In November 2024, the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award “For Women in Science” celebrated its 18th anniversary in Argentina, distinguishing researchers who have demonstrated excellence and sustained activity in STEM disciplines. The overarching goal of these awards is to empower women in science and support their ongoing participating in achieving a sustainable and inclusive future. The awards also promote public-private partnerships and supports the development of research projects aimed at providing scientific and innovative solutions to current societal challenges and issues across various sectors. On 26 November, in a ceremony held at L’Oréal Argentina’s Centro Cultural de la Ciencia, Dr Paula C. Angelomé received a L’Oréal award for her project “Catalysts and sensors prepared from the reuse of noble metal waste.” This project involves the preparation of metallic nanoparticles using laboratory wastes as a gold source. Once obtained, the particles are hosted within mesoporous oxide thin films, prepared by the sol gel method, to obtain nanocomposites for different applications.
Paula was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1979. She graduated with a degree in Chemical Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2003. After-wards, she completed her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Galo Soler-Illia (as his first PhD student!) and obtained her PhD in 2008. Her work, performed at CNEA (Buenos Aires), was focused on the synthesis, functionalization and characterization of mesoporous transition metal oxide thin films. Between 2008 and 2012, she completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Vigo, Spain, under the guidance of Professor Luiz Liz-Marzán. There, she learnt about metallic nanoparticles synthesis and applications. She returned to Argentina in mid-2012 as a CONICET researcher, and since 2024, she has been serving as a Principal Investigator at the Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología, CNEA-CONICET. She has led several national and international research projects. Additionally, she has supervised five doctoral theses, one master thesis, and numerous degree projects. She has published over 70 scientific papers on the synthesis, characterization, and applications of mesoporous oxides, metallic nanoparticles, and associate composite materials.
In addition to her research, she has served as a professor and organizer of several editions of the Latin American Sol-Gel School. Furthermore, she is passionate about science communication and actively participates in outreach activities to promote nanotechnology among undergraduate students and the general public.
