Luso-Spanish Chemistry Prize 2024

Hermenegildo García, a researcher at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), a joint centre of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and professor at the UPV has been awarded the 2024 Luso-Spanish Chemistry Prize. This award is granted by the Portuguese Chemical Society (SPQ) and the Spanish Royal Chemical Society (RSEQ).

The award recognises Hermenegildo García for his research excellence and contributions to the field of photochemistry and heterogeneous catalysis and his strong commitment to promoting and strengthening scientific cooperation between Spain and Portugal.

The 2024 Luso-Spanish Chemistry Prize aims to highlight scientific research with international projection developed in Spain and Portugal in the field of Chemistry.

Hermenegildo García

Hermenegildo García Gómez (Canals, 1957) is a professor at the UPV and develops his research work at the ITQ (UPV-CSIC). Throughout his scientific career he has achieved significant results in the conversion of solar energy into green hydrogen and fuels through the development of photocatalysts, some of them based on graphene.

At an international level, he has excelled in heterogeneous catalysis with porous catalysts and nanoparticles, contributing to areas such as photocatalysis, catalysis with gold nanoparticles and solar fuels. He has been recognised as a ‘Highly Cited Researcher’ for 12 consecutive years and is among the top 1% of the most cited scientists worldwide in Chemistry, Materials Science and Environmental Science.

Among his numerous awards, the most noteworthy are the Enrique Moles National Research Prize (2021), the Rey Jaime I Prize in New Technologies (2016), the Medal of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain (2023), the ERC Advanced Grant (2024) and the Yueqi Award from the University of Mining and Technology of China (2021). Besides, he has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Bucharest and an Honorary Professor at King Abdulaziz University since 2015.