Irantzu Martinez Arkarazo

Irantzu Martinez Arkarazo

Associate professor

PhD Chemistry (UPV/EHU)
Faculty of Science & Technology

Irantzu Martinez Arkarazo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) (2012) and a member of the IBeA research group. She defended her doctoral dissertation in 2007 on the diagnosis, cleaning, and protection of carbonate stone based on ion-exchange resin technology. Her thesis received the European Mention (Cum Laude), supported by a three‑month research stay at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Her teaching career began as an interim lecturer during the academic year in which she defended her thesis; one year later she became an adjunct professor, eventually reaching her current position.

As a result of her research on the impact of the environment the conservation of stone materials and, particularly, on cultural heritage she has authored more than 60 scientific publications, including ISI‑indexed journal articles and book chapters in international conference proceedings and prestigious publishing editorials. Her scientific output gives an h‑index of 28 with more than 1,900 citations since 2004. She also holds three research assessment periods and she has been B3 rated by the Basque Agency UNIQUAL (last evaluations in 2020).

In the field of scientific dissemination, she has presented more than 150 conference communications and has served on the organizing committees of the International Conference on the Application of Raman Spectroscopy in Art and Archaeology (RAA2009), the International Symposium on Metal Complexes (ISMEC2010), and TECHNART‑2017. She has participated in 38 publicly funded R&D projects of various types and in 16 highly relevant R&D contracts with companies and/or public administrations. She has supervised 5 doctoral theses with International Mention (one more currently in progress), one of which received the Extraordinary Doctoral Award, as well as 7 master’s theses and 5 bachelor’s final projects. The works she has supervised in recent years fall within two research lines in which she is currently involved through two ongoing MCIU‑funded oriented research projects. One focuses on the conservation of stone materials in built heritage, beginning with diagnostics and continuing with the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly restoration methods. More recently, her research has extended to topics related to Space, through a project centred on the analysis of Martian and Lunar meteorites and terrestrial environmental analogues relevant to space missions.

In terms of academic management, she has been a member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Science and Technology since 2009, and of its Standing and Euskara Committees since 2013. She has also been a member of the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Programme in Interdisciplinary Scientific Strategies in Heritage and Landscape since July 202. She has served as the Academic Secretary of the Department of Analytical Chemistry since 2019.