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A graduate in Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Salamanca, a city that witnessed her birth and her bar storytelling. She has a doctorate in Biomedicine from the University of Barcelona and specialises in the epigenetics of cancer. Passionate about genes, inheritance, genetic engineering, chromosome instability, and other molecular curiosities, she has dedicated herself to science communication since she founded Big Van in 2013. She is especially interested in scientific education in primary schools, more than anything because her 10-year-old mind empathises perfectly with that kind of audience.
Hi! I’m Oriol, and in October 2013 I earned a doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the University of Barcelona. I’m happy to have contributed to the world of scientific research by publishing my work on bacterial pathogenicity in the magazine Nature Communications. I am very proud to be the co-founder of one of the major global scientific communication groups, Big Van, Cientificos Sobre Ruedas (Big Van, Scientists on Wheels), where I am also the Co-Director of the R+D+I department and the International Projects Director. I still do research, but only through national and international projects of my own. Our last project financed by the European Commission was PERFORM; through it, we developed new participative methodologies to promote scientific vocations among young people. I really enjoy writing and acting in science communication theatre plays for adults, youngsters, and children; I have shown cutting-edge science to more than 250,000 spectators. And there will be more to come! I also design and teach training courses on science communication, which I’m lucky enough to be able to teach at universities such as the University of Barcelona, the University of La Rioja, and the Autonomous University of Mexico, among others; so far, I have taught more than 500 hours of training. I am also a speaker, moderator, and events presenter, if I’m asked. I am the co-author of several books about science communication like Cómo explicar genética con un dragón mutante (How to Explain Genetics with a Mutant Dragon)(publisher: Alfaguara Juvenil). I’m also crazy about swimming and hiking in the mountains.
Medical doctor, clinical pharmacist, anthropologist and actress. Ana is a curious woman who works as a university professor and coordinates a research group, where neurons are left trying to make the pain less painful and people with autism live better. She has been awarded several prizes for being an optimist. A vocational theatrist, the scientific communicator she carried inside emerged when she became second finalist in Famelab. She loves to tell how she sees reality wherever it is called (Pint of Science, Día de la mujer y la niña en ciencia, Noche Europea de la Ciencia, Ciencia y Cañas, Científicas y Artistas, Institutos de Educación Secundaria). She is part of several theatre companies and has founded the cultural association "AtrapaTeatro". She loves to break stereotypes and if they are gendered, better. If you don't believe it, visit @intim_vestigation.
A graduate in Physics with a master’s degree in Physics of Complex Systems. Professional beard-wearer and lover of interdisciplinary affairs, since his ever-moving bottom keeps him from always working on the same thing. He collaborates with the radio program Balears Fa Ciència (The Balearic Islands do Science) from his native Majorca, where he is also in charge of communication and dissemination for the Institute for Interdisciplinary and Complex Systems Physics (IFISC, UIB-CSIC). He is also passionate about all graphic arts and he is one of the brains behind the science communication musical project called El Físico Barbudo (The Bearded Physicist). He hides behind Big Van's social networks.
With a doctorate in Geophysics and a master’s in Science Communication, he’s a physicist by training, a geologist at heart, and a communicator by vocation. He has done research on earthquakes at the U.S. Geological Service, the Autonomous University of Mexico, and the Complutense University of Madrid. As a hiker and a mad speleologist, he is passionate about the Earth and its secrets, and he has devoted himself to understanding them and explaining them on several different continents.
