Cristina Martínez Sánchez holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Valencia (1991) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (1996). After a stint at the Institüt für Technische Chemie at the University of Leipzig, she returned to the Institute of Chemical Technology, CSIC-UPV (ITQ). In 2006, she was appointed a Tenured Scientist at the CSIC at this same center, and in 2025 she was promoted to Research Scientist.

She has an established track record in heterogeneous catalysis and the optimization of advanced materials for industrial processes, with a special focus on sustainability and the energy transition.

Since October 2024, she has served as the ITQ’s deputy scientific director.