Maria Varela obtained her BS (1997) and PhD (2001) in Physics at the Complutense University, Madrid, Spain. She joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a Wigner Fellow in 2002 and was a Research Staff Member in the Materials Science and Technology Division until 2012. In 2010 she also became a Professor at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) after being the recipient of an European Research Council Award. Now she is a Full Professor in Condensed Matter Physics and also the director of the National Center for Electron Microscopy at UCM since 2023. She has authored over two hundred research articles and has been the recipient of awards such as the Burton Medal of the Microscopy Society of America, and she is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain. Her research experience includes thin film growth, transport properties and structural characterization by electron microscopy, specializing in aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and atomic resolution energy-loss spectroscopy, including in-situ studies. Her main research interests include a variety of topics related to magnetism and complex oxide nanosystems, thin films and superlattices, including high Tc superconductors, colossal magnetoresistance materials, multiferroics, dilute magnetic semiconductors and other materials.