Alberto Coz finished the doctorate in industrial engineering in 2001 and he is associate professor at the University of Cantabria, in the department of chemistry and process and resource engineering. He teaches subjects related to chemistry, environment and science in criminal investigation. He is a researcher of the green engineering and resources, GER group (www.geruc.es), especially in waste management: sludge, ash, slag, urine, POOP, how ugly everything! right? Their research is to find solutions to these waste materials in order to be useful in our lives and to left being considered as such. He defines himself as a very introverted person, who likes to work with a lot of time for reflection and for himself. He likes the values of freedom, creativity and effort and he doesn't like those of sociability, harmony and protection. He loves to provoke, and in his free time in addition to eating chorizo, what he likes most is traveling, theater and music. He has been a collaborator with Big Van since 2017 in teaching science dissemination courses and in scientific monologues.Alberto Coz finished the doctorate in industrial engineering in 2001 and he is associate professor at the Universidad de Cantabria, in the department of chemistry and process and resource engineering. He teaches subjects related to chemistry, environment and science in criminal investigation. He has been a collaborator with Big Van since 2017 in teaching science dissemination courses and in scientific monologues.
With a doctorate in mathematics (and also in theology, although he practises this very little nowadays), he works at the University of La Rioja where he teaches and does research while hardly ever getting angry at anyone. He works in computational algebra, which he loves and puts all his effort into. As a science and maths communicator, he’s had a short but intense career: he won FameLab in 2013, is a founding member of Big Van, and author of the book Inteligencia Matemática (Mathematical Intelligence)(publisher: Plataforma Editorial). He is also the head mathematician on the program La Ventana for the Spanish radio channel SER, collaborator for the magazine Yorokobu, etc, etc... He spends his days giving lectures and workshops on mathematics around the world (when he is not with that beloved algebra of his). His most famous talk is Las matemáticas son para siempre (Mathematics are Forever), which has been viewed by almost a million and a half people on TED. You can see him talking about maths on his YouTube Channel Derivando.
Food Microbiologist and Supervisor of R¬D projects in the CNTA (National Centre for Food Technology and Safety) in Navarra (Spain). Passion for “these marvellous microscopic creatures” and for all those things than they are able to do (good and bad things) on the foods which we eat. Passion for communicating, and training on science research to all people who want to listen to, in order to help for doing a world a little better.
Diego is a great ape, and coincidentally he also holds a PdD on Physics. He works at the Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), were he is part of the Observational Cosmology & Instrumentation research group. His scientific interests include, but are not restricted to, Cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics. He also loves croquettes. In his free time, he is a level 42 sorceress princess of Nerds who has recently discovered a previously unexpected passion for teaching and scientific outreach.
With a bachelor’s degree in Physics and a doctorate in Astrophysics, he’s a professor at the University of Barcelona’s Department of Astronomy and Meteorology. Born in Ribes de Freser, a small village in the Catalan Pyrenees, he currently collaborates with the European Space Agency on the Gaia mission, which will elaborate the most detailed 3D map of our universe, the Milky Way.
With a degree and doctorate in Chemistry, because she wanted to be one of those “wear a lab coat and do experiments” people, she’s a post-doctoral researcher at the Barcelona Microelectronics Institute (CSIC/CIBER), where she designs biosensors based on graphene. She has a clear goal: to transmit her passion for science to the general public, telling anyone who might listen about its intricacies.
With a degree in Biochemistry and a doctorate in Molecular Biology, he began his scientific experiences with the toys of an unfortunate neighbour. After tackling the relationship between the immune system and breast cancer, he’s moved on to the field of bioinformatics, reading his poor neighbour's genome every day.
Native of Burgos, holder of a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Navarra (TECNUN), and a curious person by nature. She did her final degree project designing a flight simulator at the German Aerospace Institute (DLR). Since then, she’s worked for large companies in the aviation, electrical, telecommunications, and petrochemical industries. Her great passions are scuba diving and science communication through Big Van and Proyecto Kennis.
Biologist by training and comedian by vocation. He grew up in Cantabria, where thanks to diet rich in sobaos pasiegos cakes, he grew more in width than in height. He’s currently doing his PhD thesis at the University of Barcelona, studying the metabolism of fats. He fights obesity in the laboratory by day and with innumerable and inhumane spinning and zumba sessions by night.
