Crossing frontiers of knowledge

Avelino Corma, a distinguished researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), professor ad honorem at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and co-founder of the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, UPV-CSIC), has been awarded the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category. Corma has received this prestigious international award together with the researchers John F. Hartwig (University of California, Berkeley, USA) and Helmut Schwarz (Technical University of Berlin, Germany).

The jury has recognised Corma, Hartwig and Schwarz for driving fundamental advances in the field of catalysis, which have made it possible to ‘control and accelerate chemical reactions’ to obtain products in multiple industrial processes, improving efficiency and reducing energy consumption’.

Working independently, the winners ‘have led worldwide in the three main areas of research to understand and apply catalysis, thus covering the entire spectrum of this very fundamental field,’ in the words of Hongkun Park, holder of the Mark Hyman Jr Chair of Chemistry and Professor of Physics at Harvard University (United States), and member of the jury. In this way, their joint work has opened the door to the development of more efficient and sustainable chemistry.

In the specific case of Avelino Corma, the development of new heterogeneous catalysts made of porous materials is noteworthy, with special attention paid to the environmentally friendly refining of fossil fuels.

Corma has promoted the creation of solid catalysts from porous materials and is the author of more than 100 patents, with applications currently being used to improve the efficiency of chemical processes and reduce the emission of polluting substances in the production of fuels, plastics, cosmetics and food.

'This award is a recognition not only for me but also for the excellent Chemistry and Chemical Engineering done in Spain in general, particularly at our Institute, the ITQ. It also recognises all the researchers and colleagues who have collaborated with me over the years. Therefore, receiving this award from the BBVA Foundation is an honour and an enormous satisfaction for me,' says Avelino Corma.

As for his next challenges, the researcher from Moncofa (Castellón) says that 'they are the same as I have always had: to try to develop and complete the ideas and questions that we ask ourselves and that allow us to advance in knowledge, which arise day by day. Research is imagination; it is constant work and continually asking yourself questions. I continue to ask myself questions, and my challenge is to continue finding the answers in our laboratories'.

Corma has also encouraged young researchers to 'ask themselves new questions every day, to try new challenges, and to seek originality, to go beyond what is known. And above all, he emphasises that to be at the frontier of science, they will not only have to be outstanding professionals but also be very constant in their efforts'.

Avelino Corma: a life dedicated to chemistry

Born in Moncofa (Castellón) in 1951, Avelino Corma (Moncófar, 1951) has an extraordinary CV. He has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Valencia and obtained his PhD in 1976 from the Complutense University of Madrid. After two years of study at Queen's University in Kingston (Canada), he joined the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) as a Researcher in 1979 and as a Research Professor in 1987.

Avelino Corma has spent half a century researching heterogeneous catalysis in academia and collaboration with companies. He has worked on fundamental aspects of acid-base and redox catalysis to understand the nature of active sites and reaction mechanisms, based on which he has developed catalysts that are now used commercially in numerous industrial processes.

A world-renowned and recognised expert in solid acid and bifunctional catalysts for energy chemistry and for making chemical processes more sustainable - especially in synthesising and applying zeolite catalysts - Corma has published over 1,400 research papers and invented over 200 patents. A graduate in Chemical Sciences from the Universitat de València, he obtained his Ph.D. in Madrid under the supervision of Professor Antonio Cortés. He completed a two-year post-doctoral period at Queen's University.

A member of numerous international circles, Corma has given numerous lectures around the world, such as the Director's Distinguished Lecture Series at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the 48th W. N. Lacey Lectureship in Chemical Engineering-Caltech in 2015, or the Karl-Ziegler-Lectureship at the Max Planck Society (2007), among many others.

Likewise, the high-level awards the Valencian Research Assistant has received are also difficult to enumerate. Just a few days ago, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Università degli Studi di Messina and, among many others, he has received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Inventor Award from the European Patent Office, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, the Blaise Pascal Medal for Chemistry from the European Academy of Sciences and the ENI and Spiers Memorial Awards.

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