Awards ceremony for the 35th Rei Jaume I Awards

The King presided over the formal ceremony for the 2023 Rei Jaume I Prizes, held, as every year, at the Lonja de los Mercaderes building in the city of Valencia.

This year’s winners were Antonio Echavarren Pablos in Basic Research, Olympia Bover Hidiroglu in Economics, Guillermina López-Bendito in Biomedical Research, Carlota Escutia Dotti in Environmental Protection, Daniel Maspoch Comamala in New Technologies and Alfonso Jiménez Rodríguez-Vila in the Entrepreneur category, who were presented with the medal by King Felipe VI, accrediting them as winners in their respective categories.

Institutional speeches

The Mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, emphasised the importance of science, research and entrepreneurship for society: “We must kindle hope and create opportunities; that is what science and research represent. You are the light of this scientific beacon that is the Valencia Fish Market. Science shows us where to go and which light to follow. We must bring innovation, science and entrepreneurship closer to society, and the City Council will support this objective”, and she stressed that “these awards should serve as an incentive for future generations”.

During his address, the president of the Fundación Valenciana Premios Rei Jaume I, Vicente Boluda, wished to emphasise that “It is crucial that we align strategies between the public and private sectors, and that we recognise that the countries and territories making the most progress are those where public policies are committed to promoting science, research and entrepreneurship, but where, moreover, business leaders are more engaged”. Furthermore, Vicente Boluda thanked King Felipe VI for his unconditional support for the Foundation, of which he is honorary president, and paid tribute to the founder of the awards, Santiago Grisolía: “Our Awards, which are celebrating their 35th anniversary, had Professor Grisolía as their ‘creator’. And thanks to the advocacy, vision and generosity of Don Santiago Grisolía, we have managed to engage a significant number of Nobel laureates, as, each year, around twenty laureates sit on the juries for our awards. It is undoubtedly the largest multidisciplinary gathering of Nobel laureates in the world, and it takes place here in the Comunidad Valenciana, here in Spain.”  

For his part, this year’s recipient of the Rei Jaume I Prize for Entrepreneurship, Alfonso Jiménez, was tasked with speaking on behalf of the award winners. After expressing the gratitude of all six on behalf of the award and the recognition, he said: “On behalf of all the award winners, we thank the juries for choosing us from amongst so much talent. This burst of enthusiasm is what has always driven our lives and will continue to do so in the future. I would also like to thank our families for accompanying and supporting us. And to the Foundation for giving us these five days in Valencia.” In his speech, Jiménez highlighted several things shared by this year’s award winners: “I was surprised that all of us – the award winners – share a passion for being a driving force for young people and researchers. We enjoy what we do, which is very important.” And to conclude, the founder of Cascajares emphasised the need to build bridges between science and business, “so that the equation has a multiplier effect”.  

For his part, the President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, speaking at these awards for the first time as a senior representative of the Generalitat, said: “Today, we are gathered in this merchants’ exchange by that curiosity and that hope of which Grisolía spoke. People who both promote and bring prestige to the name of this region, and to those who are dedicated to giving us a better tomorrow”. He emphasised that “No one on their own is worth more than the sum of all those who contribute to making a dream or an idea a reality. The jury, a key asset to these awards, the Foundation and all its staff, the sponsors and institutions – they all therefore deserve recognition. That idea from that man is us bringing it to life. In the same way, the achievements of our award winners also belong to the people who have stood by them.”

To conclude, His Majesty the King said, “A country’s significance is measured by many factors, but one very important aspect amongst them—one that has such a profound impact on the others—is its talent. And, therefore, its true wealth lies in its ability to transform knowledge into solutions that generate real and widespread progress, which must benefit society as a whole.” In this regard, the King wished to highlight the role of these awards “in fostering scientific excellence in an innovative and entrepreneurial way in our country, in the service of well-being and human development, whilst also helping to create a more aware society that demands the resources, means and time that science requires”. The King called for “Spain to champion science with a European stamp on the world stage. We must not become complacent; we must continue to improve incentives for business innovation”, the Monarch stated in his speech.

As is now tradition, the ceremony concluded with the announcement of the call for entries for the 2024 Rei Jaume I Prizes.

This year’s event was once again attended by representatives from civil, political, economic and social spheres, amongst the nearly 400 people who attended the ceremony. Among them were the trustees of the Fundación Premios Rei Jaume I, the members of the juries present, family members and representatives of the collaborating organisations: the Iberdrola Spain Foundation for Environmental Protection, Valencia City Council for New Technologies, Air Liquide Healthcare and CaixaBank for Biomedical Research, and Mercadona, Edem and AVE for the Entrepreneur Prize. In addition, organisations such as the Port Authority of Valencia, Boluda Corporación Marítima, the Council of Chambers of the Comunidad Valenciana, the Banco Santander Foundation, Pavasal, RNB, SPB, the Vectalia Group, CEV, the Provincial Council of Valencia, Logifruit, the Torrecid Foundation, BP, Empresas del Sol, the Alicante Provincial Council, the Segura-Balpa Group, as well as institutional support from the Generalitat Valenciana.