The awards recognise scientific excellence, technological innovation, and entrepreneurship with an impact on industry and society. This year's winners include a doctoral thesis from the University of Valencia, a patent developed at the CSIC, and the Basque business project Hevea3D.
The ceremony, held this week, was attended by ICIQ Director Emilio Palomares; BIST President Andreu Mas-Colell; President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Pere Aragonès; AEQT Director General, María Mas; and the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat, Alícia Romero.
Minister Alícia Romero highlighted ICIQ's work in transferring knowledge to the economic sector to make it more competitive and productive, emphasising the importance of collaboration between research centres, universities, and businesses.
The award for the best doctoral thesis went to Jordi Hernández Contreras (University of Valencia) for his research on "Design, synthesis and evaluation of chromogenic and fluorogenic chemosensors for the detection of chemical submission drugs under real conditions". The award for the best patent was given to the CSIC for an "Antifungal Composition that includes alcohols for cleaning and removing mould on surfaces". Finally, the entrepreneurship award went to Hevea3D, a company specialising in advanced additive manufacturing and sustainable materials.
Both ICIQ Director Professor Emilio Palomares and BASF Española CEO Francesc Simó underscored the importance of these awards in bringing research closer to the market and transforming scientific knowledge into solutions with social and industrial impact.
