V UPV Research Awards

And that makes five. The gala evening for research staff filled the auditorium of the Nexus building at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) with excitement and a sense of recognition. Once again this year, the UPV has recognised the work of its research staff in five categories.

The awards recognise scientific dissemination and the media impact of research, outstanding research impact, outstanding publications, outstanding career achievement, and the transfer of research results and knowledge. They also include recognition for publications in Nature and Science, as well as special awards for outstanding male and female researchers. In total, 44 awards were presented to 79 individuals, as some were given to research teams.

Outstanding researchers

In this fifth edition, the memorable awards went to José Hernández-Orallo as an outstanding male researcher and to María José Viñals Blasco as an outstanding female researcher.

María José Viñals is a Full Professor and researcher at the Research Centre Architecture, Heritage and Management for Sustainable Development. She expressed her gratitude for the honour and noted that "this award belongs to all the women who, through their talent, effort and dedication, have contributed and continue to contribute every day to building a better university. To those who paved the way, to those of us walking this path today, and to those who will come after us, I dedicate this recognition from the bottom of my heart".

Hernández-Orallo, recently awarded the Aritmel National Prize for Computer Science, is a Professor specialising in artificial intelligence and a member of the Valencian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence. He was unable to attend the gala as he is currently on a research project at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge. The distance was bridged by a video message of thanks in which he stated that "there is much work to be done to improve our understanding of what we are creating and, above all, to distribute and democratise the use and creation of AI. Above all, to bring its legislation to Europe and to be leaders in knowing how to use AI better than anyone else".

The Rector of the UPV, José E. Capilla, emphasised that, in this year's edition, the awards "reflect the standard of research conducted at the UPV. We have researchers who publish in leading journals, spearhead significant work in their disciplines and turn their findings into specific solutions. None of this is down to chance: behind it all lies a demanding research community, with the talent and ability to compete at the very highest level. These awards are an excellent opportunity to recognise this and share it with society."

Official launch of Poli

The Jajajers, Jorge García and Alexis Martínez, provided a touch of humour alongside the scientific monologue "My research colleagues" by Alexandra Guanuchi, a scientist at IIAAMA.

This gala was the chosen moment to officially launch Poli, the official mascot of the Universitat Politècnica de València.