Promoting research in international laboratories and subsidising students’ travel expenses are the main objectives set by the Wood-Whelan Scholarship Committee, of which Professor Irene Díaz Moreno has been elected a member. This appointment reinforces the international presence of the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis, to which it belongs, and brings these grants even closer to the young scientists of the cicCartuja.

As Dr. Irene Díaz points out, with these grants the researchers will be able to ‘acquire new knowledge and establish collaborations with other research groups in related fields’. The grants, which are open to students under the age of 35, are intended to cover both travel and accommodation costs in other countries, with a maximum allocation of 3,000 dollars. The duration of the grants ranges from one to four months, and the most popular destinations are in the United States and Finland.

The Wood-Whelan research grants were launched by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) in 1985.Since then, they have become an important instrument for promoting international collaboration and the dissemination of knowledge in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Together with Professor Irene Díaz, three other scientists are members of the Wood-Whelan Fellowship Committee: Dr. Carla Ribeiro (Instituto de Bioquimica Medica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) and Dr. Avadhesha Surolia (Molecular Boiphysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore), and the chairman of the Wood-Whelan Fellowship Committee, M. Iqbal Parker (Division of Medical Biochemistry, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Cape Town).