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My research focuses on astroparticle physics and rare-event searches in underground laborato-ries, primarily on the direct detection of dark matter (DM) and the search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0¿ßß). I am currently a tenured professor (Profesora Titular) at the University of Zara-goza. I obtained my PhD in 2006 working on NaI(Tl) scintillators for dark matter searches, followed by postdoctoral positions at INFN Milano-Bicocca (2007–2009), working on the CUORICINO and CUORE-0 experiments, and at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), Orsay (2009–2011), working on the ROSEBUD and EURECA dark matter experiments. From 2011 to 2022 I was a ten-ured researcher at ARAID, including a research leave at Sapienza University of Rome (2015–2017).
Since 2020, I have been co-PI of the ANAIS-112 experiment at the Canfranc Underground Labora-tory (LSC), which aims to test the annual modulation signal reported by DAMA/LIBRA. ANAIS-112 has recently provided the first direct refutation of the DAMA/LIBRA interpretation as dark matter with a significance exceeding 4s after six years of data.
I have also made major contributions to the search for 0¿ßß using cryogenic detectors within the CUORE and CUPID collaborations. I currently serve on the CUPID Institutional Board and Council. My work has included detector assembly, commissioning, data taking, low-energy analysis, and the development of analysis methods for CUORE-0 and CUORE, contributing to world-leading lim-its on the half-life of (^{130})Te and the final CUPID-0 result on (^{82})Se. I also developed simula-tion tools for phonon propagation in bolometers, later extending this work to studies of radiation-induced decoherence in superconducting qubits.
My research also includes detector R&D through the CALDER and CROSS projects and, since 2019, participation in the DarkSide-20K collaboration. I coordinate the data acquisition system of the DArT facility at LSC, dedicated to measuring the radiopurity of underground argon for DarkSide-20K, and I am a member of the LiquidO/CLOUD collaboration developing novel scintillation tech-nologies.
I have held several coordination and leadership roles within the Spanish astroparticle community, including convener of the Direct Detection Working Group of the MultiDark Network (2020–2026), coordinator of the RENATA Spanish Astroparticle Network (2022–2026), member of the Executive Committee of CPAN (2022–2024), and coordinator of its Astroparticle Physics area. Since 2021 I have served on the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Vacuum Society (ASEVA). I received the I3 research excellence certificate in 2020.
I am co-author of more than 200 scientific publications (h-index 38), have delivered over 50 inter-national conference presentations (more than one-third invited), and have given invited seminars and lectures at leading institutions. I actively contribute to outreach through initiatives including International Cosmic Day, European Researchers' Night, the LSC Open Day, and Dark Matter Day at the University of Zaragoza.
(Updated: 26 June 2026)
Research evaluation
Number of six-year research evaluation periods ("sexenios") awarded: 3 (most recent awarded in 2020)
Bibliometric indicators (Web of Science)
Publications indexed in WoS: 218
Publications in Q1 journals (JCR): 72
Total citations: 4,668
Average citations per year (last 5 years): 415
h-index: 38
Research profiles
ResearcherID: K-4827-2012
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9043-4691
Scientific presentations
International conference presentations: >50 (more than one-third invited)
Invited seminars and lectures: ~20
Supervision
PhD theses supervised: 3 (Cintas, University of Zaragoza, 2023; Pardo, University of Zaragoza, 2025; Sánchez, Université Paris-Saclay, 2026)
PhD theses currently supervised: 2 (Apilluelo, expected 2026; Seoane, expected 2028)
Master's theses supervised: 3
Bachelor's theses supervised: 13
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