*For this edition, the communication campaign “laseriequenosmerecemos.com” calls for series that give visibility to scientists and entrepreneurs as protagonists because, “The discoveries and achievements of our scientists and entrepreneurs are also suitable for making a series”.

*The presidents of the Rei Jaume I Prizes Foundation emphasizes that “with this campaign we aim to reach young people, the audience we are most concerned about, as they are the ones who most demand this type of platform”.

The traditional ceremony of the Rei Jaume I Prizes will be held on 28^th of November at La Lonja de los Mercaderes de València with the presence of the six winners of this year’s edition. This was announced this morning by the president of the Rei Jaume I Prizes Foundation, Vicente Boluda, and its executive president, Javier Quesada, at a press conference held at the ABC Park cinemas in Valencia. A symbolic place to also present the communication campaign on the Award Ceremony, which aims to give visibility to science and entrepreneurship and this year the campaign is focused on  the world of the series.

The executive president of the Prizes, Javier Quesada, defended that “the biographies of important people in the scientific world should be brought closer to young people” talking about the significance of this year’s campaign. According to Javier Quesada, “we have to look  at scientific advances, they make society freer, they make progress, and the youth are the main beneficiaries of the fact that Spain has good science and technology. The most relevant countries in the world are those that have an important science and technology system, not the ones that have good oil or lithium reserves. It must be people-based and seek a balance. Science requires mechanisms to reach out to the public, so we need to encourage young people and mainly women and try to make these careers attractive to women despite labor instability.

He also compared the world of sports with the world of science: “In science we should copy many things from the world of soccer, as to how to pay for good talent, how to look out for international stars, or how Spanish players are more and more present in foreign leagues.

Visiting program with the Rei Jaume I Prizes 2023

As every year, during the days leading up to the Prizes Ceremony in La Lonja de Valencia, the winners will have a full program of activities and visits to publicize their work in Valencia. The program will begin on Friday, 24th November, with the traditional colloquium in the Main Hall of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) in which each prize-winner will present to the public, the research that has made them worthy of recognition. After this event, they will visit the Oceanográfico and the City of Arts and Sciences, as well as the new Hortensia Herrero Art Center and the Bancaja Foundation.

On Monday, 27 November, the six winners will visit research centers and universities where they will give lectures. Carlota Escutia and Olympia Bover will visit Alicante and its university, while Guillermina López-Bendito will travel to Castellón. In Valencia, Daniel Maspoch will visit ICMOL, Antonio Echavarren will visit the Institute of Chemistry (ITQ) and the entrepreneur Alfonso Jiménez will give a conference at EDEM followed by a lunch-colloquium with the Family Business Forum of the Valencian Business Association (AVE), both sponsors of this award.

And finally, on Tuesday, 28 November, the Rei Jaume I Prizes Ceremony will take place at 12pm at La Lonja de los Mercaderes in Valencia under the presidency of King Felipe VI.

In parallel, as in previous editions, an exhibition on the Rei Jaume I Prizes 2023 will be on display at the Lonja during the days leading up to the ceremony, which has previously been on display at the City of Arts and Sciences.

Creative campaign, “Laseriequemerecemos.com”.

During the meeting with the media, the creative campaign for the 2023 Award Ceremony was also presented. As usual, the aim of this communication tool is to draw the attention of the citizenship and focus on the importance of science and entrepreneurship, to generate debate and proposals of improvement.

Over the last few years, some national series have achieved large audiences in other countries. Titles such as La Casa de Papel, Élite or Fariña have become popular both within and beyond our borders. Thieves, drugs, or corruption are the protagonists of these films, but… What if we managed to change this? What if those who innovate or undertake become a reference for a large part of society? Wouldn’t they be a better model to adopt or copy for young people? Wouldn’t it be fairer? With this campaign, the Foundation claims to vindicate that through fiction we can also change the image we have of our country and what we transmit outwards. The discoveries and achievements of our scientists and entrepreneurs can also inspire a new show: the series that our country deserves.

For the president of FPRJ, Vicente Boluda, “whenever a series gains prominence in society on platforms such as Netflix, HBO or Amazon, where you see the content, you want whenever you want, it increases the flow of professions that are being highlighted in it. With this campaign we aim to reach young people, the audience we are most concerned about, as they are the ones who most demand this type of platform”.

Quesada added that “the system should make science more friendly and even funny. Science divulgation can be a good way to bring out new talent and target young people, which is where young people’s aspirations are formed. You must look for references and a series allow you to visualize them. If they make a new series with Spanish women as scientists, technologists or businesswomen, young people could  become inspired and be attracted increasing STEM vocations”.

The campaign launches several actions to ask large platforms such as Netflix, HBO, Amazon and others, to create new content about our scientists and entrepreneurs, because their achievements are “enough for a series”. In addition to the external creativities and the support of social media, a video, and a landing page “laseriequemerecemos.com” have been launched where the public can learn more about the stories of our winners, which will be presented as if they were synopses of series, and they can vote for that series and mark their preferences. Then, on the same networks, these messages will be sent from the public to the platforms.

The Rei Jaume I Prizes Ceremony is one of the most significant social events in the Valencian Community   and is held in the city in front of a large representation of Valencian civil and political society.

The winners of the 35th edition are:

> Basic Research Prize: Antonio M. Echavarren Pablos

> Economics Prize: Olympia Bover Hidiroglu

> Medical Research Prize: Guillermina López-Bendito

> Environmental Protection Prize: Carlota Escutia Dotti

> New Technologies Prize: Daniel Maspoch Comamala

> Entrepreneur Prize: Alfonso Jiménez Rodríguez-Vila. Cascajares Company