People
Marga Gual Soler
Head of Science Diplomacy Capacity Building, Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator
Marga Gual Soler is a science diplomacy expert and founder of SciDipGLOBAL, a purpose-driven advisory, consulting, research, and training firm dedicated to building bridges between science, technology, and global policy. She is a senior advisor to the Geneva Science Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), founding member of the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance, and visiting professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Previously, she served as a high-level advisor to former EU commissioner for Research & Innovation Carlos Moedas, and member of the S4D4C Horizon 2020 project. As senior project director at the AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy, she built a global education and training programme in science diplomacy, and was instrumental to re-establishing scientific ties between the United States and Cuba following diplomatic normalisation.
Marga has been recognised as a Georgetown University Global Competitiveness Leadership fellow, an Aspen Ideas scholar, an expert among the ‘Top 100 Spanish Experts in Innovation’, HuffPost’s ’40 Under 40 Latinos in Foreign Policy’, and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biology from the University of Barcelona (Spain) and a PhD in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of Queensland (Australia). In 2019, Marga participated in the largest-ever women in STEM expedition to Antarctica to elevate women’s leadership in global sustainability and climate action
Dr. Marga Gual Soler is a Spanish science diplomat, researcher and educator dedicated to bridging the worlds of science, technology, and global policy. She currently serves as the Head of Science Diplomacy Capacity Building at the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), where she leads initiatives to train global leaders in anticipating and addressing future challenges in a rapidly advancing scientific landscape.
Previously Dr. Gual Soler was a faculty member at Arizona State University and a Senior Project Director at the AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy, where she pioneered education and capacity-building in science diplomacy worldwide and facilitating scientific cooperation between nations facing diplomatic tensions, such as rebuilding research ties between the United States and Cuba after their 2015 diplomatic normalization.
Originally trained as a molecular biologist, she transitioned into the world of multilateral diplomacy following her PhD, contributing to elevate the role of science at the United Nations in the negotiations towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Dr. Gual Soler has been instrumental in shaping the EU’s science diplomacy strategy since 2016. In 2020 was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for her pioneering role in shaping the field of science diplomacy. Her proudest achievement was to participate in the largest-ever women in STEM expedition to Antarctica.
Learn more about her journey in her TEDx talk at the Geneva Graduate Institute https://tedxgvagrad.com/marga-gual-soler
