Begoña Calvo: “People who do research should be valued more”

24-03-2023

She studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Zaragoza. She is now a professor at this University and teaches subjects in the degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering and in the master's degree in Biomedical Engineering. She is also the principal investigator of the Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering group (AMB). Her lines of work revolve around the simulation of tissue behavior.

Por María Melús

Why did you decide to dedicate yourself to research?

When I was doing my undergraduate thesis, I liked the topics I was researching and I entered this world without thinking too much about it. I remember that at that time people were just starting to work with computers, so you had to be trained in the use of computers. In the end you start to like it, a position came up and I stayed.

You are the principal investigator of the AMB group, what are you working on?

We do numerical simulation of the behavior of soft biological tissues. For example, we simulate how an organ modifies its response when external actions act on it. We simulate the behavior of the cornea to reproduce a surgery and thus see how the final geometry will look depending on the properties of each patient's eye.

Any ongoing project that you would like to highlight.

We are working on generating knowledge. We are training researchers to work on ocular biomechanics, that is, to find out how the eye tissues respond to different actions.

How long have you been linked to the I3A?

I have been part of the I3A since it was founded.

What would you highlight about the institute?

I would highlight that it gives support to the research groups in the part related to the management, for the economic part of the projects, for purchases or the service provided by Computer Science.

What do you enjoy most about your profession?

What I enjoy the most is carrying out research and, of course, teaching.

And what do you enjoy the least?

The management tasks that take up more than half of your time.

What would you say to someone who is thinking of going into research?

I see that it is very difficult to stabilize in Spain. You spend some time doing your doctoral thesis, but to stabilize a job is very hard, you say I've been training for a year and now what? It's a long-term path. In addition, there are few research centers at the technological level, so it is a shame that researchers have to leave. I would like those young people you are training to stay to rejuvenate the groups.