Valeska Zambra

Chilean physicist

Valeska Zambra

Born|  (1994-03-27) 27 March 1994 (age 30)

La Serena, Chile

Alma mater| University of Chile, Chile
Known for| Chilean physicist who created an educative software on astronomy

Valeska Zambra (26 March 1994, La Serena, Chile) is a Chilean physicist specialised in the area of state of matter and strange matter.[1][2]

## Early life and scientific career

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Valeska Zambra has been interested in science since her first years of life. When she was only 12 years old she joined the Sciences Association of her school San Agustín in Copiapó (Chile).[3]

She studied Physics at the University of Chile, where she also completed a Master's degree. In 2020 she moved to Vienna (Austria) to realize her PhD studies at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA).[2]

## Contributions

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In 2011, when she was 17 years old, she developed an educative software on astronomy to detect and catalog stars and exoplanets. She named it Jana, the word in aymara language for sphere of the sky.[4][5] She is a member of the Instituto Milenio de Investigación en Óptica (Millennium Institute for Research in Optics), from the Government of Chile.[6] Valeska is interested in scientific divulgation and is involved in talks and workshops for children and adolescents. She has also participated in national and international congresses.[7]

## Awards

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She received the second place for the chilean National Price in Scientific Education (category TICS) for her project with the software Jana and was awarded by the UNESCO in 2014 for the same project.[8] She received the price Ernesto Gijoux for her remarkable curriculum at a very young age.[9]

One of her microscopy images lead her to obtain a Honourable mention from the Royal Society of London (United Kingdom).[10][11] In 2019 she was elected Joven Chilena del Año (Young Chilean of the year) for her contributions to research on liquid crystals.[12]

## References

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1. ^ "Valeska Zambra, la investigadora que pasó de estudiar los astros con telescopios, a indagar en las partículas a través del microscopio". Atacama (in Spanish). 23 August 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
2. ^ a b "Científicos chilenos proponen un nuevo estado de la materia - Universidad de Chile". uchile.cl. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
3. ^ García, Emiliana Pariente y Collage: Tamara (30 December 2020). "Física e investigadora chilena, Valeska Zambra: "Cada vez que una mujer es galardonada, la sociedad busca un argumento para invalidar su trabajo"". La Tercera. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
4. ^ Chile, Departamento de Astronomia de la Universidad de. "Joven chilena lanza software educativo de Astronomía". www.cata.cl. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
5. ^ "Joven chilena lanza software educativo de Astronomía – Planetario Chile" (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
6. ^ Clerc, Marcel G.; Kowalczyk, Michał; Zambra, Valeska (9 November 2020). "Topological transitions in an oscillatory driven liquid crystal cell". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 19324. Bibcode:2020NatSR..1019324C. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-75165-8. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7653948. PMID 33168934.
7. ^ "Valeska Zambra, la galardonada científica chilena de 27 años que creó un software educativo para enseñar astronomía". The Clinic - Reportajes, columnas, entrevistas y humor (in Spanish). 3 August 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
8. ^ "Científica serenense de 25 años es nominada al premio "Chileno del Año"". Diario El Día (in Spanish). 10 August 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
9. ^ "Valeska Zambra, la galardonada científica chilena de 27 años que creó un software educativo para enseñar astronomía". The Clinic - Reportajes, columnas, entrevistas y humor (in Spanish). 3 August 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
10. ^ Diagramación. "Valeska Zambra, científica serenense nominada a Chileno del Año" (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
11. ^ "Mujeres Bacanas - Valeska Zambra (1995)". Mujeres Bacanas (in Spanish). 3 August 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
12. ^ S.A.P, El Mercurio (5 September 2019). "Valeska Zambra, la física de la Universidad de Chile que recibe el Premio Joven Chilena del Año | Emol.com". Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 October 2021.

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