Marine biologist at the farthest university from the sea, the one at Alcalá de Henares, which gives us an idea of how great his imagination is. He has been there since 1982 – yeah, it’s been a while – teaching Zoology and Marine Biology classes, in addition to summer diving courses, fish workshops, and conferences about marine monsters (he has experience on the matter, as he demonstrates when he dives). His research takes place in an enviable habitat: the beach. He got to study the impact of the oil slick from the Prestige on Galician beaches. He’s an expert on two groups of marine invertebrates, Nemertea worms and isopod crustaceans (hey, there’s someone for everything). This research has taken him around the world (with stays in Liverpool, Harvard University, the Ecuadorian Amazon, and the Spanish base in Antarctica) and a bit closer to home (Móstoles, Leganés). He fills the stage (for sure, since he’s overweight), where he tells us all about the adventures and misfortunes of these creatures
Graduated in Biotechnology and Master in Environmental Agrobiology. Currently a PhD student at the Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino (ICVV) in La Rioja, where he breeds lots of bugs. He has been collaborating with Big Van since 2018 in scientific dissemination shows aimed at promoting social cohesion, environmental awareness and good vibes with Pachamama.
He holds a degree in Biochemistry and a doctorate in Plant Molecular Biology. He has spent the past 15 years working in countries as varied as Greece, India, Italy, Scotland, and Colombia. Just like an unidentified insect that goes from flower to flower, this Cuenca native has travelled the globe for the last 15 years, combining all of his passions: research on different genetic aspects of plants, scientific communication, photography, and the quest to meet people from different cultures. He is currently back in Spain since a few years ago and has been working as head researcher for the company Sequentia Biotech. There, in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Centre (CRAG), he is carrying out research on genuine plant hairs. Hairs that can save the world from malaria and various other diseases. And as we all know: where there’s hair, there's joy!
Juan is a mathematician and a physicist (in that order, which sometimes does alter the product). He got his Ph.D. at UC3M and, there, he was second in the 3MThesis contest in which he explained in 3 minutes his research in quantum gravity. He was the winner of the sixth edition of FameLab and, thanks to this, he has participated in many science communication events. However, the most fun ones are always with BigVan science. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State University (Trump-land). He is confident, as a good dreamer, that he will soon return to Spain to research, give classes and continue spreading the word about the mathematics of pizzas.
A 35-year-old Madrid native with a degree in Physical Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid and a doctorate in Astrophysics from the University of Paris XI. He has worked in astrophysics research at the Paris Observatory, at the Institute for Millimetric Radio Astronomy, in Granada, and at the National Astronomical Observatory, in Madrid. He likes reading, going to the cinema and to the theatre, dancing, and learning languages (he speaks Spanish, English, French, and Italian). He is currently working at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (Granada) carrying out science communication-related tasks. He’s been part of this group of comedian-scientists, called Big Van, since a year ago; there, he tries to communicate science through the use of popular songs. He defines himself as the inventor of what he calls the “astrocopla”, a discipline that combines copla (a Spanish poetic form found in many of their popular songs) with astronomy.
Electronic engineer with a bachelor’s and doctorate in Physics, he's a tenured technician at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, in Granada, where he makes gadgets to look at the stars. He had previously spent four years surrounded by geophysicists who wanted to study earthquakes and volcanoes, a strange hobby which gave him the opportunity to visit fascinating places like Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius, Mount Stromboli, Antarctica…
He is a graduate in Biotechnology and Nanotechnology. That seemed like enough for him to produce electricity using batteries in a chemistry and physics institute. But where he seems to be most relevant is in the R+D department of the gastronomic society Oryza sativa, where he is currently doing research for Big Van’s scientific kitchen and developing his passion for molecular gastronomy.
Advanced telecommunications engineer and physicist with a doctorate in Particle Physics. He carried out his research at the French Space Agency, the Galileo project, and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) project at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, where he did a thesis with a grant from CIEMAT. Now Big Van’s Community Manager, you can see him colliding particles on stage, on Telecienciario or on his YouTube channel DateUnVoltio.
