2026 National Research Prize

Jose Adam, a Professor and researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), received today the Leonardo Torres Quevedo National Research Prize in the field of Engineering and Architecture. Adam, who currently heads the Building Resilient group at the UPV's ICITECH Institute, has been awarded this prestigious prize in recognition of his innovative approach to understanding and designing safer and more resilient structures.

"For me, this award is a tribute to everyone who works and has worked with me since I joined the UPV 20 years ago. It is an award for my entire team and also a starting point for breaking new ground, to boost what we are doing, which is radical, high-impact research, always with one objective: that our infrastructure – buildings and bridges – should be as safe as possible, and that they do not collapse in extreme situations," explained Adam.

From safe buildings to safe cities

One of the upcoming challenges for the Building Resilient group led by Adam is to expand its research from individual buildings to entire cities, to reduce the consequences of collapses on other structures and the population.

"One of our current challenges is to face the transition from the safe building to the safe city. Let's imagine a scenario where a missile strikes a building. Unfortunately, we cannot prevent the collapse. But we can prevent that collapse from affecting neighbouring buildings and, at the same time, establish evacuation routes so that people can save themselves," he adds.

A 'very high' rating, but with some caveats

He gives the Spanish scientific system a "very high" rating for the new National Research Prize, although he warns of the need to improve career progression opportunities for young researchers. "We have young people whom we train very well and, unfortunately, many have to abandon their academic careers or go abroad," he laments. He also emphasises the importance of bringing research closer to society and combating misinformation through clear scientific communication.

And for the younger generations, he offers two words of advice: curiosity and patience: "Everything is moving very fast. Artificial intelligence is advancing very quickly, people are publishing very quickly, research is being carried out very quickly… But if you jump on that bandwagon, your work will never stand out from the rest. It's worth taking a step back, thinking carefully about what you're doing and, in that way, going on to produce groundbreaking science with a real impact on society".

About Jose Adam

Jose Adam is a Professor in the Construction Engineering and Civil Engineering Projects Department at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), a researcher at ICITECH, and a lecturer at the School of Civil Engineering. In his day-to-day work, he combines fundamental and applied research with technology transfer to industry.

His work focuses on the design of infrastructure and buildings capable of withstanding extreme events, such as explosions, impacts, fires, or earthquakes, to prevent progressive collapse and improve structural safety. In 2017, he received a Leonardo Grant from the BBVA Foundation, which enabled him to launch a new line of research into buildings resistant to extreme events; this laid the groundwork for later developments that have obtained funding from the European Research Council (ERC), including an ERC Consolidator Grant and an ERC Proof of Concept grant, the latter aimed at bringing his findings to market. His research has been published in leading international scientific journals, such as Nature.

A founding partner of the spin-off company Calsens and editor-in-chief of Construction and Building Materials, he has received several awards throughout his career, including the Researcher of the Year award from the UPV in 2024.

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