What is your job at ALBA?

I am the Controlling and Grant Management Section Head. This section is dedicated to the management and planning of the granted research projects. Both national and European ones. We also manage the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) projects, which are infrastructure-related.

On the other hand, we are in charge of the Internship Program for undergraduate and dual training students.

Right now, we are two people working in the section. I usually dedicate more time to budget management, giving support to the head of the Administration Division.

Any exciting projects you are involved in?

We have a wide variety of interesting projects. The European ones, related to the Horizon 2020 program, are more comprehensive budget-wise and they involve more interaction with the partners and more contact with the researchers. So they are more interesting in this sense.

On the other hand, all the work related to ERDF projects is really intense, we have many administrative audits and certifications to do, so they involve a lot of work.

For me, the most exciting thing right now is the management of budgets and investments, as the scope and characteristics of ALBA make it a true challenge.

Any differences with previous jobs?

I have more than ten years of experience working in CERCA (Research Centers of Catalonia, by its acronym in Catalan) institutions, carrying out project management and planning tasks. But, although the ALBA Synchrotron is also dedicated to research, and my tasks are the same, this is an ICTS (Unique Science and Technology Infrastructures, by its acronym in Spanish), very different from a CERCA institution. It is new to me and very exciting to work in a facility like ALBA, which I didn’t know much about.

Do you collaborate with colleagues from other divisions of ALBA?

Yes. Inside our own Division, Administration, we rely on the Finances Section. We usually need many information from them in order to economically justify the projects we are managing. We also require support from the Legal Service Section, since we deal with legal documents, collaborations agreements, etc. And, obviously, we work closely with the Experiments Divisions, they are the ones that use to present most of the proposals to the projects we manage.

We are quite in the middle of many areas.

Which are your hobbies?

I really enjoy walking and trekking. I live next to the beach, so the promenade is a lovely place to take a walk. I also like to read a lot, and watching movies, gardening and taking care of the family.