Rosa María Martínez-Espinosa holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Alicante, Spain. She received the PhD Special Award and continued her training as a researcher through postdoctoral placements at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom (2004-2008). These placements were funded by the European Commission (COST-ACTION), the Valencia Region Government, the European Federation of Biochemical Societies and Spain’s José Castillejo Programme. In 2011, she joined the UA staff as a senior lecturer in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 2017 she created the UA Research Group in Applied Biochemistry (https://web.ua.es/es/appbiochem/). In 2020 she was promoted to professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Alicante. Her research has resulted in more than 200 contributions to national and international conferences, 120 scientific publications in indexed journals (Google Scholar H-index = 31), 70 book chapters and a patent. Her work focuses on the metabolism of extremophile microorganisms, purification and characterisation of enzymes with potential applications in industry and biotechnology, optimisation of protocols for the genetic manipulation of microorganisms, characterisation of gene regulation, production of carotenoids (pigments), and design and development of bioremediation processes for contaminated water and soil using microorganisms. This research has been funded by the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Valencia Region Government and the University of Alicante. Since 2001, she has taught on PhD programmes, the undergraduate degrees in Biology and Nursing, the former second-cycle undergraduate degrees in Biology and Chemistry, and the former First-Cycle Undergraduate Degree in Nursing. She received the 2013 Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Alicante Social Council. She has held academic management positions at the University of Alicante Faculty of Science since 2008 (academic coordinator of mobility programmes and internships, vice dean for Biology Studies and vice dean for Postgraduate Studies). In December 2020, she was appointed Vice President for International Relations and Development Cooperation, a position she currently holds. Since 2021 she has been the coordinator of the Cooperation Working Group within the CRUE (Spanish University Presidents Council) Internationalisation and Cooperation Sectoral Committee, as well as a member of Spain’s National Advisory Council for Cooperation as a CRUE representative. She has participated in the review of European projects during the last five years in different calls (H2020 and H2027) and in national calls for pre-doctoral grants and research projects. She is a member of the expert panel for verification, accreditation renewal, modification of university degrees and institutional accreditation of the Quality Assurance Agency for Castile and León’s University System (ACSUCYL); she also serves as an evaluator on the accreditation renewal panel (undergraduate, Master’s and PhD degrees) of the ANECA, ACPUA, AQUIB and DEVA agencies. Furthermore, she acts as an evaluator of R&D&I projects for the EQA and ACIE certification companies. In 2024, she became a member of ANECA’s panel no. 5, in charge of accreditation renewals for senior lecturers and professors in the Spanish university system.