Mètode receives the National Research Awards in the scientific communication category
Mètode, the science communication journal published by the Vice-Principal Office for Research of the University of Valencia, has been distinguished in the category of Scientific Communication of the National Research Awards 2020. The award was given in recognition of «its trajectory, sustained content quality, and resilience». For Martí Domínguez, director of the journal, this award «recognises all the people who have placed their trust in the journal to publish their research and disseminate it to a general public. Without their participation and enthusiasm, Mètode would not be possible».
The National Research Awards, promoted by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI), honour researchers who have made outstanding contributions in their disciplines. In this edition, the National Research Award was given ex aequo to the doctor and infectiologist Bonaventura Clotet and the mathematician and robotics specialist Carme Torras.
Bonaventura Clotet is head of the Infectious Diseases Department at the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Badalona (Barcelona, Spain) and Director of the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute. The award is given for «more than 40 years of international research in the field of HIV and related diseases, which confirms him as one of the most important international researchers in the development and application of therapeutic strategies for AIDS eradication and prevention».
Carme Torras is a research professor at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and head of the Perception and Manipulation research group at the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (CSIC-UPC). The award is granted for «her research on artificial intelligence (AI) and assistive robotics». The jury also valued «her intense work in promoting ethics in the application of robotics and AI, making an outstanding contribution to the scientific dissemination of these disciplines, both at school and popular level and in the research and academic spheres». Carme Torras is a member of Mètode‘s scientific board and coordinated issue 99 of the journal, titled «Interlinked. Machines and humans facing the 10101 century». She also participated in the monograph Científics lletraferits.
The National Research Awards also honoured Núria Montserrat, ICREA research professor at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), in the Young Talent category. The National Research Awards also recognised the activity of the Víctor Grífols i Lucas Foundation in the category of Scientific Patronage, Mètode in the category of Scientific Communication, B. Braun Surgical SAU in the category of Public-Private Partnership, and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in the category of Creation of Science-Based Companies.
The National Research Award in the category of Scientific Communication joins the list of awards that the journal Mètode has received in the past in recognition of its work in the dissemination of scientific research, including the El Tempir Award, the Sacyr Award for Innovation, the Prisma Award from the Jury, the Science in Action Award, and the APPEC Award for Best Publication.