The Governing Board of the City of Seville has agreed to award the 2013 Young Sevillians Research Excellence Award to the Multifunctional Optical Materials group led by the CSIC scientific researcher Hernán Ruy Míguez.

The prize money is 4000 euros for the promotion and dissemination of research excellence. The award was convened with the triple objective of recognizing the research work of young Sevillians, making their work known outside the city and highlighting the research work of young people. The requirements to apply for the award were that at least 30% of the members of the research group were between 18 and 35 years old and that they carried out their research work in Seville and the Province. The merits have been assessed based on the quality and scientific interest of the lines of research, the level of basic, applied or technological research; the expected results, such as transfers, patents or social impact. The results obtained and whether the research has been completed and whether it has been published have also been taken into account. Within this framework, two researchers of recognised national and international prestige have participated as members of the jury: Miguel Ferrer Baena, Institutional Coordinator in Andalusia of the Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and Francisco Javier Rojo Marcos, Scientific Researcher at the Institute of Chemical Research, member of cicCartuja, and coordinator of the Chemical Area of ​​the CSIC.

The group, made up of 70% researchers under 35 years of age, frequently publishes in the most prestigious journals in the field of materials (Nature Materials, Advanced Materials, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Energy and Environmental Science…) and is funded by the European Research Council through one of the most competitive research programmes in Europe, the Starting Grant. Its fundamental research aspect is complemented by different R&D&I contracts with companies in the solar energy sector. In addition, members of the group have been awarded the cicCartuja-Ebro Foods Prize twice.