Seville, 8 April 2012. The CicCartuja researchers Ernesto Carmona Guzmán and Jesús Campos Manzano today received the 10th Javier Benjumea Puigcerver Research Prize for a scientific work of notable importance in the applied field. The research is entitled Catalytic incorporation of deuterium and tritium in hydrosilanes. Isotopic labelling of organic molecules of biochemical and pharmacological interest.
The jury of this edition recognised the extraordinary scientific value of the project, defining it as ‘a work of clear social utility, very well founded from the scientific point of view, which addresses the problem of labelling organic molecules with isotopes of H. The results of the project are very interesting in the pharmaceutical industry and the project represents a magnificent balance between basic research and the possibility of transferring the research results obtained’.
The jury also considered that the contributions of the researchers Ernesto Carmona and Jesús Campos contain ‘an evident scientific and social interest, which, together with the extraordinary professional careers of the researchers, make them worthy winners of the tenth edition of the Javier Benjumea Puigcerver Research Prize’.
The prize was awarded today at a ceremony held in the auditorium of the University of Seville, which was presided over by the rector, Antonio Ramírez de Arellano, and attended by the president of the Social Council of the University of Seville, Isabel Aguilera, and the president of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, Felipe Benjumea.

Collaboration between experience and young researchers
Ernesto Carmona, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Seville and member of the Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas (IIQ), has an outstanding career in chemistry, with a notable scientific production in this field. His research experience focuses on organometallic compounds of transition elements and major groups. He is considered to be one of the pioneers in Spain of organometallics, a branch of chemistry that studies the interactions between organic molecules and metals. His intense research work has been reflected in more than 200 articles and several European patents. He has also given plenary and session lectures at numerous international scientific meetings, and has been distinguished with prestigious awards, such as the King Jaime I Prize for Basic Research, which he received in 2010.
Jesús Campos is a postdoctoral researcher in the Organometallic Chemistry and Homogeneous Catalysis Group, headed by Professor Carmona, at the University of Seville. His research activity focuses on organometallic chemistry, green chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. His intense research work has allowed him to participate in several international conferences and to express his knowledge in several scientific articles. In November 2012, Jesús Campos presented his doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Synthesis and Catalytic Applications of Rh and Ir Complexes with Phosphine and Cyclopentadienyl Ligands’, at the cicCartuja. This research was the result of his pre-doctoral studies, carried out in the IIQ laboratories.
The Rector of the University of Seville emphasised that Ernesto Carmona ‘is the best endorsement of the social implementation of this project’ and that the collaboration with a recent doctoral student is ‘an example of collaboration between experience and young researchers’.
This award – in which the Social Council of the University of Seville, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation and the University of Seville participate – and which is worth 18,000 euros, a diploma and the publication of the work, aims to recognise the work carried out by researchers from the university community who participate in research projects that can meet the needs of companies and organisations in terms of research and development.