Sandra Zetina Ocaña

She is a researcher at the Institute of Aesthetic Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is part of the National Science Laboratory for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (LANCIC) and the National System of Researchers (CONACYT) Level 1. Her field of study is Mexican modern art of the first half of the twentieth century, creative processes and the role of materiality in art. She holds a PhD and a master's degree in art history from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of UNAM, and a degree in restoration of movable property from the National School of Conservation, Restoration and Museography Manuel M del Castillo Negrete ENCRyM of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). She is a professor of the postgraduate course in art history at the UNAM, and has written more than 30 specialized articles, papers and chapters in books on Mexican art, published in Mexico and abroad. She has curated exhibitions at the National Museum of Art (The matter of art, 2004), the Siqueiros Public Art Hall (Low viscosity: the birth of fascism and other solutions, 2006), the Carrillo Gil Museum, and Americas Society (Tiempos violentos /Shattered glass), in New York City. Her current line of research deals with the production of Diego Rivera during his last years in Paris (1914-1921) and his first mural works, especially Creation (1922-1923).

Diana Quintero González

She has a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's degree in chemical sciences from the University of Guadalajara; she completed a master's degree in the diagnosis of the state of conservation of historical heritage from Pablo de Olavide University of Seville, and graduated under the direction of Sandra Zetina through the research work "Material study of the mural Alfareros tonaltecas, Carlos Orozco Romero 1923”. She has been teaching applied chemistry to restoration at the School of Conservation and Restoration of the West (ECRO) since 2017, and has been a scientific advisor to the seminar mural painting workshop participating in the diagnosis of the works of “Prometheus of María José Servín”, “The sciences and arts of Alfonso Mario Medina”, the decorative painting of the Casa Zuno and the mural paintings of “Atanasio Monroy” located in the Rectory building of the University Center for Exact Sciences and Engineering (CUCEI), among others. She has also been an advisor to the seminar on cultural heritage of metal and the easel painting workshop. She has participated in the direction of several bachelor's theses in the restoration of movable property, and is currently a member of the group of studies on painting and materiality of the Regional Museum of Guadalajara, where she contributes with the material study of painting on panel and sheet.

José Luis Ruvalcaba Sil

He studied physics at the Faculty of Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and a doctorate in science at the Laboratory of Analysis by Nuclear Reactions, in Namur, Belgium, from 1993 to 1997. Since October 1997 he has been a researcher at the Institute of Physics of the UNAM. Among his research the non-destructive characterization in situ of archaeological and historical objects and materials for which he has developed specialized instrumentation stands out. He has consolidated a non-destructive analysis research network for studies in art, archaeology and history in which groups from Mexico from the UNAM, the National Institute of Anthropology and History and Fine Arts, among other institutions, participate. He has participated in a relevant way in the study of objects and collections in the most important collections and historical sites of Mexico. Since 2014 he has been the coordinator of the National Laboratory of the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technology (Conahcyt), of Sciences for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (LANCIC), and was a member of the Academic Technical Committee of the Conahcyt National Network on the same subject. With regard to scientific production, he has published numerous indexed research articles, chapters in books and memoirs in extenso (more than 200). He has presented more than 500 papers at congresses, most of them international; he has directed 51 theses (12 D, 13 M, 26 L), and he has participated in various dissemination activities. He has directed 30 research projects funded by the Conahcyt, the UNAM and other institutions. He has been a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences since 2004 and Level III of the National System of Researchers of the Conahcyt since 2018. 

Patricio Pron

Invitado de Honor

Pron is the author of six books of stories, including El mundo sin las personas que lo afean y lo arruinan (2010), La vida interior de las plantas de interior (2013), Lo que está y no se usa nos fulminará (2018) y Trayéndolo todo de regreso a casa (2021);  and of seven novels, including El comienzo de la primavera (2008), My fathers' ghost is climbing in the rain (2011), Nosotros caminamos en sueños (2014), Don't shed your tears for anyone who lives on these streets (2016) y Mañana tendremos otros nombres (2019), as well as the essays El libro tachado: prácticas de la negación y del silencio en la crisis de la literatura (2014) and No, no pienses en un conejo blanco: literatura, dinero, tiempo, influencia, falsificación, crítica, futuro (2022), and of the dream diary Traumbuch (2022).

