Dr. Victoria E. Santos, Full Professor at the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department of the Complutense University of Madrid. She is professor and lecturer of the Department since 1988. She got her diploma in Chemistry (Industrial Chemistry) in 1987 when she presented her M.Sc. thesis on the study of the mathematical methods for modelling reaction networks kinetics. From 1988 to 1993 she was working on her Ph.D. thesis on the development and optimization of a bioprocess for xanthan production, the first one on fermentation performed in the Chemical Engineering Department of the UCM, obtaining the Extraordinary Doctorate Award.
Afterwards, her research has been focused on the study of microbial bioprocesses covering not only the aspects dealing with the process development, but also involving phenomenological studies and kinetic modelling. These studies have covered a wide range of process, such as the production of different compounds -scleroglucan (S. glucanicum), biosurfactants (T. bombicola), 2,3-butanediol (R. terrigena), 1,3-propanediol (S. blattae), dihidroxiacetone (G. oxydans), isobutanol (modified S. blattae), D-lactic acid (L. delbruckerii)- and the study of bioprocess focused on the environment: biodesulfurization of diesel (modified P. putida and R. erythropolis) or the anaerobic digestion of livestock manure.
The research carried out has resulted, up to now, in 7 Ph.D. thesis, 2 Ph.D. thesis in their last stages, and more than 50 B.Sc. and M.Sc. thesis. She has presented more than 200 contributions, including publications in international journal (>70 papers), book chapters (3), communications in congresses and conferences (around 130) and patents (2). She has participated in 25 competitive projects and 8 private contracts with energy and chemical companies, and she has act as project leader in 13 of them. H-index: 19/22 (Scopus/Google Scholar), Cites >2000. She used to act as reviewer for important international journals related to her researching field.