• The first awards ceremony took place at CAF headquarters in Beasain, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the CAF-Elhuyar awards

• The winners are Iñigo González de Arrieta Martínez, Iker González Cubiella, Maider Beitia San Vicente, Itziar Urizar Arenaza, Izaro Zubiria Ibarguren and Iñaki Sanz-Azkue.

• Martin Etxauri Sainz de Murieta has been awarded a scholarship to develop the “Fossil Plastics” project and the Award has been for Dr. Jesus Mari Txurruka Argarate in Biology.

Today took place the ceremony of the CAF-Elhuyar Awards, the 25th edition of this long-distance train that aims to connect the world of science and technology with the whole society. The event was special for the first time at CAF headquarters in Beasain. This year’s theme has been “Get on the train!”, with the aim of promoting, rewarding and recognizing the dissemination, journalism and social inclusion in Basque of science and technology issues and research.

This year we received 70 works with a gender balance among participants. The jury has decided to award in each category the following works:

Iñigo González de Arrieta Martínez and Iker González Cubiella, from Bilbao, received the award for the general informative article with the article entitled “In search of Dyson’s spheres”. To reward this work, the jury has valued the exhibition of a complicated concept in a very entertaining way, and the demonstration that science also serves to know what can exist.

Although in the category of general disclosure articles only one job can be awarded, the members of the jury have decided that another work deserves a special mention, since the winning work has been in full competition. The article “Cells are online” makes a very interesting game, using social networks as a metaphor to explain how communications between cells are. Maider Beitia is the Vitorian Saint Vincent and the Bilbain Itziar Urizar Arenaza.

The Special Neiker Award, which aims to reward the work of the primary sector, and this year’s award winner, has been Izaro Zubiria Ibarguren, for his work “Use local or external proteins to produce milk?” This work has also been in the category of articles of general disclosure and, according to the members of the jury, is very well explained, in a clear way, although it is a research work at the bottom and wanting to respond to a real problem of livestock.

Another section of the category of articles of dissemination of the CAF-Elhuyar awards, for its part, the jury has decided to declare desert the award to the article of dissemination based on the doctoral thesis of the author, since very few works have been received and did not meet the minimum criteria. In any case, jury members have highlighted the importance of this category, as it allows authors to expose and disseminate their doctoral work to the general public and to society in general.

On the other hand, the winning work in the category of scientific journalism works is as simple as attractive, according to the members of the jury, and at the same time with a deep work. “Birds, bees, bugs... The winning work has been “Los pequeño guardas de los manzanales” and was published in Argia in early spring.

All the winners have received a prize of 2,000 euros and a sculpture by Imanol Andonegi Mendizabal.

In addition to the awards, the CAF-Elhuyar competition offers a grant of 5,000 euros to promote projects that serve as a bridge between science and society. This year the “Fossil Plastics” project has won. According to the members of the jury, it has a very interesting approach, responds to a concern today, and also incorporates the personal part with great personality. The author is the burladés Martín Etxauri Sainz de Murieta.

After the awards ceremony, authors Ander Gortazar Balerdi and Jac Markusiewicz have shown the result of the project that last year received a grant of creation in Science Society: Bastartak!.

Finally, the Board of the Elhuyar Foundationgrants the Elhuyar Prize to people who have excelled in the normalization of Basque and in the dissemination of science and technology. This year Dr. Jesus Mari Txurruka Argarate received this recognition for his work in the dissemination of science and the normalization of Basque.

Among the attendees, in addition to the winners and their friends and family, members of the jury and representatives of institutions such as José Mª have been present. Pitarke de La Torre Vice Minister of Technology, President of the Elhuyar Foundation and CEO of CIC nanoGUNE; Leire Cancio Orueta, CEO of Elhuyar; Gorka Zabalegi Aginaga, CAF Human Resources Director; Bingen Zupiria Gorostidi

The jury, for its part, has judged informative articles and journalistic works: Arturo Elosegi Irurtia, ecologist and researcher of the UPV; Marian Iriarte Ormazabal, chemist and researcher of the UPV; Alberto Barandiaran Amillano, journalist and writer; Aitziber Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, director of the magazine Elhuyar; and Eva Ugarte Sagastizal.

Finally, the projects presented to the creation scholarship in Science Society have been judged by: Koldo Almandoz de La Cruz, film director; Josu Rekalde Izagirre, professor of Art and Technology at UPV; and Leire Cancio Orueta, general director of Elhuyar.

For more information contact us.

Manex Urruzola Arrate
Elhuyar Tel.
: 943 363040 ext. : 201 / 688825876