His work has been recognized on numerous occasions (including with the Juan Rulfo, Cálamo and Alfaguara awards), regularly included in anthologies and translated into 12 languages; these include German, English, French, Norwegian, Dutch, Chinese, Italian and Portuguese. In 2010, the English magazine Granta selected him as one of the 22 best writers in Spanish of his generation. More recently, he was the Director's Guest at the Civitella Ranieri residence for artists, and a guest lecturer at the Literature Department of the University of Cologne.

Pron has a PhD in Romance Philology from Georg-August University in Göttingen. He lives in Madrid with his wife and two cats. In 2023, he published La naturaleza secreta de las cosas de este mundo with the Anagram publishing house.

Other activities involving the participant:

One-way trip from nowhere
New masculinities: deconstructing to build better men?

Sofía Aragón

She is a Mexican producer, actress, screenwriter and writer, author of three books on mental health and quantum physics. She represented Mexico at Miss Universe 2019, where she was the second runner-up. She was the host for six seasons of La Voz Mexico and La Voz Kids. She has lectured all over Mexico, Colombia and New York and has given four lectures for Tedx Talks. She studied acting and film directing at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) in Los Angeles, California, and now she is dedicated to writing and producing stories within the cinematic world.

Felipe Zámano

He is a journalist from the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a communicologist specializing in politics and social networks. Recipient of the Walter Reuter Journalism Award in 2018. He was there from the first click of the site Político.m , first as a content curator and now as a collaborator and host of the podcast Encuentros: la democracia explicada. He was a journalist for the Collective Dromómanos, and editor of the magazine S1INGULAR. He is currently the coordinator of the University Seminar of Social Networks and Digital Culture of the UNAM and coordinator of the diploma of social networks and digital media from the Faculty of Higher Studies Aragon and the General Directorate of Science Dissemination of the UNAM.

Jesús Ramírez-Bermúdez

He is a physician specializing in psychiatry and neuropsychiatry at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery (INNN) in Mexico, where he directs the neuropsychiatry and cognitive neurology program. He has a PhD in Science from UNAM and is a professor of Scientific Methodology. He is a member of the National Research System of the National Council of Science and Technology.

He has published over 100 scientific papers in the field of clinical neurosciences. He has received awards in Australia (2006, International Neuropsychiatric Association), the United States (2011, International Conference on Bipolar Disorders) and the United Kingdom (2024, JNNP Lecture, British Neuropsychiatric Association). He published the treatise Principios de neuropsiquiatría (2019) and the text book Imágenes en neuropsiquiatría: lecciones de neurociencia clínica (2022).

He has also done extensive work in the field of scientific dissemination, literature and the cultural sphere. He is the author of the novel Paramnesia (2006, Penguin Random House) and the books Breve diccionario clínico del alma (2010, Penguin Random House), Un diccionario sin palabras (2016, Almadia), Depresión: la noche más oscura (2020, Penguin Random House) and La melancolía creativa (2022, Penguin Random House), which explore the boundaries between medical fiction, literary creativity and scientific essay.

In 2009, he won the Premio Nacional de Ensayo Literario from the Instituto de Bellas Artes de México.

Other activities involving the participant:

The need to "lose one's way." Madness and creativity

María Emilia Beyer

She is an expert in telling stories about science in exhibitions, radio, television and written media. She loves reading and writing; she is the author of nine popular science books for children and young people. She loves to design interactive exhibitions, such as Ciencia con sabor a chocolate and Mujeres inventoras. She works tirelessly to bring girls closer to science; she has been a master mentor of the New York Academy of Sciences for the international program 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures. Internationally, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) and of the Board of Directors of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) for Mexico. Since 2020 she has held the position of Director of Universum, the Science Museum of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her favorite role in life is to be Mily's mom.

Other activities involving the participant:

The language of plants and animals
Literature between dogs and cats
The letters of the garden
Wild sex
Space science

Andrés Cota Hiriart

He is a zoologist, writer and science communicator. He studied biology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a master's degree in a scientific documentary at the Imperial College London. He is the author of the books Fieras familiares (finalist I Libros del Asteroide Nonfiction Prize, 2022), El ajolote (Elefanta 3ed., 2024), Faunologías (Festina 2ed., 2024), Cabeza ajena (Moho, 2017) and from the children's book Madam Cuc, la dueña del paraíso (Elefanta, 2023). His texts are found in anthologies and media such as Revista de la Universidad, Gatopardo, Vice, Nexos, Letras Libres, Este_País, Wiered, among others. He has been a member of the National System of Art Creators (2018-2021), a speaker at TEDx and is the founder of the Society of Anonymous Scientists. He is currently the host of the podcast Masaje cerebral; he is a professor of literature at the Higher School of Cinema, and conducts the program Revista de la Universidad, on TV UNAM.

