Born in Cudillero (Asturias) in 1956, Rosa Menéndez has been the vicepresident of the CSIC (2008-2009) and the director of the Instituto Nacional del Carbón (2003-2008). She has a BA in Chemistry from the University of Oviedo (1980) and got a PhD from the same university in 1986. She is currently member of the managing board of the State Research Agency and of the National Commission for the Research Assessment, as well as of the Advisory Scientific Committee of the Asturias’ principality. She is also the institutional delegate of the CSIC in Asturias.

Her research deals with energy and materials, and she launched a research line on the applications of graphene in biomedical sciences and energy storage. Menéndez has been involved in more than thirty European, national and regional projects; she led twentyish of these, and she has coordinated five European projects. She has published more than 200 papers in high-impact international journals, two popular science books, and several chapters, and she has tutored eighteen PhD theses. She has nine patents.

Menéndez has been awarded several prizes for her contribution to the development of science and its popularisation, and for her scientific career.