El ICTA-UAB hosts the thesis defense of the oldest PhD candidate at the UAB

The Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) hosted last Monday the thesis defense of María Mercedes Hermida Lucena, who is the oldest PhD student enrolled so far in the Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). María Mercedes Hermida, who is 79 years old, defended her thesis "Aportes al conocimiento de la distribución, propiedades e interacciones de las especies botánicas tóxicas existentes en la región de influencia de Centros de Salud periféricos de la Facultad de Odontología de Rosario (FOR/Universidad Nacional de Rosario/Argentina)".

The thesis was directed by Dr. Martí Boada and Dra. Roser Maneja. The PhD candidate is a retired researcher and professor on Stomatological Chemistry and Biological Physics at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina). She traveled from her country to defend her research. One of her most important future plans is to continue working with the ICTA-UAB in postdoctoral new projects. She said that it's never too late to start a project like a Ph.D., and stresses the need to never stop learning.