Seville, 5 April 2013. The researchers Lola González García and Julián Parra Barranco have won the 2012 cicCartuja Ebro Foods Research Award, which was presented today at the Isla de la Cartuja Scientific Research Centre (cicCartuja), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Regional Government of Andalusia and the University of Seville. The ceremony, which was presided over by the Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation, Carmen Vela, was also attended by the Mayor of Seville, Juan Ignacio Zoido; the President of the CSIC, Emilio Lora-Tamayo; the Secretary General for Universities, Research and Technology of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Francisco Andrés Triguero; the Rector of the University of Seville, Antonio Ramírez de Arellano; and the Chairman of Ebro Foods, Antonio Hernández Callejas, among other authorities.

The cicCartuja Ebro Foods Research Award recognises the work done by young scientists who have published studies on outstanding aspects of biology, chemistry and materials science in international journals of notable impact. Launched in 2010, this award is now in its third year, with the triple purpose of promoting the work of cicCartuja’s junior researchers, boosting the repercussion of scientific results in society and establishing alliances between public research and the productive sector, favouring the alliance between science and business through sponsorship and collaboration.
During the event, young researchers were encouraged to take on the challenge of convincing business people, politicians and, in short, society that they are the future, that they must continue to support science, that their work is the key to overcoming the crisis and, in short, to guaranteeing a better quality of life.
Nanomaterials with new optical responses
In this edition of the cicCartuja Ebro Foods Research Award, the winners were Lola González García and Julián Parra Barranco, researchers belonging to cicCartuja’s Institute of Materials Science of Seville (ICMS). Both scientists are linked to the research group led by Agustín Rodríguez González-Elipe, Research Professor at the CSIC, whose studies focus on surface nanotechnology. The article for which Lola González and Julián Parra have been recognised represents a breakthrough in the development of new materials with novel optical responses, thanks to the incorporation of gold nanoparticles.
The most outstanding aspect of this research lies in the possibility of controlling the colour of the materials and their responses to the polarisation of light. To do this, the scientists have used a thin film of a transparent oxide, the structure of which has nanometric columns that leave empty spaces. In these columns, the researchers inserted gold nanoparticles that confer unique chromatic features to the materials. This process makes it possible for the resulting material to be used at a technological or industrial level, in fields as diverse as information encryption or the detection of counterfeit objects.
First and second runners-up
In addition to this first prize, cicCartuja and Ebro Foods awarded two runners-up prizes to Orestes Rivada Wheelaghan, a scientist linked to the Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas (IIQ), who published an article on organometallic chemistry with possible applications for the pharmaceutical industry; and Julia Ferrández Navarro, from the Instituto de Bioquímica Vegetal y Fotosíntesis (IBVF), whose work is related to plant metabolism and the adaptation of plants to their environment.
Orestes Rivada’s work is part of the study on the functionalisation of carbon-hydrogen bonds, which is being carried out in the research group led by Salvador Conejero, Senior Scientist at the CSIC. This research will serve to develop more efficient catalysts and will make it possible to obtain molecules such as fluorocarbons, which are increasingly present in pharmaceutical products, such as Diflucan (fungicide) or Januvia, used for the treatment of diabetes.
Julia Ferrández’s article explores the role played by redox regulation, a signalling pathway that is very important in the development and adaptation of plants to their environment. This research, conducted under the direction of Francisco Javier Cejudo, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Seville, has discovered an enzyme, called NADPH Thioredoxin Reductase C, which plays an important role in processes such as the development of lateral roots in plants. This finding could be of great use at the biotechnological level for designing plants with characteristics of interest in agriculture.

Prize money and jury
The prize money for the cicCartuja Ebro Foods Award amounts to 12,000 euros (6,000 euros for the winners and another 6,000 euros to be shared between the first and second runners-up). This award is sponsored by the Ebro Foods Foundation. Ebro Foods is the leading food group in Spain, which has also become a world leader in the rice sector and the second largest international pasta manufacturer, thanks to its more than 80 brands, with a presence in more than 30 countries.
The Evaluation Committee, chaired by the Director of cicCartuja, Miguel Ángel de la Rosa, was represented by the following institutions: cicCartuja, Ebro Foods Foundation, University of Seville, Cartuja Science and Technology Park, Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and Cartuja Business Circle.