Other activities involving the participant:

The "other people": animals and nature in literature
Panel 4: The Communication of Science
Axolotl, traces of the little water monster in literature
Kamazootra, the most extravagant modes of reproduction in the animal kingdom

Clara Grima

Invitado de Honor

(Coria del Río, Seville, 1971)

She has a PhD in Mathematics and teaches at the University of Seville. She combines her teaching and research work with intense scientific outreach in various written media and radio and television programs, always with a focus on mathematics.

Her books include Hasta el infinito y más allá, ¡Que las matemáticas te acompañen!, Las matemáticas vigilan tu salud, En busca del grafo perdido and Mati y los matemonstruos. Her books have been translated into French, Italian, Czech, Hungarian, Korean and Chinese.

She is the host of the program “Una matemática viene a verte” on Radio Television Española (RTVE).

She has won the Bitácoras Award for best education blog (2011), the 20Blogs Award for the best blog, the Prismas Award for the best science information website (2013), the special Prismas Jury Award (2018) for her outreach work, the COSCE Award for Science Outreach (2017), the Roma Award in the STEM woman category (2019) and the Passion for Science Award (2023) for her work as a communicator.

She was the first woman to give the opening address at the Granada Book Fair (2016) and was named Coriana of the year (her native village) in 2018. She has also received the Gold Medal from the City of Seville (2021) and the Gold Medal from the Province of Seville (2022). She also received the 2022 Meridiana Equality Award from the Regional Government of Andalusia.

She was the second Spanish woman mathematician in history to be invited to speak at the International Mathematical Congress, in 2022.

She has been on the jury of the Princess of Asturias Awards for Technical and Scientific Research since 2018.

She was included in the Forbes list of “the 22 people who will change 2022.”

Other activities involving the participant:

Crossroads. Mathematics, technology and literature

José Luis Navarrete

Es profesor de taxonomía y artrópodos e investigador del Centro de Estudios en Zoología (CZUG) de la Universidad de Guadalajara (México). Su doctorado lo realizó en sistemática y ecología de insectos por parte de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Su investigación se centra en la taxonomía y ecología de coleópteros asociados a materia orgánica en descomposición, particularmente de las Staphylinidae (coleópteras) y Scarabaeoidea. Cuenta con más de 160 publicaciones en revistas especializadas como Journal of Natural History, Zootaxa, The Coleopterists Bulletin, Canadian Entomologists, Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, Ecology, Nature Communications, Science, entre otras. Es editor de la revista especializada de entomología, Dugesiana, que edita la Universidad de Guadalajara desde hace 31 años. Cuenta con una veintena de libros, además de publicaciones de divulgación científica, con énfasis en los insectos.

Como parte de su trabajo de investigación ha publicado libros especializados que son referentes a escalas nacional e internacional, entre ellos: Guía Ilustrada para los Géneros de Staphylinidae (coleóptera) de México, obra publicada en colaboración con sus colegas: Alfred F. Newton, Margaret K. Thayer, James S. Ashe y Donald S. Chandler. Su libro de divulgación Historias de artrópodos recibió el apoyo por parte del Sindicato de Trabajadores Académicos de la Universidad de Guadalajara. 

Actualmente es el director del Centro de Estudios en Zoología y el coordinador del Cantinero Científico, programa de divulgación de la Librería Carlos Fuentes de la Universidad de Guadalajara.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

Plants are also sapiens

Andrés Cota Hiriart

He is a zoologist, writer and science communicator. He studied biology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a master's degree in a scientific documentary at the Imperial College London. He is the author of the books Fieras familiares (finalist I Libros del Asteroide Nonfiction Prize, 2022), El ajolote (Elefanta 3ed., 2024), Faunologías (Festina 2ed., 2024), Cabeza ajena (Moho, 2017) and from the children's book Madam Cuc, la dueña del paraíso (Elefanta, 2023). His texts are found in anthologies and media such as Revista de la Universidad, Gatopardo, Vice, Nexos, Letras Libres, Este_País, Wiered, among others. He has been a member of the National System of Art Creators (2018-2021), a speaker at TEDx and is the founder of the Society of Anonymous Scientists. He is currently the host of the podcast Masaje cerebral; he is a professor of literature at the Higher School of Cinema, and conducts the program Revista de la Universidad, on TV UNAM.

