1. Objective
The purpose of the award is to recognise the work of young researchers belonging to the three institutes that make up the Isla de la Cartuja Scientific Research Centre (cicCartuja) or any other public research centre in Andalusia dedicated to agri-food research. Only original research articles published in internationally renowned journals will be awarded, excluding bibliographic reviews (reviews).

2. Award Endowment
A first prize of 15,000 euros will be awarded to the winning article, and two second prizes of 5,000 euros each for the second and third place winners.

The financial endowment of the cicCartuja-Ebro Foods Research Award is sponsored entirely by the Ebro Foods Foundation, represented by its president, Mr. Antonio Hernández Callejas, according to the agreement signed with cicCartuja.

One of the three prizes must be awarded to a work in the agri-food area, provided that it meets the required conditions of excellence.

3. Requirements for candidates
Researchers must belong to one of the three cicCartuja institutes or to a public research centre in Andalusia specialising in agri-food.
The candidate must not have turned 31 at the time of submitting their application.
The candidate must be the first author of the article.
In general, the experimental work must have been carried out, at least in part, at cicCartuja. However, in the case of opting for the prize in the agri-food area, it may have been carried out in any public centre in Andalusia specialising in agri-food.
The candidate must not have received the first prize in previous editions.
cicCartuja candidates may opt for the prize with one of the 12 “Articles of the Month” selected in the corresponding year.
Candidates from Andalusian public centres who are applying for the agri-food award must send their work, published in the current year, to the evaluation committee between 15 October and 30 December.

4. Selection of candidates

• Candidates must complete the corresponding form available on the cicCartuja forms website.
• cicCartuja candidates must send this form before the 28th of each month. At the beginning of each month, the directors of the three cicCartuja institutes will choose an article from among those submitted, which will be highlighted as “Article of the Month” on the cicCartuja portal. Subsequently, a scientific committee formed for this purpose, made up of 3 relevant members of the three institutes based in cicCartuja, will select the six most relevant articles from among these 12 highlighted articles, which will be presented to the Evaluation Committee.
• Candidates from Andalusian public centres who are applying for the agri-food award must send the other form between 15 October and 30 December. The evaluation of these works will be carried out by a committee made up of the three directors of cicCartuja and two specialists in agri-food research, who will select the four most outstanding works, which will be presented to the Evaluation Committee.

5. Evaluation Committee
The Evaluation Committee will be the body in charge of establishing the bases and criteria for selection, and will be made up of the following people:

• the President of Ebro Foods,
• the President of the Social Council of the University of Seville,
• the General Director of the Cartuja Science and Technology Park,
• the Institutional Delegate of the CSIC in Andalusia,
• the Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Seville,
• the President of the Business Circle of the Cartuja Science and Technology Park,
• the Director of cicCartuja and
• the Directors of the three institutes based in cicCartuja.

Any of the above representatives may delegate their representation to whomever they consider appropriate.

Finally, the Manager of cicCartuja will be part of the committee with voice but no vote, and will act as secretary of the meetings.

The Evaluation Committee will evaluate the preselected works using the following criteria:

• The scientific impact of the journal, paying special attention to the position of the journal in its thematic area (up to 60%).
• The social impact and significance of the research, considering both its direct impact on society and the expectations of commercial success or market access (up to 10%).
• The contribution of the first author to the article, the total number of authors and the degree of interdisciplinarity (up to 10%).
• The quality of the presentation and defense of the work carried out by the candidate before the Evaluation Committee (up to 20%).

Once this evaluation has been carried out and the opinions of all its members have been heard, the Evaluation Committee will decide which work deserves the first prize, and the two second prizes.

The awards will be presented at a public event held at the facilities of the cicCartuja, throughout the following year. During this event, the three winning authors will have to briefly present their work to the audience.