Recognition of scientific work, emotion and fun have once again starred in the gala of the Research Awards of the Universitat Politècnica de València.
The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has celebrated the 4th edition of the Research Awards, a recognition of scientific excellence, innovation and commitment to society of the research staff of the UPV. Thirty-four awards were given in six categories: Award for excellent research impact; Award for excellent research publication; Award for excellent research career; Award for scientific dissemination; Award for research media impact and Award for knowledge transfer. In addition, two special prizes were awarded to the outstanding researcher of the year 2025: Ivana Gasulla and Ramón Martínez Máñez. Both have pointed out the special excitement of receiving an award in their own workplace, surrounded by family and friends.
Ivana Gasulla researcher at the institute iTeam and professor at the Gandia campus, was the winner in 2025 of the V edition of the Young Female Scientific Talent Award granted by the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, among other merits. The scientist stressed the importance of offering professional consolidation opportunities to research staff so that they can develop their careers at the UPV. For his part, Ramón Martínez Máñez, who won the National Research Award 2024, among other awards, has valued very positively the evolution of research at the UPV “has nothing to do with what it was 30 years ago,” but has insisted that we must continue to improve.
As a novelty, a new recognition has been introduced this year: to UPV research staff who have published in the following journals Science o Nature a benchmark of international excellence. In the Computer Science and Information Systems + Electrical and Electronic Engineering category of the Excellent Research Publication Award, the following has been honored Deep Learning for Safe Autonomous Driving: Current Challenges and Future Directions by Khan Muhammad; Amin Ullah; Javier Del Ser; Victor Hugo C De Albuquerque; and Jaime Lloret, the article’s principal investigator and professor at the Gandia campus.
Jaime Lloret has already been awarded in previous editions. He obtained the award for excellent research career in the Computer Science category in 2022, the award for excellent research career in the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) category in 2023 and the award for excellent research impact in the Engineering (Biomedical Engineering/Electrical and Electronic Engineering/Media Technology) category in 2023. Professor in Telematics Engineering, he directed the Research Institute for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (IGIC) from January 2017 to March 2025. Degree in Physical Sciences, specializing in Electricity, Electronics and Computer Science; Electronic Engineer and PhD in Telecommunications. Wireless sensor networks, P2P networks, network protocols and algorithms are some of the topics of his research. Currently, he occupies the first place in the Telecommunications area at national level and an outstanding position at national, European and world level in the most prestigious lists that evaluate the professional quality of research personnel.
Science by and for people
During the gala UPV Rector José Capilla highlighted the essential role of research in the university’s mission: “Our university is defined by its innovative vocation and by a scientific community that is not satisfied with understanding reality, but works every day to improve it. That is the essence of the UPV: science with purpose, research with impact and commitment to people”.
In this link the names of the winners of the 4th edition of the Research Awards are available for consultation.