I am an Associate Professor (Profesora Titular) in the Department of Applied Mathematics at Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC), where I have been teaching since March 2022. I currently hold one "Sexenio de Investigación" (2017-2022) and one "Quinquenio Docente" (2018-2022).
You can contact me via email at elena.castilla@urjc.es, and I am located in Office 025, Departamental II, Móstoles Campus.
I am happily married to a topologist, and we have three parakeets and a dog. We are strong advocates for adoption, and our pets have been adopted from shelters. If you are considering adopting or just helping, I encourage you to visit Zarpas y Colmillos, an organization dedicated to finding loving homes for animals in need.
I graduated in Mathematics and Statistics from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2015. I completed my Master's studies in 2016 and my PhD under a FPU grant at IMEIO, also at the Complutense University of Madrid. During my PhD, I undertook three research stays: a total of three months at McMaster University (Canada) and two months at the University of Ioannina (Greece).
Over the years, my main research areas have included regression models, reliability models, survival analysis, and statistical information theory. Most of my work focuses on developing robust techniques for various statistical models using divergences. For a complete list of my publications, click here.
Recently, I co-authored a book with Professor Balakrishnan titled "Statistical Modeling and Robust Inference for One-shot Devices" (Academic Press, Elsevier). More information can be found here.
As a result of my research, I have received several recognitions. In 2021, I was awarded the Ramiro Melendreras Award by SEIO (Sociedad Española de Estadística e Investigación Operativa). In 2022, I received the Vicent Caselles Award from the RSME (Real Sociedad Matemática Española) and the BBVA Foundation, as well as the third Margarita Salas Award in Basic Sciences from the Madrid City Council. I also obtained the extraordinary doctoral award for the 2020-2021 Cohort.
Additionally, in 2021, I was selected to represent Spain at the 22nd European Young Statisticians Meeting by the European Regional Committee of the Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability. In 2024, I was chosen to attend the 11th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF).
From September 2022 to December 2024, I have co-organized the Mathematics Seminars at URJC, which have featured over 25 speakers from various national and international institutions.
I am also a member of the scientific committee for the Spanish Young Statisticians and Operational Researchers Meeting (SYSORM), conference organized by SEIO. The last two editions were held in Elche and Santiago de Compostela, and we are currently preparing for the next edition in Sevilla in 2025!
For the 2024-2025 academic year, my teaching groups are as follows:
MATEMÁTICAS I: Grado en Fundamentos de la Arquitectura, Doble Grado en Fundamentos de la Arquitectura y Paisajismo (FUENLABRADA)
ÁLGEBRA LINEAL: Grado en Ciencia e Ingeniería de Datos (FUENLABRADA)
Teaching materials are available on the Virtual Classroom (Aula Virtual).