Jaime Gómez, InterPore Medal for Professional Achievement

Jaime Gómez-Hernández, head of the Hydrogeology Group at the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) of the Universitat Politècnica de València, has been awarded the InterPore Lifetime Achievement Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the International Society for Porous Media (InterPore).

This award recognises scientific careers of particular significance in the field of porous media research. With this distinction, Gómez-Hernández also becomes the first Spanish scientist to receive this honour, reserved for international leaders in this field, such as Jacob Bear and Rien van Genuchten, who were honoured in previous years.

"The InterPore Lifetime Achievement Medal is the highest honour awarded by InterPore and is granted exclusively to individuals who have made extraordinary and lasting contributions to this field of knowledge. I am proud to receive this award, as it recognises all the work we carry out away from the media spotlight," says Jaime Gómez, head of the Hydrogeology Group at IIAMA-UPV.

The official award ceremony will take place during the InterPore2026 conference, to be held in Nantes from 19 to 22 May. In addition to scientific recognition, the award includes an engraved medal, a commemorative diploma and lifetime membership of InterPore.

Reasons for the award

The award recognises a scientific career of excellence, underpinned by a large number of highly cited research articles that have had a significant impact on the international scientific community. Added to this is his outstanding work as an editor and associate editor for leading scientific journals, as well as his key role in organising top-tier international congresses and conferences in the field of porous media.

Furthermore, Jaime Gómez has delivered numerous keynote lectures and invited presentations at international scientific meetings and is the author of books and papers considered fundamental in this field of research. Throughout his career, he has also received other significant accolades that consolidate his position as one of the world's most influential figures in the science and technology of porous media.

Awards received by Jaime Gómez during his professional career

On 13 March, he received the Carlos Ruiz Celaá Award in the career achievement category, presented by the Water Specialised Group of the Council of Mining Engineers' Associations. Furthermore, in 2025, he was awarded the Prize for Excellence in Research in the Civil Engineering category at the third edition of the UPV Research Awards.

In 2022, Jaime Gómez was honoured with the EWRI Pioneers in Groundwater Award, presented by the Groundwater Committee of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI), a foundation belonging to the prestigious American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Meanwhile, in 2021, he was included by Forbes magazine in its Top 50 list of the most awarded Spaniards.

Back in 2020, he received the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW), the most important award in the field of water engineering worldwide, which recognised the scientific contributions of the Valencian researcher to groundwater.

Furthermore, in 2020, the Social Council of the Universitat Politècnica de València awarded him the Social Council Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge, in the University-Society Cooperation category. In November 2019, he was awarded the 2020 William Christian Krumbein Medal by the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG). In the same vein, he was named the IAMG Distinguished Lecturer of the Year 2021. Finally, Jaime Gómez received the Waste Research and Technology Award organised by the Valencian Regional Government in its first and only edition in 1999.

About Jaime Gómez

Jaime Gómez-Hernández is one of the most renowned scientists in hydrogeology worldwide. His research has been instrumental in introducing stochastic simulation into hydrogeology, which is now used worldwide to assess uncertainty in aquifer systems.

During his more than 35 years of research, he has published over 100 articles in scientific journals. In addition, he is co-editor-in-chief of the international journal Computers & Geosciences, an associate editor for the most prestigious journals in his field, including Mathematical Geosciences, Advances in Water Resources, Springer Nature Applied Sciences and Frontiers in Earth Sciences, and was founder and president for 10 years of geoENVia, the International Association of Environmental Geostatistics. He is currently vice-president of the Spanish Group of the International Association of Hydrogeologists.