Marince Sciences (ICM-CSIC).
Having a strong interest in outreach, she has also volunteered in numerous outreach associations and activities, both at a local and international level. This includes diverse activities like co-directing an outreach radio programme “Ones de Ciència” for two seasons, which won the “best audio content in Catalonia” award by La Xarxa in 2020, or the organisation of exhibitions (Bee Monitoring Devices and Curious Observations in 2016, by AnneMarie Maes) and science-art operas (Casparo in 2014 and Fausto in 2019, both by Luc Steels and Òscar Vilarroya), among many others.
Maria graduated in Linguistics, specialising in Catalan and English, in 2012. Being an avid learner, she signs up to any interesting courses she comes across. She is a big fan of the Intervals courses from the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) or the courses in Barcelona Activa, which she routinely attended while living in Barcelona. Her wide skillset and interests earned her the title “secret weapon” in one of the groups she was working with.
About Marta Flórez-Santasusanna
Dr. Flórez joins the GIAP team with the aim of increasing the social impact of ongoing projects and developing a line of work focused on the social transfer of (archaeological) knowledge, heritage and scientific mediation.
Graduate in History from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2005). PhD from the UAB with the thesis Dynamics of settlements and territorial structure in the interior Laietània. Study of the Vallès Oriental from the Iberian period to the early Middle Ages, which obtained the qualification of Excellent Cum Laude and the European mention in the doctorate. Extraordinary Doctorate Prize 2011, awarded by the UAB.
Her research has mainly focused on Landscape Archaeology: archaeomorphology (road network and land parcels), settlement patterns, habitat and occupation forms, and territorial structure. She was focused on the use, integration and management of thematic databases in GIS environments. He also has extensive experience in high mountain prospecting and surveys (Catalonia, Andorra, France).
From 2011 to 2014, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the USR (3550) of the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (MSH), Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont-Ferrand, France), and associate researcher at Geolab (UMR 6042) of the CNRS. She has developed studies on agropastoralism and mountain cultural landscapes in the north-east of the Cantal region (Massif Central, Auvergne), and analysis of LIDAR images applied to archaeology in the Puy de Dôme sector (Chaîne des Puys, Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne).
Since 2015, she has specialised in knowledge transfer, in Scientific Culture and social impact of research. Since then, she has coordinated several science outreach projects such as heritage didactics and science education programmes and activities. She has experience in cultural management, socio-cultural and community dynamism, and the coordination of educational programmes in public facilities and institutions.
Her current work lines are focused on:
- Promotion of social innovation and territorial development based on the enhancement of cultural landscapes.
- The role of heritage as a tool to promote social inclusion and community well-being in socially vulnerable urban environments.
- The incorporation of universal accessibility criteria in the scientific culture, the heritage mediation and the cultural dissemination.
