The Foundation launches “The other European elections” to raise awareness about the importance of retaining talent

• A total of 20 Nobel Prize winners, two of whom will be attending for the first time, will be part of the jury that decides the seven winners.
• A total of 232 candidates are presented for the 2024 Rei Jaume I Prizes, of which 25% are women.
• The creative campaign has been presented to raise awareness about the importance of retaining and attracting scientific and business talent.

On June 3rd and 4th , the traditional Meeting of Juries will be held in Valencia that will decide the seven winners of the 36th edition of the Rei Jaume I Prizes 2024 in the different categories: Basic Research, Economics, Biomedical Research, Clinical Research and Health Public, Environmental Protection, New Technologies and Entrepreneur.

The executive president, Javier Quesada and the president of the Fundación Valenciana Premios Rei Jaume I, Vicente Boluda, have been in charge of conveying the news of this edition, which took place at the Centro Cultural de la Nau, under the sculpture of the first Erasmus from Europe, Juan Luís Vives.

This year, the jury for the prizes will be made up of nearly a hundred people, of which 20 are Nobel Prize winners in different disciplines, two of whom will attend for the first time as a jury in Valencia. These are Dr. Jack Szostak, 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine (USA) and Dr. David MacMillan, 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (USA).

The Meeting of Juries is the only event in Europe that brings together such a considerable number of Nobel Prize winners. Furthermore, like every year, the jury will have the presence of the country’s main businessmen and women, as is usual every year in the Entrepreneur jury.

A total of 232 applications

Up to a total of 232 people, 54 of them women, 25%, are presented this year to be one of the seven winners of the Rei Jaume I Prizes dedicated to the promotion of Research, Science and Entrepreneurship that the Next June, a jury of more than 90 people will decide, including 20 Nobel Prize winners.

Thus, the prize that has received the most nominations this year is Entrepreneur, with more than 50 people nominated and among whom there are 13 women who aspire to achieve the precious recognition. Next is Biomedical Research, with 40 candidates (9 women), to receive the 100,000 euros prize and, after them, New Technologies with 34 candidates (10 women). Basic Research will have 32 candidates this year (7 women). Clinical Research and Public Health has 32 (8 women). Environmental Protection has 28 (6 women) and ends with the Economics prize with 16 people nominated (5 women).

By communities, it is the Community of Madrid that presents the most candidates, followed by the Comunitat Valenciana and Catalonia. It so happens that this year applications have been obtained from practically all the Spanish communities.

Creative campaign

This event is used to launch the creative campaign that aims to raise awareness of the importance of innovation, science and business for any country. This year, we try to raise awareness about the importance of investment in science and entrepreneurship, not only to enhance our talent but also to retain it.

“The Other European Elections” is a campaign that is framed in the context of the European Parliament Elections in June 2024. A message that, far from focusing on the electoral event, focuses on the European destinations most chosen by the ” Spanish bright minds who decide to leave.

Currently, +700k Spaniards live and work in Europe. Among them, tens of thousands of researchers, doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs who have left Spain in order to prosper. The United Kingdom, France or Germany are some of the ‘European elections’ that they have to face every year in search of a better work future.

Events of June 3 and 4

This year, as a novelty, the 20 Nobel Laureates will come together to celebrate a unique event, in defense of the recognition of the Albufera Natural Park as a “Biosphere Reserve” within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The aim is to conserve biological diversity and provide sustainable livelihoods for local communities. For this reason, on day 3^rd  the event will be at the Science Museum, where several experts will speak on the topic.

The next day, June 4^th , the program will not have changes compared to other years, the day will start in Capitania General  with the reading of the “Declaration” of the Nobel Prize winners. Afterwards, the jury meetings will take place in which they will deliberate who are the seven winners of the 36th edition. After it, the winners will be proclaimed at the Palau de la Generalitat.