PATRICIA
SANMARTIN SANCHEZ

My major research interests include stone microbiology, biofilm at the stone/air interface, bioreceptivity and the development of innovative environmental technologies aimed at managing, assessing and mitigating natural and anthropogenic impacts on stone resources. My research activity has mainly been developed at the Universities of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Alicante (2008,09), Milan (2010,12,15), Harvard (2013-14) and Oxford (2019). I have participated in 24 (inter)national projects and 46 R&D contracts, in 22 of them as Principal Investigator (PI), resulting in >100 publications (including 70 JCR papers), 72% as main (first, last or corresponding) author, cited over 2500 times. I started conducting research in the field of cultural heritage conservation science by studying contemporary art materials, in collaboration with the Galician Centre of Contemporary Art (CGAC) and with a Research Collaboration Grant, MEC (2003-04). I then went on to study materials for protecting and consolidating stone heritage, as a Posgraduate Research Fellow, Xunta de Galicia (2006-07). During my PhD studies (2007-12) as an FPI researcher, I undertook extensive research on the early detection of damage based on the quantitative determination of the colour of biological colonization on stone. I completed 3 grant-supported research stays at the universities of Alicante (2008 and 09) and Milan (2010), broadening my knowledge of heritage microbiology and biofilms and optical technologies applied to cultural heritage. My PhD thesis (Jul 2012, cum laude with European Doctor Mention) is a compendium of 11 papers, which received two PhD awards. In 2012, I was accepted to conduct research at Harvard University (US), selected as a Barrié Foundation Research Fellow and awarded a postdoctoral contract from the Xunta de Galicia. Between 2012 and 15, I worked at Harvard University and the University of Milan (Italy) as PI in the BIOREMOGRAF project. In mid-2015, I returned to the USC with a 1-year contract from the Xunta de Galicia for returning researchers, then under a Juan de la Cierva-Incorp contract and later a postdoctoral contract from the Xunta de Galicia. During the period 2016-2019, I began research on the effect of public lighting on the biological colonization of the built heritage, working as PI on LIGHT4HERITAGE project. In Jul 2019, I received the I3 Certificate. In late 2019, I was an Academic Visitor in the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford (UK). I was the Scientific Director of the CROMALUX project: Third SMARTIAGO Challenge - Smart lighting system for Heritage Conservation, an innovative Public Procurement project with European funds, with a first phase of research within the Innovative Public Procurement -CPI- tender (2020-22) and a second phase of research within the conservation and maintenance plan of the proposal (2022-24), awarded €613,581.43. In Aug 2021, I was selected as a Ramón y Cajal researcher (2020 call), scoring 99.2/100 for the area CTM. Since then, I have led three projects as PI: the BIOXEN project (PID2021-123329NA-I00, granted funding: €121,000 by AEI-MICIU), the FONTES project (ED431F 2022/14, granted funding: €115,000 by Gain-Xunta de Galicia) and the Green4Heritage project:(CNS2024-154214, granted funding: €190,091 by AEI-MICIU). I have received the accreditation required for the position of Profesor Titular de Universidad in July 2021. I have supervised one PhD thesis (by Anxo Méndez, linked to the CROMALUX project, Jan 2026, outstanding cum laude, Industrial & International Doctorate. Awarded by GEQP(RSEQ) as the best doctoral thesis in the 2023-26 period),10 Masters theses and 12 End-of-course projects (one awarded by GE-IIC in 2026).I am currently co-supervised 3 PhD theses linked respectively to the BIOXEN, FONTES and Green4Heritage projects.