Other activities involving the participant:

The "other people": animals and nature in literature
Panel 4: The Communication of Science
Psychedelic biology. Secret colors of nature
Kamazootra, the most extravagant modes of reproduction in the animal kingdom

Andrés Cota Hiriart

He is a zoologist, writer and science communicator. He studied biology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a master's degree in a scientific documentary at the Imperial College London. He is the author of the books Fieras familiares (finalist I Libros del Asteroide Nonfiction Prize, 2022), El ajolote (Elefanta 3ed., 2024), Faunologías (Festina 2ed., 2024), Cabeza ajena (Moho, 2017) and from the children's book Madam Cuc, la dueña del paraíso (Elefanta, 2023). His texts are found in anthologies and media such as Revista de la Universidad, Gatopardo, Vice, Nexos, Letras Libres, Este_País, Wiered, among others. He has been a member of the National System of Art Creators (2018-2021), a speaker at TEDx and is the founder of the Society of Anonymous Scientists. He is currently the host of the podcast Masaje cerebral; he is a professor of literature at the Higher School of Cinema, and conducts the program Revista de la Universidad, on TV UNAM.

Other activities involving the participant:

The "other people": animals and nature in literature
Panel 4: The Communication of Science
Psychedelic biology. Secret colors of nature
Axolotl, traces of the little water monster in literature

Teresa Paneque

Es autora y divulgadora científica chilena. Doctora en astronomía de la Universidad de Leiden; actualmente investigadora independiente en la Universidad de Michigan bajo el programa 51 Pegasi B de la Fundación Heising-Simons. Estudia las condiciones bajo las cuales se forman los planetas, para tratar de entender la diversidad de sistemas planetarios en el universo y el origen del sistema solar.  Es autora de la saga de libro El universo según Carlota, y desde 2019 divulga sobre astronomía en redes sociales como @terepaneque, donde acumula más de un millón de seguidores, democratizando el acceso a educación científica y abogando por una sociedad más justa e igualitaria. Adicionalmente, se desempeña como embajadora del Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (Unicef, por sus siglas en inglés) Chile.    

Adolfo Sánchez Valenzuela

Doctor in mathematics from Harvard University, after having obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He has been a researcher at the Mathematics Research Center (CIMAT) for 36 years. He is known for his mathematical work on geometry and algebra topics inspired by theoretical physics; particularly, on supersymmetry. He is the author of both specialized and dissemination scientific publications and opinion articles disseminated through various media, including a novel, co-authored with the distinguished astronomer Julieta Fierro, aimed at high school students with the desire to pursue a scientific career. He has been a member of the National System of Researchers (SNII) continuously since 1987, where he is an emeritus researcher of the SNII since January 2023. He was the first coordinator of CIMAT's graduate programs, in addition to having been director of the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Guanajuato, general director of CIMAT, as well as founder and director of the Merida Unit of CIMAT.

Other activities involving the participant:

Algorithms in everything: from sending a hello on your phone to sending shuttles into space

Alonso Ramírez-Manzanares

He is a B tenured researcher at the Center for Research in Mathematics, AC (CIMAT), where he obtained his doctorate in 2007. He has a postdoc at the Radiology Department, School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. His research topics include medical image processing and computer vision. In particular, he works on classical and Moderna optimization methods for biophysical model fitting and image processing, the above includes numerical optimization and artificial intelligence methods. Quantitative MR, Brain Connectivity, and Brain-microstructure characterization are among the main applications of the methodologies he has developed in recent years. Multidisciplinarity is essential in his work, which is reflected in collaborations with people from neurocomputing and neurobiology institutes in Mexico and Europe. His research work has more than 1,400 citations.
He has led several international collaborative studies working shoulder to shoulder, with researchers from some of the most prestigious laboratories in the world. He is the main organizer of one of the most important neuroimaging meetings in the country: the Annual Neuroimage Meeting. Among his academic activities he has directed and co-directed theses of students of three doctorates, eleven master's degrees and ten bachelor's degrees. 
He is a state delegate, and has been in charge of the State Program of the Computer Olympiad since 2015.

Other activities involving the participant:

Algorithms in everything: from sending a hello on your phone to sending shuttles into space