The Community of Madrid awards its 2024 Research Prizes
At a ceremony held at the Real Casa de Correos, the Regional Government of Madrid presented its Margarita Salas, Miguel Catalán and Julián Marías 2024 Research Awards, which recognise the professional careers of some of the region's most outstanding researchers.
The awards ceremony, attended by Juan Cayón Peña, Rector of UDIT, University of Design, Innovation and Technology, highlighted the work of six researchers for their contributions to biology, behavioural economics and metamaterials in two different categories: Scientific Career and Under 40.
The Scientific Career category, endowed with 42,000 euros, recognises the achievements and national and international impact of the award-winner during all his or her years of work; the Under 40 category highlights the quality and excellence of the work carried out up to that age and carries a remuneration of 21,000 euros.
Scientific Career Category
In the Scientific Career category, the Margarita Salas Award (Biosciences Area) went to José Luis García, professor at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for his contribution to the development of biotechnological applications of genetic and metabolic engineering and synthetic and systems biology to solve environmental problems.
The Miguel Catalán Prize (Science Area) went to Francisco José García, professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, for his contributions in the field of nanophotonics, plasmonics and metamaterials, one of the most influential physicists of the last decade.
Finally, Antonio Cabrales, professor at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid won the Julián Marías Award (Humanities and Social Sciences) for his outstanding work in the field of behavioural and experimental economics and behavioural economics.
Category Under 40 years of age
As for the youngest researchers in the Community of Madrid, the Miguel Catalán Award went to Dr. Marta Martínez, from the Food Science Research Institute (CSIC-UAM), for her extensive experience in the production and characterisation of biopolymers and the valorisation of biomass for innovative packaging and food ingredients.
The Julián Marías prize went to Ana Llorens, assistant professor and doctor in Music Theory and Analysis in the Department of Musicology at the Complutense University of Madrid, for her use of novel computational techniques applied to the analysis of musical recordings. Finally, Jerónimo Rodríguez was awarded the Margarita Salas Prize. A researcher on the Miguel Servet programme at the Biology and Evolution of Microorganisms Unit of the Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research, his dedication to the study of antibiotic resistance, one of the most serious problems facing society in the field of health, has been valued.
