“The jury highlighted the high quality of the projects presented in the 14th edition, which means that chemistry in Spain has a bright future”
SusChem Spain and TECNALIA Ventures have given out the SusChem Young Chemical Researchers Awards for the work and dedication of young researchers in the field of chemistry
The SusChem-Spain Sustainable Chemistry Innovation and Technology Platform has awarded for the 14th consecutive year its SusChem Awards for Young Chemistry Researchers in order to recognise, support and promote the work in science and dissemination carried out by young talents in Spanish chemistry.
The SusChem Awards, aimed at young researchers under 40 years of age, are divided into three categories representing different areas of performance of young chemistry researchers: Futura, Investiga, and Innova. The awards aim to recognise the best academic career (Futura), the best scientific publication (Investiga), and the best work in the field of innovation based on public-private collaboration (Innova).
Young chemists who received an award at the 14th edition
SusChem Futura Category Award
Award for the best academic record in a chemistry degree or any other degree related to science and chemical technologies, graduating in 2021.
The jury, chaired by Carmen Cartagena (ANQUE), decided unanimously to grant the award – a €2,000 cash prize and a year’s membership to SusChem-Spain and ANQUE – to Alejandra Pita Milleiro, Chemistry graduate from the University of Seville, for her brilliant academic career and extracurricular merits.
SusChem Investiga Category Award
Award to the author of the best scientific publication, dated 2021, in any area of chemistry, and who held a PhD qualification by 31 December 2021.
The jury, chaired by Francisco García Labiano (Higher Council for Scientific Research), decided unanimously to grant the award – a €3,000 cash prize and a year’s membership to SusChem-Spain and ANQUE – to Ignacio Funes Ardoiz, PhD in Chemistry, for his project Accelerated Dinuclear Palladium Catalyst Identification through Unsupervised Machine Learning, carried out at RWTH Aachen University.
SusChem Innova Category Award
Award for the best work developed through a public-private collaboration. The work submitted must have generated results in the last three years in any area related to sustainable chemistry, including work on the transition to the circular economy and decarbonisation.
This award is a €5,000 cash prize, a year’s membership to SusChem-Spain and ANQUE, and access to an internship at the TECNALIA applied chemistry research laboratories, or mentoring by the TECNALIA Ventures teams, focused on improving their capabilities in the field of technological entrepreneurship. The jury, chaired by Juana Frontela (Feique and SusChem-Spain), decided unanimously to grant this award to Natalia Munoz Padial, PhD in Chemistry, for her promising results in the project Development of a New Class of Sustainable P(V) Reagents that Lead to Greater Efficiency and More Ecological Processes, developed at the Scripps Research Institute, in collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb.
Sponsors and jury of experts
The awards are sponsored by the Spanish Chemical Industry Business Federation (FEIQUE), the Spanish National Association of Chemicals and Chemical Engineers (ANQUE), the Spanish Conference of Chemistry Deans (CEDQ), Expoquimia, the Chemistry and Society Forum and TECNALIA Ventures, TECNALIA’s Deep Tech Venture Builder.
The jury of experts was made up of Juana Frontela (Feique and SusChem Spain), Francisco García Labiano (Higher Council for Scientific Research - CSIC), Mª Aránzazu Heras (Spanish Conference of Deans of Chemistry - CEDQ), Gabriel González (Spanish Patent and Trademark Office - OEPM), Carmen Cartagena (National Association of Chemists and Chemical Engineers of Spain – ANQUE), Pilar Navarro (International Chemistry Event - Expoquimia) and Jesús Torrecilla (TECNALIA Ventures).
