The University of Barcelona professors Carme Rovira Virgili, Montserrat Guillén Estany and Marta Sánchez de la Torre receive the National Research Awards
The University of Barcelona professors Carme Rovira Virgili, Montserrat Guillén Estany and Marta Sánchez de la Torre have received today the National Research Awards organized by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. These awards recognize experts who stand out for their career and international relevance in their area of research. The awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona.
The University of Barcelona professors Carme Rovira Virgili, Montserrat Guillén Estany and Marta Sánchez de la Torre have received today the National Research Awards organized by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. These awards recognize experts who stand out for their career and international relevance in their area of research. The awards were presented at a ceremony held at the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona.
The National Research Awards and the National Youth Research Awards 2025 have twenty categories, each with a prize of 30,000 euros.
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, highlighted that “for the first time, a woman has been awarded the Enrique Moles National Research Prize in the field of Chemical Science and Technology.” She is Carme Rovira Virgili, ICREA research professor at the Department of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry at the UB’s Faculty of Chemistry. The award recognizes “her groundbreaking contributions in computational chemistry applied to enzymes of biomedical and biotechnological interest that have revealed key molecular mechanisms in glycobiology.”
Minister Morant also stressed that “parity has been consolidated in the nominations, with 55% of the candidates being women researchers” and stressed that “six of the ten National Research Awards have gone to female researchers, a historic figure.”
Minister Morant also stressed that “parity has been consolidated in the nominations, with 55% of the candidates being women researchers” and stressed that “six of the ten National Research Awards have gone to female researchers, a historic figure.”
Montserrat Guillén Estany, professor at the Department of Econometrics, Statistics and Applied Economics at the UB’s Faculty of Economics and Business, and director of the Research Group Risk Center, received the distinction in the Pascual Madoz category (law and economic and social sciences) “for being a pioneering figure and international reference in risk economics and actuarial science, with an academic and scientific career of great impact, whose work is profoundly transforming risk analysis and insurance economics in the 21st century.”
As for the National Youth Research Awards, which recognize the merit of research staff under 40 years of age and with relevant achievements in the early stages of their careers, they distinguished Marta Sánchez de la Torre, from the Departament of History and Archaeology at the UB’s Faculty of Geography and History, in the María Moliner category (humanities) “for her exceptional career in the field of prehistoric archaeology”. “The leadership in international projects in the field of prehistoric archaeology and the application of innovative methodologies to the study of prehistory is outstanding. This work combines geochemical analysis, non-destructive techniques and artificial intelligence tools.”